When coaching basketball the goal is to keep the players focus on the game plan and good of the team. Yet it is a sport that makes it easy for players to focus on personal achievement and acknowledgement.
John Wooden would not allow the names of the players to be put on the back of their jerseys so he could remind them that the only name that mattered was on the front of the jersey. Although he had some of the most gifted players on the planet, he emphasized that UCLA was the “star.”
We have been studying the book of Acts at church and it amazes me how focused the early church was. Christ was always the “star” of the “team.” No matter what was going on they came back to proclaiming Christ!
In chapter 4 we see that the Holy Spirit’s power was so great that the house was shaken. Yet in response the believers didn’t shout about the shaking, they shouted about the Word of God.
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
My good friend Roy Mason has been leading this journey through Acts and made a great observation. Before Saul was named Paul he always received “second billing”; every time he is mentioned it is “Barnabas and Saul.” Yet after Paul was prepared for ministry the tone changes and it is “Paul and Barnabas.” May not seem like a big deal to most but it says a lot about Barnabas as a team player. He did not care who the “star” was.
Dr Mason gives a very simple philosophy for us as a church/team. “It is amazing how much can be accomplished if we don’t care who gets the credit!”
Remember that the “name on the front of your jersey”: is that of CHRISTian. You should be concerned with Christ and His Word getting the glory!
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