Bandwagon Fan

I guess I’m a bandwagon fan now. A bandwagon fan is defined as a sports fan who has shown no past loyalty to a team, and who only supports them when they are doing well. While people may not admit to being a bandwagon fan, there are ways to spot them. Today, I’m declaring I’m now a UTSA fan. I have now been spotted.

Friday night’s game was so exciting! I heard from fans attending that it was hard to hear anything when Western Kentucky had the ball. The crowd was out of control, in a good way of course. The Cinderella story of the University of Texas at San Antonio team is something most weren’t expecting. As a bandwagoner, I didn’t even think much about UTSA until recently. 

But they’re a force to be reckoned with. A record-breaking year. Smashing school records.  As the season has progressed, more and more attention and interest have been placed on this local team, not named the Spurs. Yes, I’m now a “Birds Up!” gal!

We go with winners, don’t we? So, why in the world would people be drawn to Jesus?

In Isaiah 53:1-3: “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” 

This is the One we celebrate this Christmas. This same One who was described in such fashion would probably not be cheered at a sporting event. This One was not born in a fancy hospital but a stable. This One who was not welcomed by many would soon be seen in a new light:

“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

In a time of great darkness, God promised to send a light that would shine brightly. This message of hope was fulfilled in the birth of Christ. He came to deliver all people from their slavery to sin.

Why in the world would people be drawn to Jesus? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This is what the Christmas season is all about. Jesus is love and worth worshipping and celebrating now…and forever.

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.