In This Time of Need, We Need Each Other

In a Time of Need, We Need Each Other

When a seventeen-year-old girl, Lydia Jacoby, from Alaska was swimming in her first Olympic final race, she had no idea that the support from home was so energetic.  She was not the favored swimmer. She wasn’t even supposed to be a contender for a medal, especially a gold medal, but she did not focus on what she was supposed to or not supposed to do. She just did what she did best, and that led her to a gold medal. It is not her win that is impressive, but how her small town in Alaska that gathered to watch her race, mostly made up of her high school peers, responded to her race and her win. The reaction of this small town made me realize that we all need our own cheerleaders, especially in this time of need. 

The world is hurting. From the events in Afghanistan, Cuba, many people vaccinated and unvaccinated falling to Covid, death of loved ones, and people being diagnosed with cancer, we see the tragedies of the world. Along with these tragedies in my social media world, I have friends in Northern California who had to evacuate from their homes because of the fires and are not confident that they will return to a house. With all the tragedies, some people begin to give answers for the reasons for these events. The argument for the reasons of these events is never a point. How we treat people who may be encountering these situations is vital. 

When we don’t focus on people in these situations, we then begin to prove that we are right on social media with issues, rather than give empowerment to those who are suffering. I am guilty of this as well as anyone else who uses social media. I’m misunderstood often, even today. So, maybe we should all take a break and begin to see the posts for those who need cheerleaders and become cheerleaders. 

We may not be able to jump up and down, but we can cheer for those who need to get healthy. We can encourage those who may have friends and relatives in places that are dangerous. We can empower those who work in a system that could get them sick, or in one in which people struggle because they are not encouraged. It is the church’s job to encourage and empower one another. 

In the Bible, Paul had Barnabas. With Barnabas, he also had the various cities in which he preached. The churches that Paul wrote to, became his best cheerleaders. Yes, I wrote that correctly. The church became cheerleaders. Imagine if the church would become cheerleaders for humanity today. I wonder how different our society would look and behave. Imagine, the church cheering for people to succeed rather than discouraging people. 

We can cheer for people and not their sin. We can cheer for people to be their best at what they do. We can cheer for people who serve others and are in the trenches every single day. They endure so many social media posts about the trenches in which they work from people who will never jump in those trenches and join them with the work. The trenches are messy, and they do not have glory. It’s why people who work in them spend less time arguing and more time changing the world with their innovations. 

Maybe, just maybe, the church needs to do more work for those on the outside to influence those on the inside and bring those on the outside into the church. People are not looking for the most correct group to join. People are looking for love and support. Jesus brought people inside when he showed them love and support. It’s time we learn from Jesus. May we all begin to become cheerleaders as we take note of the small town in Alaska that cheered their community member all the way to gold. Our goal is not gold, but hearts of gold that create love.