My son is playing soccer for his school. It’s a school that’s located a bit away from the city we live in. Birmingham is funny that way. To someone who doesn’t live here, I refer to all the little cities as “Birmingham” but to someone who lives here, there’s: Mount Olive, Hoover, Avondale, Chelsea, Gardendale, etc. Kind of like burrows. All within a 20 mile radius, but still, all slightly different.
Well, we’ve been in our home for 7 years, we are members of a church in our community, my children have played sports at the local parks, the older kids graduated from the local high school, and when my soccer playing son, went to school (before being homeschooled and my husband’s passing) he went to the schools in our community. In other words, we LIVE in our community, but work and go to school elsewhere.
One of the first “away” games my son will play is at the local high school here, in the community we live in. So, that got me thinking. Because we’re geographically so close to home, my son will enjoy the support from some loved ones in the crowd. He’ll be on the “away” team, but on the turf he actually lives in, his home. I can’t help but draw parallels to our (believers) very similar situation.
We live here; like we reside in the world. We do groceries, have friends, love our families… here, on this side of eternity. But, we’re the away team. Our allegiance isn’t here, it’s with the “away” team, it should be with Jesus and our affections should be for our HOME. But, we’re the “away” team here.
Follow the analogy…
Sometimes we find ourselves in very difficult situations where it is obvious we’re the “away team,” there is strife, and just an overwhelming feeling that we are NOT welcomed. Like a powder keg waiting to blow up. The members of the opposing team are on edge, the parents, the coaches of the actual home team, are all making it very obvious that we are adversaries, and they are determined to come out on top. Those away games, keep us on our toes. We understand that we need to be polite, and courteous. We apply all of the skills that our very diligent grandparents taught us. Those “away games” make it so very obvious that we are the “away” team; therefore, as believers we better know that the only way to win the hearts and minds of the opposing community is to represent our team VERY, very well. (You following?) Sometimes, the more difficult the environment, the easier it is for a believer to understand their purpose.
The more alarming game for the away team, is where some members of the team can be so comfortable that the “away game” feels like home. When we are still the “away team” but the home turf, the home crowd, the players, heck, the entire environment can feel like “home”. That’s when we find ourselves in the most dangerous of positions… we get complacent. We can forget a rivalry exists. We can neglect to keep our guard up, and we can easily be blind sided because we did not keep our wits about us. We stopped competing, we stop discerning, we may even stop publicly standing for our “away” team because we don’t want to hurt the feelings of the home team’s crowd.
All this to say, believers, my brothers and sisters, this is not our home. It may feel like it, but it’s not.
The worst thing that can happen to us is that we look like, and act like the world. Do you know why? Because we should KNOW whose we are. We should live in ultimate truth. We are supposed to be salt and light, always pointing to truth, in love. Not resting on the temporary, but focusing on the permanent. If we were created in the image of God, and we are being sanctified to conform to the image of Christ, then we should gladly remain the “away team” in this world. Our allegiance should be so grounded, that even the most alluring things of this world: the acceptance of the world, the comforts of this world, are but vapor to us.
We’re only the “away team” for a short while. We will return Home.
And what a Homecoming that will be!