Here in Chicago we have a quarterback controversy on our hands. Let me get you up to speed. Several weeks ago, the Bears' starting quarterback (Jay Cutler) went down with a groin injury. It spelled doom for our playoff chances. The following week our backup QB, Josh McCown, dutifully took the field against long time division rivals, The Green Bay Packers. It was a game that he could never win.
And then he won.
He hasn't won every game. But he's kept us in contention. Not only that—over the past three weeks Josh has thrown for over three hundred yards per game. In case you don't speak football, no Bears quarterback in history has done that.
To many Bears fans, Josh McCown is beginning to look like a better quarterback than Jay Cutler.
The most reliable backup in the world
Nobody grows up wanting to be the most reliable back-up in the world. No one would fault Josh for taking his big break here, and making a play for the starting job—Jay Cutler's job. After all, Josh has been in the league for over ten years in a variety of uninspiring roles. This is his shot at the big time.
But Josh is the first person to tell the media that he's just keeping the team in contention for Jay. He's just doing his job as a professional back-up. Does it mean he lacks ambition? I don't think so. It means he has faithfulness.
If you'll pardon the sports metaphors, I think that backup quarterback Josh is an icon for Christian leadership.
Many people in ministry aspire to be the head pastors, the "cultural architects," the visionary leaders. You know, the starting quarterbacks. Some of us are in that position of top-level leadership. But a lot of us are assistant, youth, or family pastors. Or perhaps volunteers working a day job to stay afloat while giving our time at church. For those primed for the field, we chafe a bit. We are backups but we really wish we were starters. A lot of us feel that we are just biding our time until we get a chance to do what we feel like we are really called to do. Until then we feel like that leader who is above us is in our way.
But isn't this actually a perversion of what it means to be a Christian leader? A Christian leader imitates Christ by giving themselves up for the sake of those around them. We are not called to increase our own power or influence. Our job is to live our calling faithfully—to ensure the flourishing of everyone the Lord brings into our lives.
That includes the people who have the jobs—if we're honest—that we wish we had.
Josh gives us a little picture of what that looks like in real life. We can follow his example by asking God for opportunities to help our leaders succeed in their ministries and callings. We do this not in order to show others that we could do the job as well or better. But because we have been called to follow a leader who became a servant.
Lane Severson blogs for On Pop Theology and PARSE. He likes charismatic liturgy and listening to Kanye West or Jay Z with his wife and five children. Lane can be found at about.me/lseverson or on twitter @_lxnx
