[NATE SOLDER, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS. Photo: 247sports.com]
"Fight the good fight of the faith! Cling to the eternal life you were called to when you confessed the good confession before witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12, The Voice)
It is good to not want a Sunday-only Christianity.
It is better to be dissatisfied with going through the motions.
It is better still to crave the real deal, the "Christ in you the hope of glory" sort of lifestyle, that is neither a put-on or plastic, that is neither perfect or holier-than-thou, but that wears the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the pains and joys, and the highlights and routines of life on your sleeve with the blessed Hope of Christ sewn in practically and yet supernaturally.
There is a word for that:
Authentic.
Merriam-Webster probably didn’t realize it was being prophetic, but its definition in real-world terms has shockingly good implications for Christ-ones: “Conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.”
Yes, to follow and reflect the Original—that’s it!
But what would that look like, and especially what would that look like on my sleeve or yours?
For one thing, to desire an authentic, Christ-one life is to desire your life to make a difference above and beyond the people you get to see and befriend in church on any given Sunday morning; the people and places that fill Monday through Saturday.
To, somehow, “reproduce essential features” of the Original, for the greater good or simply for the good of one.
And then to know that it is and will always be a fight—a resistance, especially within, that is relentless.
Authenticity fights night and day with the temptation we don’t like to admit: to slack off, to become indifferent, to put this Walk on cruise control, let somebody else run with it, and pretty much fade into the crowd.
No wonder Paul kept reminding Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith.”
There is the daily, personal battle that must be fought, but the greater pursuit of authentic living is not meant to be flown solo but with the strength and encouragement of other like-minded hikers along the Journey.
And stick close, even if it’s just one or two others.
Together, fighting means not having the biggest howitzers under your t-shirt but to resist those relentless forces of "who-cares?" through prayer and declarations of Truth-filled praise, and plain old fashioned encouragement that will set ambushes in places we can’t see and send them fleeing. Together, it means “doing everything you can to present yourself to God as a man who is fully genuine [authentic], a worker unashamed of your mission, a guide capable of leading others along the correct path defined by the Word of Truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
..."I go through my ups and downs. I'm a broken human being and I have flaws and my struggles, and God's the one that's consistent. God's the one that carries me through. And I'm so thankful for Jesus Christ and the things He's done in my life.”
In a way, Nate Solder is larger than life. He’s 6 feet 8 inches tall. He weighs more than 300 pounds. But not long after scoring his first-ever NFL touchdown on his first-ever pass reception, on a trick play during the 2014 AFC championship game against Indianapolis (pictured above), seemingly larger than life Nate was diagnosed with cancer. No plastic smiley-face Christian response for the world to see. He laughed, he worried, he went through the gamut of emotions, He leaned hard on God, His Word, and the “like-minded hiker” that is his wife Lexi. He fought the relentless force that whispered “you’re done, you’ll never play again,” and he came back healthy, ready to go for the 2015 season.
And they all lived happily ever after. Until Nate suffered a season-ending arm injury in October of that year, followed days later by the news that Nate and Lexi’s infant son Hudson had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. In God’s mysterious and loving schedule and ways, the arm injury allowed Nate time to spend with Hudson and Lexi during their season of tremendous need.
And while the young boy laughed on his way to the hospital, mom and dad cried and wondered what in the world was happening to their world. But together, they leaned harder on God and His Word, and fought with friends the ever-relentless force that whispered, “this is not going to end well.” And Hudson came through his first treatments well and is progressing...
“We know how much we’re struggling, but people see the way God is carrying us through, the joy that it brings knowing we have an eternal destiny that’s far beyond what’s here on earth. We know we’re not alone in our suffering, and that our suffering is for a reason.”
(from interview with Charles Chandler, billygraham.org)
Tonight in Minneapolis, the two best teams in the NFL will meet for a final showdown. Both are well-represented by authentic Christ-ones who have each other's backs in seeking to conform to their Original beyond Sunday morning. And for that, God will be cheering.
Mere mortals like us, however, tend not to be neutral. Not in New England. And I love that Nate Solder is on “my” team because he’s really good at what he does, and that even after tonight, when my own fight gets weary at times in the weeks and months ahead, I will be glad that Nate is still on my team—the one that gets to stay together forever and ever, amen. Glad not just for keeping Patriots opponents at bay so that TB12 can “do your job,” but as an example of what “conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features” looks like on this Journey.
It will mean watching the Super Bowl tonight with the usual anticipation but also through a different lens, especially when #77 comes into the picture. There, I will see an “authentic” model, or in the words of the Scottish revivalist Duncan Campbell:
“To me, it has been a source of great comfort and strength in the day of battle, just to remember that the secret of steadfastness, and indeed, of victory is the recognition that the Lord is at hand!”
