I write this post as I watch Noah yelling like a maniac on the practice field. He just lined up against one of his team mates, growling like a crazed animal and then proceeded to lay him out on his back as he ran right through him. As he came to a stop, his coach yelled, “Great job! Now, do it again but power through more!”

For two hours, three to four days a week, his coaches yell at him. They make him run until he feels like he will die. Then make him work harder and harder. They keep going over the fundamentals every day. Why do they do this? Why do they continually correct my son like this? Why don’t they just tell him how good he is doing and leave it at that? Why must they continually point out what he is doing wrong? Don’t they even care about him?

OF COURSE!

They do this because they want him to succeed. They do this every week because Saturday is coming and we have a game. All of this is for Saturday… Game Day. The time when it all goes down. Do or die. Both Noah and Adam play football. So, we are on the practice field between 6-8 hours every week along with hundreds of other families across Wilmington to prepare for Saturday… for a football game.

I believe church should be like football. Lord knows (literally) that our message is much more important than football. We should spend every day preparing for Sunday, our game day. So, what does a win look like? I propose that it looks like life change on a mass scale. The win comes when the opportunity is given to turn their lives toward Christ and follow Him. This Sunday was a big win for us at The ROCK. As I gave the call for salvation, hands went up all across our auditorium. I was so pumped up that I lost count after twenty hands were raised! Each time I saw a hand heaven scored again and all of heaven went berserk.

If you are already a mature follower of Christ, this puts a tremendous responsibility on you. It means you spend your week drawing others into our community of faith.

I believe church should be a lot more like football.

Coming up… are you a recruiter, coach, player, cheerleader, spectator or just a heckler? It’s time to get in the game.