You remember the B Team, right? In high school, the scrawny bunch of sports-star wannabes, peach-fuzzed upper lips quivering with joy when they found out that they had "made the team." They weren't the best. They didn't have the skills. They tripped over their own feet and fumbled passes. They ran the wrong way down the field and scored the occasional own-goal. It didn't matter that they spent most of the time warming the pine, waiting with electric enthusiasm for their shot at the big time, because they were a part of the team. And if one of the star players went down or got tired, they were there, already bouncing up and down, warming up on the sidelines for their big break.
In high school sports, the B Team didn't see much playing time. However, throughout the history of the church, God has assembled his own B Team and put them out on the front lines of his battles. Father Abraham was nearly 100 years old when God called him to be the father of the Jewish nation. Moses was a social outcast with a speech impediment who God used to free his people from the greatest empire in the world. Rahab, the prostitute, aided Israel in the fall of Jericho and entered into the lineage of Jesus. David was just a boy, the runt of the family, when God called him to kill Goliath. Jesus was born in a stable. Peter, James, and John were fishermen. Matthew was a tax collector. Paul was a murderer. You get the picture.
A few millennia later, here we are sitting in front of our computer screens. I don't pretend to know everyone reading this post (or if anyone will read it at all). I don't know what you believe about God or life or any of that, but I can tell you what I know about myself.
I am on the B Team.
Five years ago, I had an encounter with God that changed my life forever. I decided to devote what I could of my life to following Christ, and just like the B Team in high school, I kind of suck at what I do. I run the wrong direction. I trip over my own feet. I embarrass myself again and again each time I fall short of the life that God has called me to.
And I think about everyone who calls themselves Christians feel the same way some or (more likely) most of the time. That's why I'm starting this blog. I hope this will be a steady and strong pep talk for my B Team brothers and sisters, a reminder that God calls us to be perfect (Matt. 5:48), but at the same time knows that we all fall short sometimes. The good news is that this is the way that it is meant to be. God knows his people aren't always perfect, and he uses our imperfection to show his strength.
"26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."
-1 Corinthians 1:26-27
God uses imperfect people. He has called us to do things for His kingdom that reach far beyond our own means, so that we can rely on His strength. So let's get out there and show 'em what we've got!
Team on three!
One!
Two!
Three!
TEAM!
