I walked across Charger Field last week. It was a beautiful day with full sun and not much wind. I was struck by the scoreboard as I approached the 50 yard line. It was turned off. There was no score. There was no competition. I found myself thinking about how this life would be so wonderful if this were always the case.
Unfortunately, in nearly every corner I hear my neighbors talking in terms of “us” and “them”. From political rhetoric to racial injustice, policing, public heath, to school policies, and so much more I hear people dismissing one another. The labels of “winners” and “losers” is a theme that runs through our discourse. Unlike the empty scoreboard on the football field, we keep score and are constantly doing so. It is as if there is an enemy made every time we have a disagreement. We have become a culture of opponents on ever narrowing teams working to win whatever argument is before us.
I am not surprised by this. Who doesn’t want to win? We feel good about ourselves when we rely on our achievements, wit, or ability to sneak one past the quarterback. Winners are rewarded and get cool things to display for their efforts. Winners get bragging rights. Losers don’t get the podium.
I drop my children off at the Goodridge School every morning and they walk by trophy cases. There are pictures of sports teams that went to state tournaments and spirit sticks awarded to cheerleading squads. A large plaque dominates the wall over the stairs leading to the elementary wing noting individual academic honors. In the music room they can view band and choir trophies. These symbols are blessed moments in the life of many individuals and teams.
I suspect the Goodridge School has had to thin out their trophy collection through the years. The first place trophies are displayed but what about the 6th, 7th, and 8th place ones? I imagine they are kept boxed somewhere, probably in the old lunch room under the little gym. When culture puts so much emphasis on winning outright and space is at a premium decisions are made and some things are tucked away.
I have received my own share of awards over the years. I have slowly discarded most of them. It hasn’t made sense to keep much less display them. In a box in my basement there is a single trophy. I earned it for “Excellence in Informative Speaking” at a National Speech tournament when I was in college. I keep it more for the memories I made on the bus trip between Moorhead and Shreveport, Louisiana.
Entering into healthy competition, we know that how we play the game is important. All the trophies and awards displayed in schools and homes speak to a lot of hard work. They are testaments to discipline and fair play. They are reminders of excellence through teamwork and grit. Winning to win isn’t a goal most of us have. We know someone will always come in second.
The desire to win and be right in this current season has brought with it a deficit of grace, compassion, and care for the neighbor. We have become more polarized in this last year. Family and friends aren’t speaking to one another. Anger, frustration, and mistrust surround us so much that we don’t engage in healthy debate. Defining relationships based on “us” and “them” and “winners” and “losers” may make us feel better and superior but it neglects the reality of how we are called by God into relationship with one another.
Psalm 23 say: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Imaging the table of the Lord, with God at the head, you have place of honor in front of whomever you consider your enemy. This is a powerful image and gives great comfort. Yet we are called to remember that this promise isn’t given only to “us”. It is also given to “them”. The table of the Lord is a table set for enemies. It is set for the other. It is set for “losers”.
The reality of what God is doing in the world is often challenging. It may be comforting to have the score board ever before us keeping track of points, noting when we get the best of those we define as enemies. It may be that we look at our neighbors and say, “Yes, but their sin is greater than mine!” St. Paul tells us in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” God doesn’t make distinctions when it comes to sin. None of us would need a savior if we were able to be wholly righteous before the throne of God.
Keeping score through this season we get the opponents wrong. We are not the home team, God is. The world and everyone in it is the visiting team. When God looked at this world God saw our sin. God saw a people who were broken and God sent the Son that we might receive forgiveness and hope.
Called to look on our neighbors in a new way, Jesus says in Luke 6:35, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.” Jesus calls us to invest in relationships with our siblings in Christ, recognizing we are not more or less than in the kingdom of God.
The command to love one another doesn’t mean we can’t argue and strive together for a better world. We have ideas, hopes, and dreams for our families and our communities that require work and patience. We will wrestle following God into the future God is making. Can we do so in love and with love in our hearts? Can we look on those with whom we have disagreements as beloved of God? When we spend our time and energy making distinctions between one another and keeping score, we forget what really matters. This life will pass away. Our status and the symbols we hold up as proof of winning will crumble. With the cross of Christ before us, we know the trophy that really matters is God’s! There is no “us” versus “them”. When God calls us, there is only the multitude that cannot be counted gathered before the throne of the Most High!
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