The Final Score

Yes, sports and games are supposed to be fun, but let's set aside all this nonsense about winning doesn't matter. I always tell the kids on my little league teams that we have three goals: to learn; to have fun; to win. Winning is not the only goal in sports but it is an important one.

If you took a survey of Major League Baseball players and asked them if they would play for less money if the team they committted to was guaranteed to win the World Series, I believe a healthy majority would say yes. Just ask Alex Rodriguez of the evil empire (sorry, Yankee fans) what his opinion is on the question. 2 years ago he was ready to agree to a trade from the Texas Rangers to the Boston Red Sox. The players' union ended up blocking the trade because it would have reduced his salary. Fast forward to the end of the 2004 season and look at his face as the Red Sox celebrated their victory over the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The disappointment was written deep on his face. In the end, he didn't care about his final stats or his bank balance, he only cared that the final score showed his team didn't win the World Series.

The good news of the Kingdom of Christ is we already know the final score. Jesus wins! So it only makes sense to play every inning of our lives for Christ. It doesn't matter what personal accomplishments we achieve or how much money or stuff we accumulate, it only matters that we contributed to the winning team.

There is no better feeling in sports than the on the field celebration right after the championship has been won and knowing you helped make it happen. I want that experience when the final score of life is displayed on the scoreboard of the universe. I won't care about anything except knowing I was a contributing member of the winning team and I'll be lining up to praise our captain and King! We know the final score, so let's get in the game!