Taking One for the Team

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 

– Luke 23:34

Taking one for the team means sacrificing for the good of the many.

It's an idiom that originates from baseball, where a weak hitter lets himself be struck by a pitch so the next batter has a chance at the plate. In the business world, a highly paid executive might take one for the team by accepting a pay cut so their employees can get a raise. And yet another example is someone who volunteers to babysit their neighbor’s twin 2-year-olds so the beleaguered parents can enjoy a rare night out.

Jesus’ crucifixion to pay for your sins and mine is the ultimate example of taking one for the team. Since mankind always falls short of God’s standards of perfection, Christ was willing to cover the exorbitant price by accepting the punishment we all so rightly deserve. It's thanks to his sacrifice that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

There are also situations where Believers must take one for the team. For example, it’s in Genesis that we read about the origins of the Jewish people through God’s promise of a son to the patriarch Abraham:

“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky,” the Lord declared, “and as the sand on the seashore.”

After years of fervent prayer, Abraham's wife Sarah finally became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac, even though the couple was very old. They were thrilled and grateful for their long-awaited child. But soon came God's unexpected call:

"Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah," he told Abraham. "Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

It was a shocking demand that made no sense to Abraham because God would never ask for something so precious. (Or would he?) Even so, Abraham obeyed God in faith, took Isaac to Moriah, and built a sacrificial altar. But just as he raised his knife to slay Isaac, one of God's angels called out:

"Don't hurt the boy or harm him in any way! Now I know that you truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son."

Abraham proved his devotion to his Creator, and his descendants indeed spread across the earth. One of his ancestors was Jesus Christ, who 2,000 years later would also prove his devotion by purchasing our salvation on the cross through his sacrificial love and forgiveness. He took one for the team.

Hot Pursuit

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

– Luke 19: 9-10

When asked by one of the Pharisees — a strict religious sect — to name the greatest of God’s laws, Jesus astounded his audience by the simplicity and clarity of his response:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment,” Jesus said. “And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Christ’s declaration reminds us that love is an action word. In Luke’s gospel we find the story of the Prodigal Son, where a loving father welcomes back his wayward — and totally undeserving — child with open arms. Let’s also consider Jesus’ parable of the shepherd, who searched tirelessly for a single missing sheep. When he finally found it, he returned it triumphantly to the flock. Christ also told his disciples about a man who sold all his possessions to buy a field. But it wasn’t just any plot of land. Instead, it was one that held buried treasure. And while the cost to buy the field was staggering, the man did whatever it took to gain the prize.

These parables underscore the fact that Jesus pursues those who are far from God. After all, God loves the world so much that he gave his only Son (Jesus) so that those who believe in him will have eternal life. God willingly let Christ suffer and die in our place to pay for our many sins — past, present, and future. 

The result for every Believer will be an eternity of peace and joy with our Creator. And it all starts the moment we stop running away from God … and start putting our faith in Jesus.

In God We Trust

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

– Luke 18:29-30

Thanks to the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), the money you deposit at a member bank — up to at least $250,000 — is protected if that bank fails. But it wasn’t always that way. 

During the Great Depression, thousands of banks failed after anxious depositors tried to withdraw their funds en masse, and the life savings of millions of Americans was wiped out in the process. The FDIC’s launch in 1933 helped restore confidence in the nation’s banking system. So, for nearly a century, depositors have trusted the federal government’s promise that they won’t lose a penny in their FDIC-insured accounts.

This ironclad guarantee continues to stabilize our nation because citizens know they can literally bank on it. There’s no need for accountholders to panic or lose sleep, regardless of the headlines. And that’s a comforting thought in these tough economic times. But perhaps we should find greater solace in the motto that’s printed on every dollar bill:

In God We Trust

The Bible is packed with reasons for trusting our Creator. For example, the Lord assured the Israelites who had left Egypt that he would drive out the nations before them and give them the Promised Land. God also promised to one day re-gather his scattered people (the Jews) from around the globe. About 2,500 years later in 1948, he did just that through the emergence of the State of Israel. And no doubt our Creator kept his greatest promise through the birth of the world’s Savior (Jesus) in an obscure outpost of the Roman Empire.

