GOD AND THE WORLD CUP: ALL IN

What does it mean to be all in?  In the 2014 Futball (soccer) World Cup games in Brazil, Adidas's marketing slogan is “All in or nothing.”  Adidas spent millions on its World Cup advertising around that slogan.  In the same month of June (2014) “All In” was spelled out in bold letters on the cover of The Salvation Army’s USA national magazine, The War Cry, with a subtitle “Why settle for less than the Spirit’s full measure?” All In was the same words, but with different meaning.  It was their way of announcing the lead article on God’s greatest desire for humanity, holiness and intimacy with Him.  What does it mean to be spiritually all in?

Recently I reread General Frederick Coutts classic work, Call To Holiness (1957).  In the first paragraph of the last chapter (p. 103), Coutts offers a clear, practical definition of holiness:

Christian holiness may be defined as the whole man redirected   towards the highest spiritual end – that is, likeness to Christ, and in this he is granted the continual help of the Holy Spirit.

Coutts states on the page just before (p.102) the condition or contingency that makes holiness possible with all the possibilities that follow:

All the wonder and glory of the life of holiness awaits the full surrender of the forgiven heart to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

In world cup football (soccer) every team member must be all in.  There must be a full surrender of every individual player to the collective interests of the team.  Each player must be all in and all players must be all in with hearts completely consecrated to the goal of winning.  

When Coutts uses the language of full surrender of the forgiven heart to the presence and power of God’s Spirit, he is talking the same language of being all in.  Holiness is a matter of a whole heart by faith being completely surrendered and open to God’s great desire for humanity.  His great desire is for us to realize the highest spiritual end, likeness to Christ.  As Coutts proclaims, the good news is that God makes possible the continual help of the Holy Spirit.  In others words, God is all in too.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all in and committed to helping us to be like Christ and filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19).

So, are you all in?

ALL IN: PURSUING COMPETENCE AND CHARACTER

When I was a young graduate student I was blessed by a great job in the summers as the program director of The Salvation Army’s Camp O’Wood in the mountains outside of Tucson, Arizona.  The purpose of Salvation Army camps is to help children from poor neighborhoods to 1) have a wholesome week at camp learning new skills thereby strengthening their personal sense of competence and self-esteem, and 2) grow in their character.  By character is meant growing to know Jesus Christ and be like him.  The development of children’s competence and character in Jesus’ name was the collective aspiration of the entire camp staff from the cabin counselors to the kitchen cooks.

Years later I found myself in another great job as the president of an excellent Christian university devoted to the further development of student’s competence and character.  They were developing competence in their chosen field preparing to enter the professional work world.  They were also developing and deepening their walk with Christ in their character after the Lord’s likeness.  Much of what I had learned in the early days at camp about child development of competence and character pertained years later to the university setting.  It takes everyone in the enterprise to get the job done.

I remember having coffee one morning with the university’s housekeeping staff.  These were mostly women none of whom had university education.  They cleaned the residence halls beginning at four o’clock in the morning.  Over coffee I sat and listened to story after story of how students would seek them out, even at four o’clock in the morning, and engage them in conversations about life.  Often this happened because students were still up.  They hadn’t gone to bed yet.  In staff stories it became clear that these dear women, doing the most mundane yet necessary work, were in a privileged position of influence.  They were like the students’ moms away from mom. Together they had a salutary impact on the character formation of students. They were accessible, willing to listen, and wise in the perspectives they offered.  They were an effective part of the whole university for the whole person in the character development of students.  The essence of the university was Jesus Christ.  They were special part of the overall essence of the university.

When it comes to the serious pursuit of competence and character in young people’s lives, it takes the human agency of the entire enterprise (camp, university, sports program) to be passionate about the whole person.  By whole enterprise, we mean everyone, not just the faculty, but every staff member from the cooks in the kitchen to the resident hall directors, the administrative assistants in the president’s office to the staff who keep the grounds and mow the lawns.  It takes the total milieu of the entire team invested in the same outcome. 

God is an “all in” God.  He did not hold back his great gift of salvation on the cross, nor his subsequent gift of himself as the Holy Spirit.  He is “all in” for the world.  Why settle for something less.  When Christ says, “Follow me,” it’s a call for us to also be “all in.”

FOR MORE ABOUT "ALL IN" SEE THE JUNE 2014 ISSUE OF THE SALVATION ARMY MAGAZINE, THE WAR CRY . . .

http://www.warcrymag.com/issues/2014_June/