I Volunteer as Tribute
(And Other Bad Ideas That Turned Out Beautifully)
Introduction: Lessons from Dystopia
Confession: I don’t usually take life lessons from dystopian YA fiction, but every once in a while something sticks. Take The Hunger Games, for example. Picture the scene: The fancy people are drawing names to send innocent kids into an arena to fight to the death (as one does, apparently, in dystopian futures), and Katniss Everdeen hears her little sister’s name called.
Without missing a beat, she shouts, “I volunteer as tribute!”
Everyone gasps. The whole crowd freezes. Even the official with the weird hair looks stunned.
Why? Because people don’t usually volunteer for things that sound like, well… certain doom.
Brave Love Looks Ridiculous at First
And yet—there it was: pure, self-sacrificing love on display, shouted in front of everyone wearing uncomfortable shoes.
Katniss didn’t expect reward. She didn’t have a strategy for personal gain. She loved her sister. And love, it turns out, is willing to step up when nobody else will.
And believe it or not, that story reminds me of the Bible.
God’s Signature Move
Romans 5:8 puts it this way:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Agape love—the kind that gives without expecting—is not just a plot twist in fiction. It’s God’s signature move.
We catch glimpses of it in Ruth, standing next to her widowed mother-in-law Naomi, saying:
Where you go I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God my God.
(No tributes, but still a pretty gutsy move.)
But Jesus? Jesus didn’t just volunteer for a dangerous journey—He volunteered for the cross. Not with fanfare. Not for applause. He stood in our place with full knowledge of the cost.
The Hunger Games had tributes.
Ruth had loyalty.
We had sin.
And Jesus had… grace.
Real love steps up, not because it looks good on Instagram, but because love can’t help
itself.
Jesus Stepped Up for You
We won’t be called to fight in arenas or move to ancient Bethlehem with our mother-in-law (unless your life is very interesting). But we are called to love. To step up. To say, “I’ll do it,” even when it costs us something.
The world may not gasp in astonishment. Nobody may faint in the background. But when we love like that, we are echoing the heart of God Himself.
And honestly, isn’t that better than winning The Hunger Games?
Takeaway:
You probably won’t have to volunteer as tribute this week. But you will have chances to love someone who doesn’t deserve it. Take that chance. Step up. Love first.
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for volunteering for us. We didn’t deserve it, but You came anyway. Help us find small, brave ways to love the people around us. Make us a little more like You—even if it means doing the dishes when no one notices. Amen.
