Do Not Defect

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Every year, my company holds a cross-department competition called Be-A-Star. There are no department lines drawn, in fact, you could belong to any team that you wanted with no restrictions or assignments. Never one to shy away from friendly competition, I jumped into the contest with both feet.

About halfway through the year, I couldn’t help but notice something…our team had greatly increased in number of participants. Hmm, seemed a bit odd. Apparently, each week, we would adopt some straggler who would join from a less successful team in hopes of becoming part of the “winning side”. I couldn’t believe my eyes or what was going on. Where was the loyalty? The moment your team started losing, you jump ship? Ridiculous.

Matthew 28:18
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” – NIV

Here is a simple fact of life: No one likes to end up on the losing side. In any contest, if we can clearly see who will win ahead of time, it is quite likely who will inherit our support. Nobody wants to identify with the losers. No one wants to go down with the ship.

Fortunately, as Christians, this is a problem that we know nothing about. We know good and well who the ultimate winner will be. We know, and are secure in our knowledge, that we sided with the One who has all authority over the battle itself.

But, every now and then, it seems to look like the world is winning in the short term and we must be patient for the final minutes of the game when the Lord’s victory will become apparent. Where we must stay loyal, where we must stay strong, is in THIS life. We must resist the urge to switch to the “apparent” winning team of the moment. We must play our game focused on its end and refuse to support both sides.