Trophies

 I'll never forget the feeling I had as a 10 year old upon being selected for my Little League all-star team. It wasn't expected. I wasn't a very good player then, almost all from a lack of self-confidence. Both of my older brothers were good players, I heard that a lot. They had trophies. I didn't have any. I knew they were good. I saw myself as anything but. Their trophies meant they "mattered." My lack meant, to me, that I didn't. Now I would. Though it ended up being just a small, cheap trinket, I kept it in my room for years. That's what we tend to do with trophies. We've been recognized, told that we matter, that we have value. The world is big on trophies and we're pressed heavily to pursue them, and not just in the secular realm, but in the realm of the Kingdom of God as well. And God is not the reason why. 

Marva Dawn, in her book, A Sense Of The Call, speaks to those who believe He has called them to labor in His Kingdom. She writes about this matter of "trophies." She quoted author and pastor Eugene Peterson and his writing on I Samuel 15, where King Saul has defeated the Amalekites. Saul had been directed to destroy every trace of this evil nation. Instead, he brought their king and the best of their livestock back to the Israelite camp. Peterson calls this, "a bold exhibition of trophies." Saul was God's anointed and chosen king, but he didn't feel this was enough. He needed more. He needed trophies. He needed the recognition of men. Dawn writes, "How easily we cuddle our accomplishments as a security blanket to remind us that we matter, instead of trusting God's assurance that we are His beloved." 

I'm no longer 10 years old, but I have far too often still coveted "trophies," even in my ministry. Not to impress the world directly, but to impress the world within the church....and within me. How thin is the line between our yearning for and our lusting for? The trophies we seek can take so many shapes. Bigger homes, fancier cars, more "things." Picturebook marriages, children that excel, win awards, get scholarships. The "next rung up" in the company....or in the ministry. And the biggest trophy of all is the applause of all those who are watching. We can become addicted to that, to the trophies. Really, there is only one "trophy" we are to seek; the cross of Christ. Most often, the only One who sees that is the Lord Himself.

I'm not speaking against giving our all to the work of the Kingdom or wanting to see fruit from it, but the burning desire to add more "Agag's and his livestock" to our collection will cut us off from experiencing what it is to know the joy of being His beloved. When we have this, all the cheap tinsel that men can offer won't matter because we're secure in the knowledge that we are His and we're His beloved. The trophies we offer Him are invisible to this world, but precious to Him. Love, faithfulness, obedience, humility, surrender. May we yield all our cheap trinkets for the surpassing joy of knowing and living for Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O