First and Goal: To Spread The Gospel

I love this time of year. The leaves are changing colors; the air is beginning to cool, and best of all: its time for football. I begin counting down the days, months before. I endure every hot, sweaty day eagerly awaiting those cool Friday and Saturday evenings when I don my game face and sweatshirt and head for the gridiron. Praise the Lord it’s finally here.

Now I’m sure that there are many of you guys and gals out there who can readily identify. I bet as you began to read this introduction your heart began to pound just like mine did as I was writing it. There is just something about that white-lined green field that excites and energizes people. It’s hard to explain it any other way than to say that Football is the last great American sport. It is a very powerful and integral part of our culture.

I am also reminded of a passage of scripture from the Apostle Paul that states:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

- Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

Now while watching football is arguably a wise use of our time, doing kingdom work while watching football is not. Think about all the many avenues that this sport opens for the spreading of the Gospel. Consider the following statistic provided by research done by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes:

“A study shows that 41 million youth ages 6-18 participated in organized youth sports and just over 7 million participated in high school sports.”

Multiply that number of students by two (Dad and Mom) and the figure of Americans that participate in weekly sports like football are staggering.

There are many creative ways to use the popularity of this sport to share your faith. Many churches sponsor 5^th Quarter events where players and families are invited to an after game event with music and testimonies from local athletes. Other ideas can include offering your services as team chaplain, volunteering to take care of team hospitality needs, or even something simple as inviting a non-Christian neighbor over to watch a game. When this season passes and spring is on the horizon, lets look back on this time and rejoice at the opportunities that we took advantage of to do Kingdom work.

For more ideas click on the following links:

Fellowship of Christian Athletes -FCA

North American Mission Board - NAMB

Athletes In Action - AIA