Cheerleaders

Confession time.  I was one of those people who thought voting was useless; and didn't vote until President Obama's first campaign.  And while I still believe that the U.S. democratic process is deliberately flawed to generally benefit the American aristocrat,  I do also think it's important to put a stake (or in this case a toothpick) in the direction of the nation when given the opportunity.  It's not for the classic "people died for the right to vote" argument either.  I mean, people died...and are still dying...for the right to sell drugs.  Doesn't mean I need to go cop a 8-ball and cook-up.  But the right to vote is critically important for this reason:  the crooked United States government, along with the lesser but equally as crooked state, county, and city governments allow for it's [of age] citizens to have a say in who they want to lead them from a political, social, and financial perspective in regards to legislation.  All legal voters should take advantage of this, and anyone who doesn't has made their opinion unquestionably insignificant to not only the powers that be, but the general public.  In the end, all that person does is scream on the sidelines.

The concept of participation in processes is not limited to sports or voting; it's in several aspects of American life...including Christianity.  Yet I think we can all agree that an overwhelmingly portion of professed Christians care to have no action in the advancement of the Kingdom.  Most of us want to just ride the train to glory.  Jesus Christ, the author of our faith, was pretty clear on His intentions on how His followers should move.  In Matthew 28: 19-20, Jesus tells His disciples to get going on making other disciples through the teachings they received from Him.  He follows up on this in Acts 1:8, including directions to receive the Holy Spirit as necessary equipment to complete the assignment(s).  So then, where do we church goers get the notion that as long as we're church members we're good?  Maybe it's the excuse of sin that we fall on; where we determine our current sinful ways disqualifies us from doing work (the disciples that Jesus rolled with were perfect, you know).  Perhaps, more relative to the African-American Christian community, the gospel music (where the tone is more of a worship of our problems then of Christ) drives us to believe The Lord should serve us instead of the other way around.  Or possibly, we're just lazy.

Tony Evans in his book A Kingdom Man says that "Jesus has not asked you to be a fan.  He has plenty of fans already.  Every Sunday morning...His fan base shows up in full force."  With this truth, these questions should come to mind.  One, in what ways to I serve/work in my local church; and two, how is my Christian lifestyle practically helping my community?  Your answers will put in perspective your real dedication to the Kingdom of God.  And if this appears to be a blanket statement....then...you're right!  What's preventing you from passing out clothing and food at a shelter (Matthew 25:35-40)?  Why haven't you even shared with your friends how your consistent faith in Christ has healed an illness that the doctors were struggling with (Matthew 9:30-31)?  It's not hard to work at all, it's just a matter of doing some work.

I bet you can't tell me the name of one cheerleader for last years' Super Bowl champion.  Not calling cheerleaders insignificant, but not one of them scored a point for the team.

Peace