In the parable of ‘The Two Teams’ as in any current sports competition there must be at least two players if not two teams. In order to distinguish between two teams, we generally implore the use of two different colored jerseys. So therefore in our parabola we also have two teams with two colors. A team is known as the home team and its distinctive color is black. Our other team is known as the visitors and their signature color is white. For the sake of argument, and because we all enjoy easy-to-understand analogies or stories, we’ll refer to our two teams as the dark team and the light team.
Based on our history, the dark team appears to be a very powerful team. Many would say that the dark team is really scary because of how big and powerful they seem to be, as well as because they act so arrogant all the time. The light team, on the other hand, seems to be a very happy and good-natured group of people. The light team is not as big as the dark team in appearance, and seems to allow anyone to join their team. Due to this fact, light equipment looks uneven, to say the least. On the other hand, the light team seem to support each other and really care about everyone on their team. From the best player to the ‘not so good’ player, the lightweight team values them all equally. Now critics of the light team declare that their ‘assessment of everything’ must be false and just a clever attempt to cover up some bad deeds. These accusations don’t seem to bother the lightweight team in any way. Unfortunately though, the lightweight team hasn’t won any of their recent contests and critics claim that it backs up and proves the truth of their accusations. The lightweight team is in a no-win situation with the critics and so they accept the insults of being ‘big losers’ with grace. The dark team, on the other hand, has won many of the recent contests and seems virtually unbeatable. The dark team struts around yelling and growling loudly to show how tough they are and intimidate others. Many have heard from the dark team how much money they have and how little everyone else has. They call themselves successful and claim to have ‘achieved’.
In our parable, both of our teams have fans or supporters like any other team usually does. The only difference between the supporters of our teams and the average supporter is that the supporters of our two teams appear to be exact, like carbon copies of the team they support. With this difference we have the difference of the day and night of the followers of the two teams. The dark team supporters are rude, crude, and completely obnoxious. These supporters are very much in favor of all things dark, gloomy and scary. As if this were not enough, they implore anything shocking and insane in an attempt to intimidate. Light team supporters are affable, stylish, and generally well-groomed. As you can see, the differences are truly polarized. This polarization continues in the game that our two teams play. The game is intricate and very complex on the one hand; but on the other hand it has easy to understand objectives, which once fully understood, are not so complex or difficult. However, because the game has a complex theme in general, the dark team along with their supporters, always attempt to ‘cloud the issues’ and reverse the objectives in hopes of leading the light team to utter confusion and dismay. This forces the light team coaches to spend most of their time explaining and re-explaining the simple goals of the game, in an attempt to help refocus the light team on what’s really important.
With all the polarization and differences going on in our parable, remember that rarely is anyone without knowing which team a fan supports. Yes, of course, there are and will continue to be exceptions to the rule. However, when we try to understand the “big picture”, we rarely want to consider the exceptions. Taking note of the actions and dress of others will usually guide one in the right direction and resolve most conflicts of interest. After years of pushing the boundaries of acceptable behavior and dress, the dark team and their followers have recruited more young people. The dark team and their supporters can be heard stating that they and their supporters are having ‘so much more’ fun. They don’t want to be ‘good shoes’ or prudes like the lightweight team and their supporters. However, these accusations will not move a single lightweight team or any of their supporters to expand their ownership limits. Their collective rebuttal is “prudence, not sanctimoniousness.”
By now, most people, I’m sure, have come to understand my parable and have started to make the connections that the dark team and their followers represent Satan, the world, and everything evil. The light team is Jesus, the Eternal Father, the Holy Spirit and all Christians. In the parable, the game played by the two teams has also been called, ‘The Game of Life’. Complicated but not really difficult to know what is really important.
So what else can be drawn from our parable? One of the biggest points I was hoping you would take away from the parable is that as bad as it is for a light team supporter to wear the dark team ‘colors’ in our parable; the same goes for the ‘real’ world regarding a Denver Bronco fan wearing a Los Angeles Raiders jersey, it’s just not done! That’s silly of you to say! Yes it is and when you think about it for a moment and allow it to sink in, then you connect the dots and see how silly it is for a Christian to dress up as a devil or demon for Halloween! It just shouldn’t be done.
Secondly, just as it would be silly to say that in our parable the dark team and their followers do not really exist! Of course there is and of course there is a real Satan and many Satanic supporters hanging around looking for people to mess with! When someone says it doesn’t exist, they love it! That way they can ‘fly under the radar’, so to speak! Don’t blame them for every little thing that goes wrong because it makes you look like a fool. Just knowing that they exist and are present in most places is enough for any of us to worry.
Third, I was hoping you would see the reason behind not letting the dark team or their supporters intimidate or scare you! They have absolutely no power over you as a Christian, really! Let them say what they say. Let them make up bogus controversies and fabricated stories based on misunderstandings. Also, as a Christian, tell everyone you know and help spread the word, that Christianity is about what Jesus did for us and has nothing to do with how holy we are or will be. Of course there will be Christians who do evil! Unfortunately, as humans, it’s just our way. If you understand that ‘they’ are waiting for you to do something to make Christianity or the Church look bad, please don’t do it! Hopefully being aware of this will help us not give the other side more ammunition.
Finally, we must remind ourselves every day that the fight is over, the battle has been won. We are on the side of the winning teams! Jesus defeated the devil, death and hell! Yes there is sin and those bad guys are still around it just means they are angry and looking for anyone to share their defeat and a place in hell with them! Soon their time will run out and Jesus will reign as King forever. God bless you and yours and have a safe night of ‘trick or treating’ with the kids, and remember that ‘All Hollows Eve’ is the night before our holy All Hallows’ Day! Don’t forget to celebrate All Saints’ Day and/or Reformation Day and then eat more candy from the pillowcase!