The Scriptures also predicted Jesus’ crucifixion centuries before it happened. His resurrection just days later not only defeated the power of sin and death, it cancelled the astounding debt that you and I owe for willfully breaking God’s perfect Law and failing to live up to his standards of perfection. We were guilty and powerless. Now — by putting our faith in Jesus — we’re forgiven, free, and empowered to do God’s will through our words, thoughts, and deeds.

It’s no wonder that Believers trust their rock-solid Creator rather than their transitory wealth, status, or self-righteousness. The promises God makes are the same promises he keeps. And in these uncertain times, it’s reassuring to know that we can take that to the bank. 

Father Knows Best

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

– Luke 11:13

What’s the best advice your father ever gave you? 

That’s the question Real Simple magazine posed to its readers several years ago. Here are a few of the savvy answers the publication received:

• If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
• Never try to solve problems at night. They always seem worse than they do in the morning.
• You don’t have to answer the phone just because it rings.
• Life is better when you have a good time … and bring someone along for the ride.

A father's words can have a profound impact (good or bad) on his home and children. And everything he says and does — and how he lives out his life — makes an eternal difference to those around him. This was also true for Jesus. He called God (his own Father) Abba, which translates to Daddy. As Christ-followers, we, too, have the extraordinary privilege of knowing God as our loving Abba. So, it should come as no surprise that he has some important advice for his children: you and me.

One way we can get it is through the Bible — especially the book of Proverbs, which is full of thoughtful guidance from wise, God-centered people, who traveled their faith-journeys centuries before our time. And their words to us today are not only insightful, relevant, and trustworthy, they’re also inspired by our Creator.

It’s when we finally take God’s messages to heart that we begin a transformation into the men and women he wants us to be. Eventually, we mature enough in our faith that he shows us glimpses of his reality. And like an inquisitive child who’s finally learned a lesson or two the hard way, we begin to see through new eyes from our Father’s perspective.

Unfortunately, we tend to learn slowly. So, to help us understand, he had to reveal himself by literally putting a human face on the divine. God lived out the human experience without sin in the form of Jesus Christ — even if his creation didn’t recognize him at the time:

“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” Jesus once asked his inquisitive disciple. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus’ comments were a simple answer to humanity’s ultimate question. If we want to know the who-what-where and why of God, we first must know Christ — the One he’s already sent to us. Because the more we know and experience the Son, the more we’ll need to know and experience the Father.

That’s some good advice for every Believer to remember … and live out. After all, God is our Father. And he knows best.

The A-Team

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

– Luke 10:2

What do The Dirty Dozen, The Bad News Bears, and The A-Team have in common?

These popular old school classics share the same general plotline: A group of unlikely misfits works together to achieve their objective despite significant obstacles. The characters argue with each other and face numerous setbacks along the way. But they eventually rally behind their leader, beat long odds, and accomplish the improbable.

It’s a feel-good story that never grows old. And it really IS an old story — about 2,000 years-old — to be specific.

In this case it’s the second half of the Bible, which is better known as the New Testament. Much of its real-life plot revolves around a group of unlikely characters, who learn from their all-knowing leader (Jesus) to change the course of history. We read that these diverse individuals were Christ’s hand-picked followers. Some were fishermen, one was a tax collector, and another (Simon the Zealot) might be considered a terrorist by today’s standards. Think of them as the original Dirty Dozen.

Known as apostles, they were a dubious group for such an important assignment: Changing the world for Christ’s kingdom one person at a time. But since it’s a mission that continues to this day, maybe it’s no surprise that God still chooses society’s outsiders, outcasts, and the otherwise unremarkable to do his will.

Some modern-day Christ-followers work for insurance companies, supermarkets, retail stores, and banks. Others are homemakers, sales representatives, police officers, and marketing executives. And many are between jobs, retired, or working part-time. But for all their differences, there’s a common denominator: a fervent belief in Jesus as their Savior. It’s this same belief that helps them share the joys and overcome the struggles, disappointments, and even tragedies that are entwined in the human experience.

