Join the Team This Instant!

Join the Team

I often have a recurring dream. It goes something like this:

I’m back on my high school volleyball team. My teammates are all around me. We’re either practicing or playing a game. There’s a lot of running, jumping, and sweating. The plot can be as thrilling as me issuing the game-winning spike, or as excruciating as me failing miserably to serve the ball OVER the net because I’ve completely lost all upper body strength (sadly, reality can seep into my dreams).

The girls’ volleyball team was not the priority of the North Salem High athletic department. We had decent uniforms, but the football team was the group that scored the sweet jerseys. On the front was their carefully chosen number with our mascot name in screaming red across the top: VIKINGS. And printed boldly on the back in black was their individual last name. How cool would that have been? CARLSON 07. Well, maybe I’ll dream about our jerseys next.

I’ve noticed that I seem to have this dream when, in real life, I am feeling lonely and craving community. Being a member for three years of the varsity volleyball team defined my concept of community, and it was a good one. I liked being a team member. (It didn’t matter that we weren’t a winning team…we were a TEAM!) It allowed me to experience a bit of life as God intended it.

Have you ever considered your team? Who in your life has got your back, and whose back will you get … whether you want to or not?

See, I didn’t choose my team members. My coach did. I didn’t argue; I accepted the position I was assigned, and practiced until I excelled. I strove to be the best middle hitter so that, combined with my teammates’ talents, we would enjoy success together.

Who has the Coach placed in your life? If He assigned you a jersey with your name on the back, and “Believer” on the front, how would you approach your role in the Body? Would you sit on the bench and watch, claiming you’ve lost your upper body strength? Or, would you pick up a dumbbell and start lifting again, so as to bring unity among the team and honor to our Coach?

“The name on the back of your jersey is not nearly as important as the one on the front.” Herb Brooks, the Minnesota coach who led the U.S. hockey team to the "Miracle on Ice" victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 (emphasis mine)