Sometimes we think of Christians as straight laced, inexperienced and judgmental rule keepers with sharp, small minded theology. And where they go becomes more boring because everyone there feels judged for things they do.
I do think there is a healthy amount of calling people to a higher standard and having a theology one can stand on, but I think it's about style. What is the WAY a Christian does all that?
But after watching the last episodes of Ted Lasso, I realized Ted basically brought the ways of kingdom into the England soccer league. And people loved him deeply for the way he changed their lives.
If you haven't seen it, Ted Lasso is a bright eyed, good hearted small town football coach who is brought in to coach a big synical British soccer club. It was a manipulative move to make the club fail by bringing in someone who obviously was not suited for the job.
But as the players, owners, managers, and even fans watch him act out of goodness and out of his belief of what people can become, everyone around him is slowly changed. We see the power of "belief" and kindness, and forgiveness. We see the icy-est players become warm by the coach caring for their best, even when they misbehave. We see the vindictive owner slowly warmed partly by Ted's gift of cookies to her every day. We see the previously every-man-for-himself philosophy on the team turn into, one-for-all-all-for-one philosophy. And they win the adoration of every team's fans because they are exhibiting an ethic that everyone feels is true.
And I want to be like that to the folks around me. Not about being goody two shoes, or theologically correct, but reaching out to help when no one else would, loving the hard to love, and even forgiving when it leads to us getting taken advantage of at first.
The show just showed me a world of so much beauty. I cried because the acts of love causing transformation were so beautiful. I want to make the world around me feel like that. I want people to see Christians as little Ted Lassos, bringing forgiveness and hope and idealized patience to strive for other peoples' best wherever we go.
Instead of people rolling their eyes when we come to a party, I hope they say, 'thank
God, she's here. She make all of this better. I want to go hang out with her."
Raw Spoon, 7-16-23
