A Reflection on Cheerleading

Fall. A season synonymous with many things. For some, it is pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks. For me, and those like me, it is the season of the MLB playoffs. And for others, it is football season, whether professional, college, or high school.

And that is where i want to go with this today. High School football. I attended a local game last night between two of the schools i regularly substitute teach for, and it got me thinking about Christian things.

You see, if you have ears at a football game (especially college or high school), you can’t help but hear the cheerleaders chanting down in front of the home stands. And if you have a heart, you start to feel bad for those girls down there. They cheer their hearts out, but no one cheers with them.
(This was different in my college experience because we got crazy and i often felt like we cheered more than the cheerleaders, but it was what i witnessed last night at the high school game.)

The cheerleaders were screaming at one point–as part of their routine–“Get up! Cheer!” It was as though they were calling on the crowd to join them. And when no one followed their call to cheer, I’m sure at least one of them was wondering, “Why do i even do this? No one cares. It’s cold. It’s miserable. We’re losing badly. Why am i out here doing this?”

But i can tell you why cheerleaders do it. They do it because if they don’t do it, then their coach will be upset with them. Additionally, it is in their name. Cheerleaders lead cheers. Obviously! To live up to their calling and their coach’s expectation, they must cheer.

Cheerleading led me to reflect on myself. I often wonder, “What’s the point of writing? No one cares. No one reads it. I pour my heart and soul into this and pass up on fun, relaxing, social time i could be having for nothing it seems. Why do i keep writing?” (NaNoWriMo is just around the corner…)

But this led me to even more important thoughts. Paul wrote something important in 1 Corinthians 9:16b.

And woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!

For the Christian who truly believes what the Bible says, he or she sees a perfect comparison between his or her calling in life and a cheerleading squad that has no one following them.

Just like the cheerleader who stops cheering will “get killed” (for lack of a better phrase) by her coach, so also Paul says that it would be better for him to die than to stop preaching the Gospel. Just like the word “cheerleader” has her job description contained within its eleven letters, so also the Christian has her job description contained within her nine-letter name.

What did Christ primarily do during His ministry on earth? That’s right.

Mark 1:14-15
Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the [Gospel] of God:  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the [Gospel]!”

my exposition of the above text can be found here.

If we are going to live up to our name, we must preach the Gospel. Even when people ignore us. We must always preach the Gospel. And to do so, we must use words!

This is why i write. Everything i write–in some way–ties back to the Gospel. Whether it’s a blog article, or a novel, or a theological work, or a new rap song/album, woe is me if it doesn’t tie back to the Gospel!

And even if people ignore it, i must keep proclaiming the truth of the Gospel.

You don't need three steps to a better life,
better future, better career, better friends, better wife
Or even twelve steps to better deal with strife,
deal with stress, deal with debt, deal with death
The One you need is Jesus--of this i am sure
Cuz you got a terminal disease (sin)--He has the cure
...

In this with you.

Soli Deo Gloria
Solus Christus
Sola Scriptura
Pro Ecclesia

Thanks for reading.