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!”