If you’re a baseball fan, you know that the Colorado Rockies, after barely qualifying for post-season play, have swept their way into the World Series, winning three straight over the Chicago Cubs and four straight from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since mid- September, they have won an unprecedented 21 out of 22 games, mystifying baseball gurus across the land.
Over and over the Rockies manager and team members are being asked, “How do you explain your recent success?” Over and over their first answer is “I don’t really know.” Certainly their winning percentage defies the odds. But as they continue talking
it becomes obvious that their success has come the same way it does for any winning baseball team – the right combination of great pitching, stellar defense, and timely hitting. What is truly amazing about this incredible winning streak, however, is that on any given day it could be anyone on the Rockies 25 man roster who makes the big play that propels them to victory. Their formula for success has been “Anyone, anytime.” There are some excellent ball players on the Rockies, the names Holliday and Helton come to mind, but most of them are not well known. They’re a humble bunch of guys beginning with their manager, Clint Hurdle, who said the other day “There’s only two kinds of baseball players, those who have been humbled by the game and those who are going to be.”
By now you know where I’m going with this. There’s a parallel between the Colorado Rockies and the body of Christ. Humility is key. Success is a team effort. Everyone’s contribution is important. Listen to Romans 12:3-6 – “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, …. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…” Baseball at its best is a team game, each player making their unique contribution day in and day out for the overall success of the team. There’s no concern about who gets the glory. Victory is a shared success. The body of Christ also functions best as a team. Each member in humility, according to his or her giftedness, making their contribution to the common objective – the advancement of God’s kingdom.
Right now, the Rockies are swept up in a team concept and they’re winning ball games – maybe they’ll even win the World Series. My hope is that we, the people of CoJ, will be swept up in the team concept of Kingdom advancement – the most important objective of all!