Team Jesus & College Football – Meet the “12th Man”
By Kerry McGuire, Co-Founder of LOVING STONES
Note from the writer: Before I begin this post, I must take a moment and give a warm “Howdy!” to all those Aggie fans out there reading this who take to heart the message of the 12th Man that I refer to here. I also must add for those of you groaning because you went to or support another college football team that most of the other founders (Kathy & Bob Zerda, Notre Dame; Gary Thome, University of Texas, and myself, Oklahoma State), all are on board and agree with this analogy, so hang in there with us! Can I get a collective “Whoop!” for Team Jesus?!? Let’s give the devil “The Horns”! I regress…
When working a new project, playing on a team, cheering from the sidelines or forming a new lay apostolate like LOVING STONES that we’ll call “Team Jesus” in this post, sometimes adding another teammate or apostle can make all the difference in the outcome.
When Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the number of apostles dropped to 11. After Jesus’ death on the Cross and the events began to unfold in the Acts of the Apostles, they prayed and discerned and put Saint Matthias in that 12th position. That 12th “man” was pretty important.
When we work toward building up the Kingdom in our parishes and finding people with the heart of an apostle to fill in the gaps to meet the needs of our members and visitors, doesn’t there always seem to be a need for that 12th person to work alongside us, either in the trenches or through prayerful support?
Because we breathe, sleep, and live for college football down here in these parts of southeastern Texas, I can’t help but see a connection to our new LOVING STONES apostolate, or “Team Jesus”, and a long-held tradition over at Texas A&M that focuses on its “12th Man”.
The “12th Man” over in Aggieland
For those of you unfamiliar with this 90-year-old tradition, it honors the efforts of E. King Gill, a squad player on the Aggie football team that helped out when the Aggies were about to face a serious defeat. I read that it “wasn’t looking pretty” for them at that point in the game when they had so many injuries taking players out of the game, the bench began to empty out.
It became mission critical for the coach to figure out some kind of “Hail Mary” to save the day and find more players in case they were needed to go in. The coach remembered that Gill was up in the press box helping the broadcasters identify players, so he called Gill down to get suited up and get over to the bench for that “just in case” moment.
Gill put on a uniform from an injured player, returned to the sidelines, and stood ready to play if he was needed. When the final play on the field was over, not only did the Aggies pull off one of the greatest upsets in college football history, Gill was literally the only man left on the team's bench. As tradition still holds today , the “12th Man” over at A&M is now the student section that cheers on the team during home games.
Gill’s “team spirit” demonstrates the power of those willing to serve in unity, loyalty, and willingness to answer the call to help out when/if needed, no questions asked. Even when times are difficult and no win seems to be in sight.
Game of Life is at Mission Critical
Today, the Church and “home team”, our parishes, have been impacted greatly for so many years now that we are in mission critical mode. We have experienced that this game of life does not always play fair, especially by worldly standards.
People are leaving the faith, especially young adults, Church attendance and the weekly offertory are down, and operating budgets are dwindling to the point where there aren’t enough paid staff positions to cover the amount of work needed within the parish.
These challenges, along with the huge impact of COVID-19 that has threatened the health of the Church, will bring about a new normal that we’ll have to face to keep our parishes growing and thriving.
If you look at your own parish, you may see these trials, too, and others that have challenged your ability to bring forth the Kingdom in love, which is our call as a Christian community.
Take One for the Home Team—Christ’s Church
If you are reading this post, you are most likely in the seventh percentile of those willing servants in parishes that like Gill, become the “12th Man” or what we call the “12th Apostle” or “LOVING STONE” moved to take action by the power of the Holy Spirit to minister to those in need in your home fields or parishes.
You and I are called to do our part, because we know in our heart of hearts that God expects great things from us and will equip us if we take a step out in faith. We just need to surrender in humility and allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit in trust and love.
I vote that we muster up the courage like Gill and take one for Team Jesus, however we are called, and get into the game and make a real difference in our parishes.
Thanks be to God, he doesn’t call the equipped, but equips the called!
Playing & Praying as “Team Jesus”
Comparing it to football, what does it mean to play on “Team Jesus” anyway?
First, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his team of 12 Apostles that were sent out into the whole world to proclaim the Good News.
As his “players”, we understand this is our God-given mission, and we can only accomplish it by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside us. God can give us superhuman strength, and I think we’re going to need all the help we can get to move forward.
Secondly, to score and win, we must come together as a practiced, unified team, like-minded in our spirit of love for Christ and this game of life.
We work hard at prayer and are committed to spiritual exercises and serving others in love on a daily basis that can lead us to the big win: bringing forth the Kingdom of God and reaching our eternal reward in heaven.
Thirdly, our playbook is always rooted in Scripture, built upon the Word of God, which is Gospel to us.
When we follow the lessons in the Bible to the letter, we are led to victory! Even the devil can’t tempt us enough to leave our positions of proclaiming the Good News of Christ to all we meet!
Last, but not least, we are in it for the long-haul and take our marching orders from our three coaches, our Triune God.
We give all glory to God, our Offensive Coach (who sent his only son to die for us and redeem us from our sins), our Defensive Coach, Jesus (who helps us defeat our opponents and protects us from life’s challenges), and the Holy Spirit (the players, his apostles, because Christ lives inside our hearts and guides us to holiness and truth).
If we work hard and play by God’s rules—striving to live holy, virtuous lives and following Jesus through the Spirit of Love, then Team Jesus has a real chance at that win!
Becoming the 12th Apostle
I think we all can agree that while the world around us doesn’t always play fair and the odds seem stacked against us at times, we need to think of Gill and that never-ending 12th position that every parish has a need to fill.
By becoming an active participant with the heart of an apostle or LOVING STONE, we can rely on God to always equip us to courageously play our parts to bring forth the Kingdom, however he calls us as individuals and as a parish team.
I mean, we really don’t have anything to fear. God already won the battle for us through his son, Jesus. We need to remember that we are on Jesus’ team and that he is always by our side coaching us along the way.
It’s game on, Satan! We, as LOVING STONES, are a guaranteed victory! Can I get an Amen?
