I love this game!!

I love football for the beauty of teamwork. It’s most delightful thing to see the players creating a flow with the passing of the ball. The end result of a flow may not always turn out to be a goal, but it surely brings much excitement and anticipation, even building the momentum in favour of the team.

(Now, I know I’m putting my writing career in risk by talking about football… but please, there’s a value to this…)

A successful team has teamwork. And that’s not easy to have, considering the fact that a team consists of many individuals. Team members come from different training backgrounds, speak different languages, have different time perspectives, strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has a different say as to how things are done. And that’s where rules, coaches and manager come in. The rules are there to make sure players are living a healthy lifestyle, and the coaches are there to build the foundation for skill, technique, and stamina… The manager’s job is to create strategies that will fully utilize the squad’s ability. The players’ role are to abide in the rules, work to improve, follow the game plan and give their all.

Everyone in the team play a different role. But one thing everyone has in common is the desire to be the best in what they do - winning. And for that to happen, they must work together. Because in football, everything that needs to be done has to be done together. No time to look down on each other, no one can stand-alone. You can’t leave the defending to just the defenders and goalkeeper, nor can the strikers attack without the support of the rest of the team. You can’t win without defending, not can you win without scoring goals…

Being in a team is about supporting each other to reach one goal. There’s no room or time to look down upon each other, be prideful and wanting things done your way. It’s about covering for a teammate’s weakness and assist the improvement process. It’s about understanding and learning from each other’s strengths. It’s about continuously improving one’s self in order to be contribution to the team. It’s about learning to work together as a team.

Now, a football team sure does have a lot of similarity with the Kingdom of God, doesn’t it?

I see God’s calling upon my life as a football player chosen to be in a football match. 90 minutes on the clock. Have I done enough to be prepared for the game? Have I trained well, developed my skill and stamina? Do I understand my teammates? Do they understand me? Do I know the instructions given to me? It’s no time to be selfish now, no time to be a show-off. I refuse to be self-sufficient. That isn’t the way it’s meant to be!! It’s too tiring to carry a burden that’s meant to be shared. I need to trust my teammates; I need to pass the ball.

I need to pass the ball…