There are so many sports illustrations that help highlight a biblical truth. I love how the imagery of a team in sports gives us insight to the life of the Church. Dave Burchett, who wrote, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People, uses the football imagery to talk about how we assemble our church team.
I thought that this was very interesting because he has made a connection (at least on the illustration aspect) of how a church gets ready for a new season of ministry is somewhat similar to how football teams train to get ready.
Burchett writes,
There are some who try hard but are too weak or injury prone to be effective. A few regularly miss games and practices without notice and then reappear expecting to play and even start. Toss in some… umm… ‘mature’ players who remember the way the game was played back when it was really good. You also have some players who think the coaches and assistant coaches are total idiots. Some passionately believe that the offensive game plan is totally wrong and that all the other players need to change to comply with their personal team philosophy… now! And then you have some who try to run their own plays when they go into the game.
Many of the players meet regularly at Denny’s after each game to disparage the coach and staff after saying grace over a Grand Slam breakfast. How do you think this team would perform? If they ever won a game, it would be a miracle.”
It is so true, isn’t? No team with this kind of situation that would be able to win a single game. As the new season of ministry is starting, it is imperative that we are all on the same page. The stakes are too high and people’s souls are on the line.
It is my prayer that now that OCR is over and we are in the regular season of ministry, we will reap a tremendous harvest. I am praying that we will see some incredible plays that will inspire other people to play on their highest levels.
Every football team at the beginning of training camp talks about winning the Super Bowl and being champions. I am hoping that we are not just talking about it but that this year we will start winning some championship for God.