Who Do You Play For?

By Grant Gaines

One of my favorite movies of all time is the Disney movie Miracle. The movie covers the journey of the incredible, “you-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it” true story of the 1980 USA hockey team who eventually took down what was inarguably the greatest hockey team of all time – the Soviet Russians in the gold medal game during the height of the Cold War.

Of course, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the American team. As you could imagine with a collection of hot-blooded, young, feisty, male college athletes (many of whom played for rival teams in college before playing for team USA), there was quite a bit of drama when the team first came together.

In one particular instance, two former rivals got in a fist fight at practice and Coach Herb Brooks decided his team needed to go through some formal introductions to try to break the ice. He asked the players for their names, where they were from, and who they played for.

Player after player answered this question in the same way – their name, where they were from, and what college they played for.

Fast forward several weeks later to a grueling conditioning practice that immediately followed an exhibition game against Norway in which they got destroyed. Coach Brooks wanted to know the same three questions from his players – what’s your name, where are you from, and who do you play for. In between each sprint, the players had the opportunity to answer those three questions. The sprints went on and on and on until finally one of the team’s key players, Mike Eruzione, understood what Coach Brooks was looking for. Eruzione, in between gasping breathes, said one of the most famous lines of the movie-

“Mike Eruzione, Winthrop, Massachusetts”

Coach Brooks then asked, “Who do you play for?”

After a long pause, Eruzione answered, “I play for… The United States of America!

After that answer, Coach Brooks immediately ended practice. His collection of talented but individual players finally became a team because of that answer right there. They were no longer playing for whatever college they had come from, they were playing for something greater…for the United States of America.

As long as the team was concerned with who they were, where they were from, and what college team they played for, they were no more than a collection of talented players who got along like oil and water. However, as soon as they realized that they were no longer just playing for themselves, their hometowns, or their schools but rather for a bigger cause – for a common cause – they became the team that took down the Goliath known as the Soviet Russian hockey team.

You can probably guess where I’m going with this blog, can’t you? Just like the USA hockey team, as long as we as Christians are more focused on what church we go to, what denomination we are a member of, or who our pastor is, we are no more than a collection of talented individuals (spiritual gifts) who cannot accomplish anything worthwhile. However, once we leave our selfishness behind and realize that being a member at First Baptist Church isn’t nearly as important as being a member of the universal Body of Christ with the common goal of making God’s name great, we become the church that Christ talked about in Matthew 16:18 (NIV) when He said of the church that, “…the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

A thriving, victorious, and contagious church that cannot be stopped by any scheme of the Enemy is available at our finger tips with the introduction of one key ingredient – unity.

Unity is THE major theme of Christ’s final prayer before being arrested and sent to the Cross in John 17. His dying request was that the Father would lead His children (you and I) into a united, kindred spirit that would be unshakable so that the world might truly believe in the message we preach.

Unity is also THE major reoccurring topic that Paul continually came back to time and time again in the letters he wrote to the churches he planted. In fact, in every one of his letters-13 in all – he always stressed the idea of unity to his disciples and church congregation. In Ephesians 4:15-16 (NIV) he even went so far as to essentially say that the only way the Body of Christ (the church) can grow is if, “…each part [or person] does its work” which obviously requires unity.

Just as the only way the Americans could defeat the Russians was if they first came together under the common purpose of playing for something greater than themselves, the same could be said about us. The only way we as believers can defeat the cultural backsliding, prevalent evil, and moral decay that is occurring all around us is to realize that we are living for a purpose greater than our own. That purpose is to know God and to make Him known.

The reason this objective isn’t always accomplished as effectively as it should be is because we tend to prioritize our opinions over the truth thus creating disunity. We tend to focus more on what type of music is being played, how the pastor is dressed, or what version of the Bible the church has in the bookstore rather than the only thing that really matters – Jesus. We tend to focus more on what “I” think rather than what the “I AM” commands.

So what’s the solution? We simply view our lives through the lenses that we’re not on earth for our own glory; we’re here for the Lord’s glory. When you put life into that perspective, small inconveniences or annoyances born from opinions that don’t align with ours suddenly lose their “bite” and we’re able to live a life completely sold out for God’s glory. You’re either going to “play” for yourself, or for the Lord.

Who do you play for?