Trades are an odd part of pro sports. What other occupation swaps employees? Imagine going
to your job at Microsoft and you find out you’ve been traded to Apple. Or you are working part
time at Starbucks and discover they traded you to Dunkin’ Donuts. That would be weird, right? A
former teammate of mine was once traded for a bus! Not even for another human being. He
was instantly nicknamed “Bus-ee.” See what I mean, it can get very strange.
I remember the day I was traded from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Philadelphia Flyers. I was
in Florida with the Canes to take on the Panthers. The morning of the game I received a call
from our head coach, Paul Maurice. He thanked me for my services and informed me I’d been
traded to Philadelphia. That day Philly was in Buffalo to play the Sabres, so I jumped on a plane
and flew to Buffalo to meet my new teammates. Here is what’s so odd about being traded:
Several of my new teammates and I had fought before! Keith Jones and I fought in Washington
(I want a rematch with him), and Rick Tocchet and I fought several times. Rick was the one that
shattered my cheek. (I DON’T want a rematch with him!) Rod Brind’Amour and I had literally
fought one another the week prior to my being traded! These guys who were formerly my
enemies had suddenly become my brothers. I used to fight with them, now I would fight for
them. We were teammates. As a Christian, you were traded from the Kingdom of Darkness to
the Kingdom of Light. You were traded from Death to Life. You play for a new team. You get
new teammates:
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.”
(Galatians 3:27-28 ESV)
You “put on Christ” like a jersey. You become part of His team. Notice how different each of
these people are: different ethnicities (Jew and Greek), different social classes (slave and free),
different biologies (male and female). And yet, in Christ they are one. Despite all these
differences they are ONE team, Team Jesus. We no longer fight with one another. We fight for
one another. We no longer divide over our differences. Instead, we celebrate them. We are
family. We are the Church.