Cheering for the Other Guy!

One of the surprise entries in this year's World Cup is the soccer team from North Korea. This is only the second time that a team from North Korea has qualified to play in soccer's premier event. So, given the rarity of the opportunity to cheer for your own team, have North Koreans traveled to South Africa in droves? No. When the cost of the air fare alone is about 100 times what the average North Korean makes in a year and when it is almost next to impossible to get permission to leave the communist country, few North Koreans will be in the stands to cheer the boys on. So who will? The Chinese! The Associated Press reports that North Korean officials have offered most of their allocated tickets for each game to neighboring China, which does not have a team in the tournament. So according to the AP report, "about 1,000 Chinese dancers and musicians are among fans recruited to cheer for North Korea, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency." So if you are wondering who's tooting the vuvuzellas for North Korea, think "Chinese!"

As I was reflecting on this rather odd situation, the following verse from the book of Romans came to mind: "Honor one another above yourselves" (Romans 12:10). Now I don't know the motivation of these Chinese who are in the stands cheering on the North Koreans, but it is a good picture of what we all should be doing as local churches. Far too often, local churches see themselves in competition with other local churches. Instead of competing with one another and being envious when another local church is growing in its mission and ministry impact, we should celebrate when the gospel is advancing. And this is also true for us as individual believers (who grow jealous when God uses someone else in a "greater" way than He appears to be using us).  Let's put aside the petty envy and jealousy. Let's determine to "cheer on the other guy!"

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj