Perseverance

Since the soccer season is about to come to an end, and the Euro Cup is happening this summer, I will be talking about my favorite sport more often.

I grew up watching great players who have retired or are retiring soon, and there are two that I really like: Alessandro del Piero (from Juventus) and Francesco Totti (from AS Roma).


They are considered as the most talented players in Italy in the recent decades, and they are both near the end of their career. Actually this weekend their teams will face each other, but the likelihood of seeing both in the field is not high because both players has been benching for most of this season.


They both share many common characteristics:

• Played for the same team since the start of their career (about 20 years ago), and are captains of their respective team
• Scored more than 200 goals in ~500 appearances in their respective team (both of them are top scorers and highest capped in their respective teams)
• Won the Italian league at least once
• Part of top 10 scorers in all-history in the Italian league (Totti is ranked 5th, del Piero is ranked 9th)
• Played in the position of '10' (playmaker, second striker)
• Winner of the Golden Foot
• Multiple awards with the Italy national team: World Cup (2006), 2nd place on Euro Cup (2000)
• Part of FIFA 100 (top 125 living players in history)
• Nicknames: "Bimbo d'Oro" (Golden Boy) for Totti, "Il Pinturicchio" (artist from Renaissance) for del Piero

Before I get more excited talking more details about them, I want to explain one interesting trait that they both shared, and that is they are both "one-team man". This means that they have been playing on the same team for all their career. This is not that rare (especially since both Juventus and AS Roma are renown teams), but most famous players do switch team for fame, money, increase chances of winning something, etc. There was a time when Juventus was demoted to a secondary league and many famous players left, but del Piero decided to stay to help the team get promoted to the main league. As well, AS Roma does not have the potential to compete with other big European teams, but Totti remained in his team always. Both players did get offers from other big English and Spanish teams, but they refused and decided to stay.

This shows how loyal they are to their teams, and that even though turbulent times, they decided to persevere to help this team go forward, while fame and money are very secondary factors. This makes me think of the importance of persevering in my faith. Believing in Christ is not a one time event, but a continuous journey of walking with God despite the challenges in our lives. We are to run the race with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1), and finish it well by the grace of God.

So yeah, from my own experience, there are definitely times of weakness when I contemplate the idea of giving up, but the grace of God is always compelling me to keep on running, and that is a wonderful thing to do.

Gate of Babylon

From the anime Fate Zero (mentioned in this post), there is a character by the name of Gilgamesh, who can be summoned by a magician to fight. Gilgamesh is some sort of a legendary Babylon king who is famous for collecting and storing riches in the "Gate of Babylon". Specifically, he collects swords, and his technique "Gate of Babylon" is all about explosive swords flying at you at the speed of sound. That move is kinda cool, that even Final Fantasy 13-2 has a boss who uses it. Gilgamesh also stores very fine wine in that gate.

Gilgamesh's character is one who boasts a lot of himself, and looks down at everyone else to the point of calling them mongrels. He boasts in his success of collecting the best swords of the world.

This made me think of the concept of storing treasure, which one of my favorite passages of the bible talk about:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:19-21

So I want to follow through an earlier post I have: http://koinowarrior.blogspot.ca/2010/03/what-are-you-thirsting-for.html

From the start of sermon of the mount (Matthew 5) until the above passage, Jesus talks about various laws at which many Jews obey it by the letter, but fail to obey by the spirit. For example, one will not murder his brother, but he might have thoughts of hatred towards him. Or one man will not commit adultery, but will look lustfully at a woman. There is a big emphasis on the person's inner motive. It is not about the outward appearance, because it is easy to fake living like a Christian. So the question reside in the motivation behind a person's action.

When it pertains to good actions like studying hard, working hard, and serving hard, it is important to reflect and ask ourselves why are we doing this. Are we doing it for our selfish gain, for popularity, for reputation, for success? Or are we truly working as we are doing it for the Lord (Col 3:23)? What drives you to pursue to do those good actions? What do you desire? It is important to understand that we need to focus on God and His Kingdom in the activities we do here on earth. That the primarily focus is on God, and not in the activities themselves, because we can get too attached to a ministry that it comes an idol, or we can be mastered by the success of studies, and that is also idolatry.

I also want to introduce my concept of "kingdom currency". Whenever I make decisions regarding serving and investing my time I consider prayerfully which choice will grant me more impact in the Kingdom work. So it's like where I can invest more in the Kingdom, so that it will create more "kingdom currency". Regardless, it is very important invest in the Kingdom in the activities we are involved in. For example, if we are serving hard, it is not just about running the program but about impacting and investing in the people who attend the program. If we are studying hard is because we want to be trained so that we can use the skills in the future for God's work. If we are working hard, it is because we can become a good witness towards others.

So what's the meaning of "storing up treasure in heaven"? I don't think I have a good grasp of this concept yet, but my current thought is that we as Christians ought to focus on God in everything we do because Christ Himself is our most precious treasure and in Him we find joy. Hence, if God is our treasure, our hearts is also there, and consequently we would want to act in alignment to His will. As a result, our character is transformed, we study hard with joy, we work hard with joy, we serve hard with joy, we impact other's people's lives (through discipling, teaching, mentoring, evangelizing, witnessing). I think these are the treasures that cannot be taken away.

I think the next step is to encourage and challenge others to living in the same manner. So let each of our "gate of Babylon" that encapsulates the testimonies, character molding, impact in people's live, the track of records in God's work leave a legacy for others to follow.

As the time for Easter comes near, let us reflect in the motivation of why do we do the things we do. We have been saved by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, and we are not to live for ourselves, but we live for our risen King.