The sport of rugby has been frequently on my mind for the past two months. At almost 30 years of age, I will play my first season of competitive rugby this spring.
I knew very little about this sport, other than what I had seen from watching a collective total of about 30-minutes on television. I played football for many years, and what I saw in rugby was essentially American football without pads. The more I learn about the game of rugby, the more I find out how wrong I was in such an assumption.
American football actually grew out of rugby. When rugby came across the Atlantic from the British isles in the mid-19th century, various changes were made to resemble what we now see in our football games. But good old fashioned rugby has maintained a presence -- albeit much, much smaller -- in the U.S. to this very day.
As I learn the basic laws (yes, they're called "laws," not "rules") and strategies of rugby, I am fascinated to see how much skill, mental focus, and tactical savvy are required to be successful on the rugby pitch (football fans would say "field").
One of the reasons rugby is such a great game that can be enjoyed by anyone is the wide array of skill sets and body types that are fit for competition. Though rugby players are bigger, stronger, and faster than they have ever been, you will still see players who range from hulks to featherweights. Of course, when one of those featherweights gets cornered by one of those hulks, the results usually end up as a bone-crunching highlight on YouTube. Nonetheless, when one of those little guys breaks out into the open, those monstrous front-liners have no chance at running him down.
Rugby is a game that is based on teamwork -- 15 men performing their widely varying roles as individuals with the ultimate goal of helping their fourteen teammates emerge victorious at the end of the game. Usually, the side that plays with the strongest concept of teamwork emerges victorious at the end of 80 minutes.
Thinking about this reminds me of Paul's God-breathed words to the church of first century Corinth (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Just as a rugby club is made up of many members with varying abilities and duties, the body of Christ (i.e. the church of Christ, Ephesians 1:22-23) is made up of many individual members. Each man and woman whom the Lord has added to the church (Acts 2:47) is vital in the growth and harmony thereof.
Rugby teams filled with selfish players rarely win. Churches filled with self-absorbed, uncaring people are far from what the Lord designed. Are you a member of the Lord's body? If so, are you helping or hindering your spiritual family from attaining "the prize of the upward call" (Philippians 3:14)?
Is your attendance at the assemblies of the church encouraging others in their faithfulness? Is your participation in the evangelistic efforts of the church encouraging the participation of others? Is your giving enabling the church to expand their reach in carrying out "the great commission?" Do your words and attitudes serve to edify (build up) the individual members of your church family?
These and other questions will help you and me in determining the manner in which we are helping (or hindering) the growth of the local body of Christ.
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