Making A Connection...
Yesterday I made a connection that I hadn't thought of previously. I was really impacted the other night by listening to women talk about the Olympic experience. I've always liked watching the Olympics, I get all weepy when they play the Canadian anthem. I'm proud of the athletes who represent us, and look in the crowds for the maple leaf.
The women talked about life in the Olympic village. The Canadians having an immediate sense of connection and commeraderie. The athletes weren't just a part of the rowing team or swimming team, they were all apart of the Canadian team. For a couple weeks, they represented more than their sport, they represented an entire country. Different teams would come out to events to cheer each other on because they were all apart of a bigger picture.
The cyclists didn't win a cyclist gold medal, they won a Canadian gold medal. When CBC tallied the medals, they looked at what was won for Canada and added up all the different sports together.
Here's my point...
Shouldn't that be life as a Christian? As a person who loves Jesus, who has given myself over to a lifetime of dedication and training I am a representative of something bigger. I don't represent just the place where I train (attend church). I am not just representing the Vineyard when I go out everyday, I'm representing heaven. All the saints "at home" are watching and cheering me on while I'm away at the games. They see the bigger picture and they are cheering for everyone who represents them...no matter what sport they are competing in/what church they attend.
Heaven isn't looking at a gold medal in being a Catholic, or a silver medal in being a Lutheran. They only tally up all the wins as wins for Heaven. There is celebration over every win no matter what team they were from.
I think how amazing it would be if the church in Winnipeg were like an Olympic village. What if any event where heaven was competing was attended by ALL those who represent heaven just so we could cheer each other on. When the Anglicans had an event, all the Catholics, Lutherans, Mennonites, and every other denomination of Christian showed up to cheer them on.
What if we just cheered because we're all on the side of heaven.
The Olympics would be ridiculous if the rowers decided the swimmers should start training like them if they wanted their support at the swimming event. First of all, they use different muscles in their events so it would take away from the swimmers performance. It doesn't make sense. The athletes had to cheer each other on, just because they were on the same side even if they had no idea how to do the event they were cheering for.
What if the churches go ahold of that idea? What if we understood that we are on the same side, and its okay if we don't train the same way? What if we could just cheer for our friends without trying to make them look a little more like us? What if our focus for just a few weeks, was to focus on our common goal...to make Heaven proud in whatever event we have trained for. We know the saints at home are watching so let's do all we can to help each other make them proud.
I want to have the olympic spirit in my christian life. No matter what church I'm in, I'm not going to look for the differences between what they do and how we do it. I'm going to look at their successes and the ways that they are making heaven celebrate.
Whenever I hear an anthem of heaven sung, no matter who is singing it, I'll celebrate that victory because its mine.
Yesterday I made a connection that I hadn't thought of previously. I was really impacted the other night by listening to women talk about the Olympic experience. I've always liked watching the Olympics, I get all weepy when they play the Canadian anthem. I'm proud of the athletes who represent us, and look in the crowds for the maple leaf.
The women talked about life in the Olympic village. The Canadians having an immediate sense of connection and commeraderie. The athletes weren't just a part of the rowing team or swimming team, they were all apart of the Canadian team. For a couple weeks, they represented more than their sport, they represented an entire country. Different teams would come out to events to cheer each other on because they were all apart of a bigger picture.
The cyclists didn't win a cyclist gold medal, they won a Canadian gold medal. When CBC tallied the medals, they looked at what was won for Canada and added up all the different sports together.
Here's my point...
Shouldn't that be life as a Christian? As a person who loves Jesus, who has given myself over to a lifetime of dedication and training I am a representative of something bigger. I don't represent just the place where I train (attend church). I am not just representing the Vineyard when I go out everyday, I'm representing heaven. All the saints "at home" are watching and cheering me on while I'm away at the games. They see the bigger picture and they are cheering for everyone who represents them...no matter what sport they are competing in/what church they attend.
Heaven isn't looking at a gold medal in being a Catholic, or a silver medal in being a Lutheran. They only tally up all the wins as wins for Heaven. There is celebration over every win no matter what team they were from.
I think how amazing it would be if the church in Winnipeg were like an Olympic village. What if any event where heaven was competing was attended by ALL those who represent heaven just so we could cheer each other on. When the Anglicans had an event, all the Catholics, Lutherans, Mennonites, and every other denomination of Christian showed up to cheer them on.
What if we just cheered because we're all on the side of heaven.
The Olympics would be ridiculous if the rowers decided the swimmers should start training like them if they wanted their support at the swimming event. First of all, they use different muscles in their events so it would take away from the swimmers performance. It doesn't make sense. The athletes had to cheer each other on, just because they were on the same side even if they had no idea how to do the event they were cheering for.
What if the churches go ahold of that idea? What if we understood that we are on the same side, and its okay if we don't train the same way? What if we could just cheer for our friends without trying to make them look a little more like us? What if our focus for just a few weeks, was to focus on our common goal...to make Heaven proud in whatever event we have trained for. We know the saints at home are watching so let's do all we can to help each other make them proud.
I want to have the olympic spirit in my christian life. No matter what church I'm in, I'm not going to look for the differences between what they do and how we do it. I'm going to look at their successes and the ways that they are making heaven celebrate.
Whenever I hear an anthem of heaven sung, no matter who is singing it, I'll celebrate that victory because its mine.
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