This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. During this playoff season, professional football has become the Sunday sport in most homes over the winter.
I find that some of the same situations that you might find on the playing field on any given Sunday during NFL season, could be made in the average pew a few hours earlier in any given church. See if they sound familiar – either church or football:
QUARTERBACK SNEAK: Church members quietly leaving during the invitation.
DRAW PLAY: What many children do with the bulletin during worship.
FIELD IN MOTION: Making a trip to the back (restroom or water fountain) during the service.
STAYING IN THE POCKET: What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord’s work.
TWO-MINUTE WARNING: The point at which you realize the sermon is almost over and begin to gather up your children and belongings.
INSTANT REPLAY: The preacher loses his notes and falls back on last week’s illustrations.
SUDDEN DEATH: What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes “overtime.”
END RUN: Getting out of church quick, without speaking to any guest or fellow member. At Faith Baptist it is going through the gym so you don’t have the shake the preacher’s hand.
HALFBACK OPTION: The decision of most of the congregation not to return for the evening service.
BLITZ: The rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.
The average church is like a football game where there are 22 people down on the field desperately in need of rest, and thousands of people in the stands desperately in need of exercise.
Often as pastor, I feel like a coach. Read what Tom Landry, coach of The Dallas Cowboys, used to say- “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.”
I hope you smiled a little while reading my post. However, I also hope you realize that football is just a game. It has little value past the current season. But church is for eternity. We struggle for the souls of men and women, boys and girls. It is worth every effort to see that our church is on the winning side against evil. Pray that our church will make a major impact on our community. Church isn’t just a game – for many, it is life or death for eternity.
Do you see any other similarities between football and church life?