I could smell football in the air this morning. And not just any football… College football!
I am at the point in my life where I have to choose. I cannot take the time to watch, do, read, think everything I want to. So, I am a Saturday football guy. Some guys are Friday guys (High School) and some prefer Sunday (NFL), but for me the College game is where it is at. It gets confused looks from my girls sometimes. “Daddy, what team do you want to win?” “I don’t really care. I am just enjoying the game.” Weird? Not to me.
Watching football on TV means I miss out on one of the oddest stadium traditions: The Wave. I remember the first time I ever participated. My Dad took my to a Miami Dolphins game (Yes, I saw Marino play live). I saw this movement across the stadium. My Dad told me to get ready. And then, at just the right moment, we stood and screamed. And sat down quickly.
As a kid this was amazing. All those people working together to make this “event” happen. I was thrilled.
But try explaining it to your friends at school. It just didn’t have the same impact. You see, no one can do the Wave alone.
I have been thinking about this a lot. As Americans, as humans, as Christians- we try to make it on our own. We tell ourselves that “God helps those who help themselves.” And then we live like it. The problem? This is not in the Bible.
We were created to live in community. Remember Adam? He was lonely. God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) This is actually very personal. “The man” is actually a translation of “Adam.” So our very personal God created us to be in relationship.
We cannot live life on our own for long. And we cannot be a church, a community, without each other.
The “normal” way of being a church is to find the gifts and talents of the leaders and use everyone else to magnify those gifts. I have lived that way for a long time. After ll it is normal. I have repented. I don’t want to be a part of that anymore.
We are in the middle of an awakening. Finding out who we are and how we have been uniquely knit together. Are you joining us? When we ask for your help, ideas and input… we really mean it. We need it.
I want to be a part of something amazing. It will take all of us doing our part to create the Wave.