Along the way, these Believers have also learned a vital lesson: Their own strength and wisdom is worth little toward surmounting the world’s obstacles. But this is to their advantage:

“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties,” the apostle Paul proclaims. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

And indeed, God does much through the weaknesses of these so-called Everyday Joes. Families are fed, clothed, and housed through their contributions and work in local food pantries, the Salvation Army, and similar organizations. The sick are cured through the efforts of healthcare professionals, who also happen to trust Jesus. And still other Christ-followers teach the illiterate to read and the undereducated to gain critical life and job skills.

That’s a brief list of the ways Jesus can change the world when you and I join his mission and adopt his priorities. As the A-Team’s leader — Colonel Hannibal Smith — so aptly put it in every episode:

“I love it when a plan comes together!”

 

Smoke and Mirrors

 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”

– Luke 9:35 

Slot machines and music concerts may draw big crowds in Las Vegas, but magic acts like Penn & Teller, Mat Franco, and Shin Lim are sometimes the hottest tickets in town. Their clever illusions and sleight of hand are designed to trick the eye — and all while deceiving the audience that it’s possible to make an elephant disappear into thin air. The crowd knows there must be a trick, yet they still want to believe the incredible. Meanwhile, the magician never reveals the truth: the secrets behind their hocus-pocus.

Revelation reaches a much higher level when one's eyes are opened to a spiritual truth that changes everything. For Christ-followers it happens when God shows us we’ve taken the wrong path in some area of life. Then there's the ultimate eye-opener: when non-believers awaken to the fact that Jesus is more than a teacher or prophet — He’s God’s Messiah. 

"I am the way, the truth and the life,” Christ declares in John 14:6. “No one comes to the Father except through me."

It’s then that God’s light shines through. They realize they’ve broken God’s perfect Law … and they need Jesus as their Savior. Unfortunately, most of the world still chooses to remain deceived amidst the utter darkness of its existence. Consider Pontius Pilate’s rhetorical question to Christ in John 18:38: 

“What is truth?”

The Truth that Pilate questioned is a Person rather than a concept. Moreover, He’s quite near to those who seek Him. As Christ-followers, we can access Him through the Bible, prayer … and even wise counsel from fellow Believers. And that’s also why we should have less trouble than others with discerning what’s right and wrong — even though millions have already redefined good and bad to create their own morality and truth. So, amidst this increasingly murky backdrop of deception, let’s look at our own reflection and ask ourselves:

Do our words, thoughts, and deeds have substance … or are they just smoke and mirrors?

Membership Has Its Privileges

So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” 

-- Luke 7:22

In 1987, American Express launched the Membership Has Its Privileges advertising campaign, which revolutionized the credit card industry by shifting its marketing focus from a transactional payment tool to an exclusive lifestyle club. The campaign’s commercials depicted wealthy cardmembers enjoying exotic vacations, upscale dining, and VIP event access. Their underlying message was that American Express cardmembers — unlike the general public — qualify for exclusive perks and an elite lifestyle. 

American Express recognized the attraction of exclusivity, which starts early and extends long into adulthood. For example, were you one of the popular elementary school kids who was always picked first for the kickball team … or were you the odd-man-out nearly every time? And if you grew up in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, were you always wearing the latest pair of designer jeans or Air Jordans?

Here's some good news, particularly for those of us who were never crowned king or queen of the high school prom or lettered on the varsity football team. And it covers something much more important and lasting:

God — the most powerful and loving Presence in the universe — has invited you and me to join his royal family. Once we put our faith in Jesus as our savior, we become an adopted son or daughter of our Creator, who also happens to be the ultimate loving Father (“Abba”). And as God’s children, we’ll enjoy an amazing inheritance for eternity.

It’s an offer that seems too simple and good to be true, but it’s not. In fact, Jesus welcomes, heals, and restores — regardless of our social status or background. And we don’t have to wait until we die to enjoy some of these perks and benefits. One is the privilege of knowing God within a personal relationship. Through prayer, we can come to him directly with our joys, needs, and sorrows. It’s this close bond that helps us overcome the obstacles and challenges we’re guaranteed to face in life.

This amazing offer is open to all. But it’s also exclusive because only those who put their faith in Christ alone will be welcomed into the Kingdom. It’s a crucial reminder that membership indeed has its privileges, and Jesus long ago paid our entrance fee. Now it’s up to you and me to respond: “Yes, Abba!”