I was thinking of the game of football. I do love to watch the game and really was excited to see the Kansas City Chiefs win the Superbowl this year. To achieve the goal of winning the Superbowl it takes unity of purpose and each person sharing their gift for the common good of the team. The team is largely made up of players playing an assortment of different positions in either a defensive role or an offensive one. There are a number of coaches that are experts in various aspects of the game, and they develop strategies and teach them to the players.
When it’s actually game time the game is monitored by the game referees who are there to enforce the games rules. Now on the field there are a large number of players ( 11 on each side ) and only 6 or so referees. Now the referee’s role is an important one as it keeps the players confined to a set of rules that apply to all and make things fair.
Now as important as the referee’s function is, they will never win a Superbowl as a referee or even win a game for that matter. They are not required to have any football talent in their role. They will never know the thrill of victory or the disappointment of defeat. The likelihood of injury is low compared to a player. It is the players who put themselves out there and risk injury or even their careers. To ever win anything you must be prepared to sacrifice yourself for the benefit of the team at large.
I was thinking of the many similarities of this game to that of the church. A church has a lead Pastor who is in essence the head coach of the team. There are usually elders who assist the Pastor in the carrying out of duties. The church body are like the players of the team. It is this group that need to be trained up in the rules and strategies in the game of outreach. The players need to be willing to put themselves at risk in order to win a soul to the Lord. The glory in the victory of this is celebrated by all the team but the glory belongs to the one who made the sacrifice of His pure life. Jesus. He is the head shepherd or coach of every player in every team in his league. We are not on the field to war against another of His teams but against principalities and powers of wickedness in the heavenly places. The Pastor and elder assistants are there to empower the players. The players are not only there to learn the theory and strategy of this game only, but they are here to play the game. If they don’t play, there will not be any victories or defeats because you don’t put yourself on the line or at risk. It is putting yourself at risk that that enables you to truly know the game and the heart of the Head coach. This game is not about individual glory but one that brings the glory to God with whom we all owe a deep debt of gratitude. Let us play the game to the best of our abilities for the Glory of God!
JUST THINKING
Norman
2020-02-14