Bring It On

Perhaps the phrase "Bring It On" is most-often associated with a movie about rival cheerleader squads. In it, the phrase serves as a taunt to proclaim one squad's superiority over the other. "Bring it on" they say, with confidence that whatever the other team may bring, they will do better.

However, around the same time this movie was seeping into our nation's consciousness, and before it proliferated way too many sequels, Steven Curtis Chapman had a song with the same name. "Bring it on" he proclaimed, with the intended recipient being the Persecutor of Christians. Sure, there may be tough times, the song exhorted, but if those times bring us closer to our Father, than "bring it on."

Chapman's song emphasized an important point, reminiscent of James' point to the early Church that they should view their trials with joy because they produce perserverance in faith (James 1:2-3). And while this point is a good one, and it can help us to have a right view of the struggles we encounter, there is another reason that we should say "bring it on" when, as Christians, we face tough times. The more we suffer, the more we struggle for Christ's sake on this Earth, the more we will be rewarded in the next (See Matthes 5:11-13). When our difficulties arise as a result of our faithfulness to Christ and His calling, we can with confidence combat our trials. We say "bring it on" not only for the Earthly benefits of tested and proven faith, but for the heavenly ones as well.

This is no small tasks. Welcoming trials seems in opposition to all that we as humans crave. We desire the avoidance of pain, and the propenderance of pleasure. And while we shouldn't seek out troubling situations, just for the sake of encoutering them (See Matthew 4:7), we also needn't fear them. We can confidently say "bring it on" knowing that in the end our rival will be conquerored and our reward great.