It is July and that, generally speaking, has one main meaning for me... the start of the Tour de France. I love it, I love cycling. I used to race... a lot... and I loved it, and I just devoured anything I could find about bike racing.
And I said earlier that I love bike racing. I should probably say I loved bike racing... past tense. And it was the drugs that did it. I ended up racing with some guys who raced against the big names (think, Lance). And there was a massive gap between myself and these guys that was all due to natural talent. But then I watched those same guys barely hold onto the main group against the European pro's and it was obvious that something wasn't right.
And so I got disillusioned and I stopped racing...
But the other day I was watching the tour again and explaining the tactics being employed by the teams on a mountain stage. And my mother-in-law turned and said, 'wow, you really need a team to win this.' And that sentiment often comes as a surprise to people who only see the individual glory of the winner. They don't understand that there's a whole group of people blocking the wind for the leader, bringing the leader food, giving up a wheel or their bike to the leader if that's what's needed, sacrificing themselves so that somebody else can win.
So I actually got excited about the fundamentals of bike racing and I realized that it's a great analogy for how we are called to live as Christians.
We need a team. Our lives are going to be more enjoyable, more fulfilling, more an expression of love and caring when we have a community around us to share in our lives.
When we go it alone, we generally don't succeed. Watch any flat stage of a grand tour and you'll always see one guy or a couple of guys go off the front and try and launch a solo charge for the win. With few exceptions, these always fail. We are not called to live in isolation, but to live in relationships with others.
Sometimes we need to put others before ourselves. We can't all be the leader. Very often, we willing sacrifice our own wants and desires so that somebody else can achieve theirs. That's what true love and caring entails, putting others ahead of ourselves.
Sometimes our leaders are servants. Sometimes you will see a team leader give of himself to help a teammate win (this often is when the teammate is the stronger rider on the day, so the analogy kinda breaks apart here, but go with it..). Christ is our leader who gave himself for our sake. And that servant leadership is what we should aspire to.
So this whole post may be a 'Jesus Juke', but it was interesting to watch the Tour and think about how the interaction of the cyclists and the tactics being employed demonstrated so many real concepts about how I understand how we should act in our daily lives.
So did I got a step to far with this one? Or did I leave something out? Or do you really not care about cycling but would much rather hear my theories about football is popular because it reflects the way the world works?
I am going to be the speaker during the evening worship at a Christian youth camp tomorrow. The text for the evening is Hebrews 11:1-12:3, the cloud of witnesses. Using my newly learned skills with Animoto, I made a video to the song "The Power of One" (from the movie Evan Almighty). I'll be speaking of my love-hate relationship with that song, because it's only half true....I'm going to emphasize that while it is true that one person can make a difference, we are never really just one person. Everything we are and do is influenced by someone else and has an impact on someone else. We don't live in a vacuum--we're called to community, and we're made part of the community of Christ's body in our baptism....well, you get the idea. I know you do, Jonathan, because well, I don't know if they're "great" or not, but our minds often think alike! Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you're saying. We are called to be in relationship with each other, as Christ is in relationship with us. Our calling to is to proclaim the good news, and the whole notion of proclamation entails at least two people (or a person and nature if you happen to be St Francis...)
DeleteGood luck to you!
Thumbs up for the Tour de France! I've watched that amazing cycling event since I was 13 years old, it's really big in Madagascar. I completely understand you reasonings for teamwork and helping one another. Watching and listening to the different tactics being used by the teams seems kind of useless at first, but long term in the particular stage you really see how the tactics paid off. For me when I read your sentence "we can't all be leaders" it kind of made me wonder if I knew what the definition of leader was. I see leadership as someone setting an example, not always in the front lines, but someone people know would be there for support. Not a boss, but someone stepping in. A leader lets others utilize everyone's own gifts not limiting their potential. It's always up to whoever takes the initiative.
ReplyDeleteI get it, but wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts about football reflecting the way the world thinks. For me, one of the things I get out of a class like this where people share of themselves is just like what you point out about cycling - we aren't in this alone and sometimes when we are facing a hill or in need of a tire, someone's got us covered, someone is there to step in to help us along the way. Thanks for being that someone with your post.
ReplyDelete