In sports, free agency can range from:

• no man’s land to big pay day
• anxiety-inducing to exciting
• on the edge of unemployment to the equivalent of a promotion.

Part of the “freedom” of a free agent is that their immediate future (as a professional athlete) remains uncertain. And depending on the athlete, market, circumstances, etc. that can range from really bad to really good.

Either way, no one wants to stay a free agent forever.

As a Christian, it’s easy to see the correlation between being on a team and being on Team Jesus. Or being a part of a church. Or a non-profit. A company. Something you can identify with. This is the metaphor that immediately comes to mind because I think it makes a lot of sense and is generally a good thing. We are wired to desire belonging.

Go a layer deeper though, and you may find that being on that team actually is an unhealthy form of idolatry. And this can get really messy when the God, Jesus, church label is slapped on.

In our longing to belong, we may actually be feeding our:

a) anxiety – if I’m not a part of ______ then my worth and value are diminished

b) ambition – if I’m not a part of ______ then I’ll miss out on an opportunity to increase my perceived worth and value based on what I achieve and accomplish

On the other hand, a true free agent lives free from the need to fill a void because they are already full.

That person can then be an agent (a person who acts on behalf of another person or group) for Jesus, free of affiliations that feed alternative loyalties.

I think this is a picture of what it means to be a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led Christian.

The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit – Romans 8:14 TPT