Sports
You know, I really enjoy sports. The excitement, the noise, the chance that you might see excellent shows of teamsmanship, or view those special moments that amaze and take your breath away. 
Sport greats like Joe Montana, Pete Rose, Michael Jordan… These folks I grew up admiring their skill, poise, and work ethics.
Indeed, when I go to church, I like to see the excitement. It is a great joy to me to see smiling faces ready to study. I love to study! An hour with my brothers and sisters on a Wednesday night just isn’t fair (but folks need to get up early for work the next morning)! I want more! Men and women ready to sharpen one another, to learn, to grow, to teach in the name of God! Wooo!
The noises of the church can be incredible as well: the silence and reverence of prayer, souls talking to our God, acknowledging Him, praising Him, and entreating Him to forgive and strengthen. The sounds of song light up my day. Voices lifted, encouraging, songs at times which just demonstrate the joy and happiness in the voices of Christians! The sounds of study, men and women examining biblical truths, holding to the book what is sacred and desiring to delve deeper inward. Even the sounds of babies crying is a blessing. Yes? What joy it is to know young families are seeking God and raising their young ones up in the Lord. What wonderful sounds can be heard at church!
Teamsmanship in the body of believers known as the church, Christ’s body, have the trust given them to work for the Lord in this world. We go out as one, yet many. We lift up, when we see those that are down. We sweat together in the tasks which seem at times to be undoable. Whether it be doing good works for neighbors, the community, or those stricken by tragedy, a team of believers are often there lighting the way. Door knocking, Bible studying, tract handing, kind hearted Christians working together is a soul filling demonstration to see.
Special moments of a man’s life and death come within the church. How wonderful it is to see new birth, the death of the sinful man. To see a Christian come up out of the birth waters of baptism is a unique feat we all desire to witness. Baptism is an amazing spiritual triumph that many of the world have yet to attempt. It is the overcoming of the world. The affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God! How about those first few steps into the Word and the world? The new Christian often toddles along, with the body of Christians who love them, holding their hands so they won’t fall.
Now, in all sincere truth, I had no intention of writing what I just wrote when I started. I merely wanted to express the fact that I am an NBA fan. I greatly enjoy basketball. I like sports. I spend some of my time upon this earth, enjoying the observance of the blessings which God has given mankind in the form of human physical abilities. I want to feel the excitement, hear the noise, see great teamsmanship, view amazing feats!
The question in my mind arises: Do we have Christians in some situations focusing more on sports than the Lord because of the lack of those desired traits at church?
I spoke affirmatively about the church above. However, in most situations I have ever seen in the church, these traits and responsibilities are taught more than they are demonstrated. Everyone wants to be in the game, not hear about it. If they aren’t in the game, at least they want to see it!
There are some sayings:
“Home is where the heart is.”
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
“You get more bees with honey than vinegar.”
Let’s hit these statements in reverse:
“You Get More Bees with Honey than Vinegar.”
- John 13:35 – By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
- John14:15 – If you love me you will keep my commandments.
If we are demonstrating to the world our love of God, we are doing as he stated. This means showing our love to one another. This means desiring to hear his word (I Peter 2:2). This means singing with our hearts (Colossians 3:16). This means caring for one another (I Corinthians 12:25, Acts 20:35, Romans 15:26). This means caring for the world (Galatians 2:10, I Timothy 1:15). If we demonstrate the honey of God, it will attract the bees.
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Jesus fed the multitudes (Matthew 14), but he always fed them spiritually first.
To crack the heart of man, churches must share the word of God with joy. I don’t know how many folks seeing this have animals. But here is an example for you in regard to feeding a soul. If you take a dog and you try to cram a steak down his throat, you are going to have a battle on his hands. If you give that dog the steak, he will consume it all. The difference is in the attitude of the handler. The experience can be joyful or not. (You may wonder how on earth that example came up… trying to feed a german shepherd worm pills.) We can make the experience of learning the word joyful and exciting or we can make it drudging, uninspired work.
“Home is where the heart is!”
Once you have attracted a soul’s interest in Christianity by following the commandments of God and you have satisfied his heart with the Joy of the Good News, then, he will know where his true home is. You will have wrapped your arms around his heart and simultaneously, seen the arms of His heart wrapped around the body of Christ.
These things can only happen when we present Christianity in its true light. Yes, we sports guys and girls may still like our sports, but we will know our first love. Our dedication will be to our first love. We will be a living sacrifice for our first love. All that we need will be found in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 1:1-3). The responsibility of sharing the light comes to the one organization on earth meant to approach souls for Christ. That group of teammates isn’t the ball club. That organization is the Church.
