Intersections: Where Faith Meets Life – by Bob Weathers

He had announced it, and the world anticipated it. Then it happened. In front of an adoring crowd of 24,000, on Sept. 4, Andre Agassi was defeated at the U.S. Open, and his defeat not only removed him from the courts of Flushing Meadows but also ushered him into his declared retirement.

Bob Weathers

And as the raucous throng stood and applauded and wept, Agassi said farewell: “The scoreboard says that I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn’t say is what I have found. Over the last 21 years, I have found loyalty; you have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I have found inspiration; you have willed me to succeed, sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I have found generosity; you have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could have never reached without you.”

Wow. And when the weeping stopped and the applause grew silent and a great athlete had exited center court for the last time, only one thought remained: Wouldn’t it be great if life were like that for everyone? Not the fame. That’s not what I mean. But the support. The love. The throng that cheers you on and never gives up on you. Wouldn’t that be extraordinary?

Of course it would. And shouldn’t that be the church? Of course it should. We should be those people, whose arms uphold our siblings in Christ, whose shoulders support the weight of men and women striving to rebuild broken lives. That should be the church. Unequal love. Unconditional support. Uncommon restoration.

But for us, the scoreboard often tallies a different reality. Hurting people, lost people, broken people come to find help and hope. But instead of loyalty, they find rejection. Instead of inspiration, they find discouragement. Instead of generosity – grace – they find stingy people, unwilling to love without boundaries.

So what is our problem? We have forgotten our standard. “Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2).

Do that, and the church will be the place where the throngs rally and cheer on the faithful, and the words of those who leave the stage will always be, “Thank you for loving me.”