Written by: Brian Summerall
You belong here.
That’s the message I received loud and clear at my first Savannah Bananas baseball game my wife, Michele, and I attended not long ago. And it started with the break-dancing first base coach.
A break-dancing first base coach? Yep.
Throughout the game I could not take my eyes off of him.
He had routines to everything from soundtrack to “Titanic”
to Micheal Jackson. Michele, a dancer herself, stood in line with all of the 10 year old kids just to get a picture with him. Turns out he is classically trained in ballet.
At the end of the evening, outside the stadium on the plaza, we circled up. And by we I mean the fans, the players, the, the ushers, concession workers, and the owner. In the middle of the circle was the dancing first base coach and a Tuba player. They lead us all in a sing-a-long of the song, “Stand By Me.”
Old, young, black, white, hispanic, male, female, Democrat, Republican, gay, straight, Pro-Life, and Pro-Choice all linked arms, swayed and sang every word to the song at the top of their lungs.
“If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me”
In a world of school shootings, the war in Ukraine, racial tension, and political parties screaming at each other, a diverse group of people linked arms for just a moment in Savannah, Georgia and sang.
“Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me…”
In that moment, we knew we all belonged. We knew we were a part of a community and a bigger story.
I did not want it to end.
I couldn’t wait to go back. (and I’ve been back 3 times now!)
I began to ask myself on the way back to the hotel, “Is that the experience kids get when they come to Young Life or that most people get Sunday mornings at Church?”
Do they get the message, “YOU BELONG HERE?”
Can they say at the end of weekly Young Life club or the church service, “We knew we all belonged. We knew we were a part of a community and a bigger story. We did not want it to end. We can’t wait to go back.”
My good friend once told me, “Brian, I grew up in an East Texas Church. At the end of the service we would invite people to walk the aisle while we sang the words ‘Just As I Am’… but we didn’t mean it.”
It was not a true message of, “You belong here.”
Reminds me of Luke 19.
“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a `sinner.’"
The Pharisees probably weren’t big on the hymn, “Just As I Am.”
I think we would all do good to remember the words of author Brennan Manning.
“Here is revelation bright as the evening star: Jesus comes for sinners, for those as outcast as tax collectors and for those caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams. He comes for corporate executives, street people, superstars, farmers, hookers, addicts, IRS agents, AIDS victims, and even used-car salesmen. Jesus not only talks with these people but dines with them—fully aware that His table fellowship with sinners will raise the eyebrows of religious bureaucrats who hold up the robes and insignia of their authority to justify their condemnation of the truth and their rejection of the gospel of grace.”
In other words, you belong here.
If it’s good enough for the Bananas, then surely it’s good enough for our Young Life clubs around the world and Sunday mornings.
Want to learn more about the Savannah Bananas and what they can teach us all about both our work and ministry culture? Join Brian Summerall, Director of the Tod Bush Leadership Center, for a free, live webinar called “6 Keys to Peeling the Bananas” on November 15 at 2:00 CT. Register for the free webinar HERE.
Better yet, would you like to experience the Savannah Bananas live and in person??? Join us for our 3-Day Savannah Banana Experience, February 22-25, in Savannah, Georgia. You’ll dive in deep to their hospitality, customer experience, and core values as we learn the “Fans First” way of the Bananas. To learn more about this once in a lifetime experience, click HERE.