Spiritual Football

Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. – 1 Corinthians 9:24

Football season is upon us. It strikes me that football provides a good analogy for the spiritual contest between the church and the devil. In football it’s all about winning, through offense, defense and special teams. In church it’s all about H.I.M.: Hosting God’s presence, Imitating Jesus, and Making him known.

We know how a team moves the ball and scores in football. Here’s how the church moves the ball and scores in our spiritual battle.

Hosting God’s presence
• The church moves the ball every time we give more weight to what God wants in worship than to our own desires.
• The church moves the ball every time we give more weight to what will be attractive to those who need to find God than to those of us who already know him.
• The church moves the ball when our gatherings are as diverse as our community.
• The devil throws the church for a loss when we argue or complain about how we worship.
• The devil throws the church for a loss when people in the community say, “Those folks aren’t like me, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable there.”
• The devil throws the church for a loss if church services or other gatherings can be perceived as boring or artificial or self-serving or human-centered.
• When new folks say, “Wow, I felt God there,” that’s a touchdown!

Imitating Jesus
• The church moves the ball when a Christian imitates the character of Jesus through the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23).
• The church moves the ball when a Christian imitates the wisdom and God-consciousness of Jesus through hearing and following the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14).
• The church moves the ball when a Christian imitates the power of Jesus in praying for people to receive a miraculous touch from God (John 14:12; Mark 16:17-18).
• The church moves the ball every time a Christian tries something new for God.
• The church makes a big play when a Christian finds his or her fit in God’s plan.
• The devil throws the church for a loss every time Christians allows fear or doubt to laziness to keep them from doing any of these things.
• The devil scores big if a Christian says or does anything that a non-Christian knows isn’t right, so they say, “See, I knew it, all Christians are hypocrites.”
• When a non-Christian notices a Christian acting like Jesus, that’s a touchdown!

Making him known
• The church moves the ball every time a Christian develops a genuine caring relationship with another person.
• The church moves the ball every time a Christian invites a new person to Jesus or a church activity.
• The church moves the ball big every time a Christian gains new skill or confidence in helping others know Jesus or grow in Jesus.
• The devil throws the church for a loss whenever a Christian is afraid to try something new.
• The devil throws the church for a loss whenever he keeps a Christian from doing any of the things mentioned above.
• The devil throws the church for a loss whenever he convinces people that only “trained professionals” or highly unusual volunteers can do all these things.
• When a Christian helps someone find his or her fit in God’s plan, that’s a touchdown!

Winning the game
• The devil will win if the church ever becomes so ingrown and self-centered that we stop doing the new things that are needed to attract and keep new people, because if that happens we will gradually shrink away into irrelevancy and, eventually, disappear altogether.
• The church wins the game when we keep reaching new people and helping them do the things that move the ball on the devil.
• If we can ever reach the place where ordinary everyday church folks are starting up groups that help new people know Jesus, in their homes or workplaces or schools or wherever, that’s winning the Super Bowl!
• And if those new people turn around and start their own new groups that reach even more new people, that’s a dynasty! And that’s what God had in mind when he created this team.

A football team wins by constantly practicing the fundamentals. A church is the same way. Come to practice every Sunday, so you can be prepared to go out and win the game!

Blessings,

“Coach” David