On the Bench

Anyone who has ever played sports know that the place you least want to be is on the bench. You practice every week, honing your skills and technique, hoping for a chance to hit the winning basket or make the touchdown catch as the clock runs down to zero. It makes me think about some of my own endeavors in sports and life. I remember playing soccer forever, and being good at it, it came naturally. I was a striker, and loved being on the offense, being the aggressor. Sometimes I was asked by my coach to play other positions, sometimes we needed help on defense, sometimes goalie, but I always accepted that I went where I was needed.

I bring all of this up just to expose a scary thought that is more real than most are willing to accept. Too many of us that are Christ followers are too willing to "sit on the bench" than to actually get in the game and make a difference. Every week I get to serve other people at church, and many times it ends up blessing me more than them it seems, but I would have never known these things unless I would have gotten off the bench. I was a church consumer: easy, non committal, and unfruitful. I took so much more than I gave, we are called to be givers. Isaiah 6:8 says And then I heard the voice of the Master: "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" I spoke up, "I'll go. Send me!" This isn't the talk of someone riding the bench, coasting through life. This is someone just coasting, Isaiah stood up and volunteered his service, not knowing what we was going to be getting in to, he just know that he was being asked to do something.

I continue to struggle with pushing, continuing to be moving forward and not stagnantly waiting for life to happen to me. I encourage everyone to find ways to get off the bench, don't trade your opportunity to serve others for a seat that gets you nowhere. This week marks my 1 year anniversary of serving, and I can tell you that I have grown more this past year, than the previous 30 riding the bench.