MORE THAN A FAN
We live in Texas. In Texas, the number one sport is Football. The number two sport is Spring Football. You get the picture. Football is BIG! HUGE! It's not LIFE & DEATH...it's BIGGER THAN THAT!!!
We don't just love football, we love OUR TEAM. We're FANS. FANS is the shortened version of FANATICS. That perfectly expresses how we feel about "Our Team". We bleed red or green or orange or maroon...whatever our team's colors happens to be. They win...life is good. They lose...life is bad. We are true-blue, honest-to-goodness, cross-our-hearts-and-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-our-eye fans!
Count me in. I'm an Oiler fan (the Pearland variety). I'm a Bear fan (the Baylor variety). I'm a Texan fan. OK, so I don't paint myself. And I don't make that many games. And, if they should lose, I never contemplate ending it all. But, I am a fan...at least, I think so. Being a fan is great. But, even so, it appears that Satan is always looking for any opportunity to divide and conquer. Even if it's along color lines. (Not skin color....school color) It appears it is possible for Satan to take yet another good thing and turn it into a bad thing. (Every bad thing is a good thing perverted) It goes like this, "If you don't cheer for who I cheer for then you hate me and my team and I'm offended and can't be your friend and you have disrespected me and everything I hold near and dear to my heart. We can't be friends, much less brothers. Go away!" This is nothing new. The church in Corinth faced the same dilemma centuries ago. Paul writes, "I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter” or “I follow only Christ.”13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name."
It appears that in the first century, they were already picking teams and dividing up the church. Paul writes them and basically says, "That's great that you have favorites, but your favorites can't compromise the unity of the Body of Christ. When that happens a good thing has become a bad thing".
In other words, be a fan. But, when it comes to Jesus, his church, and his plan for this world, you need to be MORE THAN A FAN. Cheer your heart out on Friday night or Saturday afternoon or Sundays, but keep it in perspective. IT'S JUST A GAME. I know to many of you those words are blasphemous. But, they're true. There's something much bigger at stake than the final score of a football game. It's literal life and death. It's eternity.
When it comes to your team...BE A FAN. When it comes to Jesus...BE MORE THAN A FAN.
We don't just love football, we love OUR TEAM. We're FANS. FANS is the shortened version of FANATICS. That perfectly expresses how we feel about "Our Team". We bleed red or green or orange or maroon...whatever our team's colors happens to be. They win...life is good. They lose...life is bad. We are true-blue, honest-to-goodness, cross-our-hearts-and-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-our-eye fans!
Count me in. I'm an Oiler fan (the Pearland variety). I'm a Bear fan (the Baylor variety). I'm a Texan fan. OK, so I don't paint myself. And I don't make that many games. And, if they should lose, I never contemplate ending it all. But, I am a fan...at least, I think so. Being a fan is great. But, even so, it appears that Satan is always looking for any opportunity to divide and conquer. Even if it's along color lines. (Not skin color....school color) It appears it is possible for Satan to take yet another good thing and turn it into a bad thing. (Every bad thing is a good thing perverted) It goes like this, "If you don't cheer for who I cheer for then you hate me and my team and I'm offended and can't be your friend and you have disrespected me and everything I hold near and dear to my heart. We can't be friends, much less brothers. Go away!" This is nothing new. The church in Corinth faced the same dilemma centuries ago. Paul writes, "I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter” or “I follow only Christ.”13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name."
It appears that in the first century, they were already picking teams and dividing up the church. Paul writes them and basically says, "That's great that you have favorites, but your favorites can't compromise the unity of the Body of Christ. When that happens a good thing has become a bad thing".
In other words, be a fan. But, when it comes to Jesus, his church, and his plan for this world, you need to be MORE THAN A FAN. Cheer your heart out on Friday night or Saturday afternoon or Sundays, but keep it in perspective. IT'S JUST A GAME. I know to many of you those words are blasphemous. But, they're true. There's something much bigger at stake than the final score of a football game. It's literal life and death. It's eternity.
When it comes to your team...BE A FAN. When it comes to Jesus...BE MORE THAN A FAN.
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