Saturday, August 20, 2011

A Picture of the Church...at the Skatepark

The other day, we were at the skate park and saw this guy (in the video below) trying to do a front flip on his scooter.  


But it's hard.  And scary.  

He tried over and over.  At first, he used a pad to land on.  Then he'd try it without the pad.  I dont personally know how much it hurts to land hard on a wood ramp...but I imagine it probably hurts.  

He was obviously scared, which I think is normal.  But these guys...they just do stuff afraid.  I've mentioned before how they are so inspiring to watch! 

Anyway, this guy would stop, take deep breaths, bend over his scooter and hang his head, and then he'd give it a try. He'd tell his buddy to remove the pad, and then he'd try again...and fail.  It was a whole process. 

But as I stood there watching, a mental picture began to unfold in front of me. A picture of the Church.  

On one hand, I saw the person doing something he had to do himself.  Nobody could do the front flip for him.  He was scared, but he stuck to it, even though he was getting knocked around quite a bit.  

On the other hand, I saw the crowd around him.  They were shouting encouragement to him...  

"You can do it"!  

"You almost got it"

"You're almost there!"  

"Just go for it!"  

This is exactly what our Christian family should look like.  Christian brothers & sisters gathered around someone who is struggling...shouting encouragement to him.  And they weren't just giving him lip-service...they all KNEW he could do the front flip if he just kept at it!  They had faith FOR him, when all he could feel was fear, frustration and uncertainty. 

When he finally did it, the whole place erupted in cheering and everyone ran towards him and hugged him. It was Awesome!  

Rejoice with those who rejoice... (Romans 12:15)

So with this metaphor in mind...take a look at the video...

 *If you've received this by email and can't see the video, go here to see this post online.


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  Hebrews 12:1