kickball

Mr. Irrelevant Strikes Back

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They’re baaaaaack.

That’s right. The NFL Draft has returned, and all those wonderful commentators have come back to give their pick-by-pick analysis all the way from the very first player selected in the first round to the very last player selected in the final round (ignominiously known as Mr. Irrelevant).

There have been some great picks (like Denver selecting Paxton Lynch in the first round) and some head-scratchers (a kicker in the second round?)

If you’re actually paying attention to all this, you know that we still have rounds 4-7 left tomorrow. Then last but not least is Mr. Irrelevant himself.

I love that in the kingdom of God there’s no such thing as Mr. Irrelevant. Every person is important because every person matters to God.

Many of you probably know what it’s like to feel irrelevant. You can be in the middle of a group and feel totally left out of a conversation. Or you could be the only one not invited to a get-together where later everyone who was there shares photos through all the social media outlets.

I love the fact that when God chose you, it wasn’t because you were the only one left. It wasn’t like He got you because He was stuck with you, like the team captain with the last pick in kickball.

God was intentional and purposeful when He made you. He was just as deliberate in choosing you. God wants and desires a relationship with you that will bring out your very best self.

There is never a moment that goes by when you are not on God’s mind and in God’s heart. Never. Remember that when you feel forgotten and abandoned by everyone else in your life.

As for Mr. Irrelevant, some actually ended up making an NFL team. A few even ended up in the Super Bowl. Not bad for the last man chosen.

 

The Biggest Loser

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“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

I remember back in elementary school at recess, I always dreaded the selection process. That’s when the team captains (usually the most popular and most athletic) chose teams. I generally was picked near the end.

But what’s really bad was to be the one not chosen. The one that the first team captain said to the other, “Oh, you can have him (or her). I’ve got all the people I want.”

To be chosen last is bad enough. But to not be chosen at all is worse. Nobody wants to feel left out or unwanted. Everybody at some level wants to be appreciated and validated and acknowledged for their own unique gifts and talents.

Jesus wanted you. Jesus wanted me. He picked you and me, not because He had to, but because He wanted us. He wants us to be a part of his team and to be a part of the work he’s doing.

God picked those who are considered foolish and weak. God picked the nobodies of the world. Look at the twelve disciples. Most leaders would have picked the cream of society and the smartest, prettiest, powerful people around. Not Jesus. He picked fishermen and radicals and tax collectors, none of whom had much of an education.

That’s comforting. At least to me.

It’s also a warning. If we get caught up in how wise we think we are, God might just send someone to confound our wisdom. If we get too hung up on our own strength, God just might send some to shame us. And if we strut around thinking how great we are, God might just send a few nobodies to adjust our perspective.

But for most of us most of the time, it’s good to know that Jesus wants us around. He wants to use people exactly like you and me to reach the world, to be the people to be his hands and feet, to take this great message of reconciliation and hope to those who need it most.

To the world, you may be a nobody. You may never win any awards or make millions of dollars or make any who’s who lists. But in God’s eyes, you are a treasure beyond price. You are worth every drop of Jesus’ blood. You are the apple of your Abba’s eye. You are the Beloved.

I don’t know about you, but that’s enough for me.

PS Thanks again to Mike Glenn for inspiring this blog.