After attending the Calgary/Edmonton Labor Day football game, This analogy came to mind: “Christian work could be compared to a football game - 35,000 people who badly need exercise watching a couple dozen players who badly need some rest.”
I began to wonder if the analogy could be expanded. Why do some play while others prefer to sit and watch? Here are a few suggestions:
First, some people are more skilled than others. In sports that means the difference between winning and losing, so it only stands to reason that the players are the very best that management can find or afford.
But is it like this in the church? Do we have a mentality that says only the “more skilled” can effectively do the work of ministry, and the others who think they are less skilled should sit and watch? Christians who think this way have let the thinking of the (sports) world invade their theology. The Bible says that spiritual gifts are “given to everyone, to profit all,” and “those members of the body (of Christ) that seem to be more feeble are necessary,” not just to sit and cheer, but to use what they have to complete and complement the work of others.
Secondly, those in the playing field must exercise time and energy to become what they are, while those in the stands have other priorities. Certainly, not everyone can be a big league pitcher, or a hockey player, yet priorities are a major theme in Scripture. None of the commands in the Bible say anything like this, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, except of course if it cuts into what you want to do.” Or this, “Abstain from fleshly desires . . . unless you find it too difficult.”
Self-denial and hard work are the foundation for excellence in athletics. Certainly they have a key role in Christian ministry as well.
Thirdly, some spectators do not play because they simply don’t know anything about the game. In fact, no coach in his right mind would play a person that has never read the rule book, or never been in training camp.
Christians sometimes sit because they feel inadequate and ignorant too. In contrast, God says that we are “complete in Christ” and have all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1) We also have a “rule book,” the Spirit of God, and the example and encouragement of others who have gone before us for our instruction. Furthermore, the Lord promises wisdom to anyone who asks for it. (James 1) Ignorance and a sense of inadequacy are no excuses to sit and watch.
Another reason that some don’t play is that they prefer to coach from the sidelines. Listen at any game - most armchair quarterbacks, baseball players, and hockey fans know exactly how to call the plays, hit the home runs, and keep the opposition from scoring. Sadly, the same is true of many “armchair Christians.” They could preach a better sermon, give a better witness, teach a better class. They know all about how to do it. They just don’t do it.
Perhaps This analogy could continue. There are spectators who attend the games for a break in their routine, and there are those who go because they would like to play but are afraid to try. Others use sports to socialize, or to impress their colleagues.
Still others get a thrill from watching the action. Whatever the reasons, none of them are valid according to God’s game plan. The work of the church is successful only if everyone is involved, doing what they can at the level of skill that they have, motivated by a love for their Coach and a desire to please Him.
“I stopped going to church when it gave me a guilty conscience and started to conflict with what I wanted to do.”
Those are among the saddest words that I have ever heard. They reveal such a misunderstanding of not only the purpose of the Christian church but of the purpose of human life. Both topics are too broad for this short article but the above quote grieves my heart. To those who say it, I offer these truths with a prayer that you will read, understand, and reconsider.
First of all, the church is commanded by God to tell people the gospel, which is the good news: “Jesus Christ died for their sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) That is very good news, definitely not intended to send people running, but to fill them with joy.
Secondly, the reason Christ had to die for our sin is that we are sinful people. Sin isn’t only the “big” transgressions, murder, adultery, stealing. Sin is simply doing what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. And sin violates the laws of God - not the laws of a church. While some”churches” do not teach God’s law, but replaces it with human philosophies and traditions, there are those churches that teach the truth of God’s Word. They are essentially speaking for Almighty God, who is not in the business of trapping people into a miserable lifestyle or sending them on an unresolvable guilt-trip. Instead, “God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
Most of the world hasn’t the slightest idea that anyone needs saving. The gospel has the effect of revealing that to us. The Son of God came and died for our sin. That clearly spells out the severity of the need . . . we must need saving since the remedy was so drastic.
Thirdly, God, in His wisdom, built into us a faculty called guilt so we could recognize our plight, so we could receive that good news. He doesn’t intend that we plug our ears, cover our eyes, and run away. Would anyone avoid surgery for a malignant tumor just because they couldn’t bear the anticipated pain? Hardly! Yet sin affects more than our bodily condition, it affects our eternal destiny. The initial pain of diagnosis is worth the joy of the remedy.
Lastly, the reason Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world is that He didn’t have to . . . it is condemned already. Verses 18-20 say this: “He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.”
There is a choice: Hiding selfishness and walking away to do our own thing, or letting it be exposed (yes, it hurts) and be forgiven. Choosing to push aside guilt to feel good may be rewarding for a little while, but anguish, darkness, and eternal separation from God awaits those who reject the good news. A stinging conscience is a small thing compared to eternal regret.
Every now and then I pick up a new product in the grocery store to read the contents listed on the label. I want to know what is in it before I buy it.
Labels are interesting. They can describe the contents of a box of cereal or classify people, organizations and schools of thought. However, convenient as titles and labels are, if descriptions are inaccurate or definitions vague, a label can cause serious misunderstandings.
It is no secret that the Christian church has been the object of labeling. Some congregations label themselves, such as Lutheran, Baptist, and Presbyterian, intending to identify their doctrinal distinctives. Other broader classifications include fundamental, liberal, orthodox, and so on.
Often, observers outside the church add some labels based on their personal experience. Besides that, philosophies that are not Christian borrow the terms used by the church, making label-reading increasingly confusing.
The New Testament Greek word for church is “ekklesia” referring to an assembly of people who are “called out,” called from a life of sin to the redemption offered freely by the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture does put a few other names on those “called out” people such as “saints” and “brethren” but the Biblical identification of the church is rather straightforward with location being the primary distinction. In other words, each one who is “called out” is part of Christ’s church, no matter which place they meet, or what they call themselves.
To further define these “called out” ones, the Scriptures state that a person either has the Spirit of Christ, or does not have the Spirit of Christ. If not, then that person is not Christ’s, and therefore not a Christian (Romans 8:9).
Even though the Biblical definition seems to be simple, many people have a confused idea of what Christians are and what the church is. The confusion is revealed by the labels that are used. At the root of the problem is the tendency to define Christians as those who assemble in a building called a church. While This can be true, that definition is not entirely accurate. A building can be a church, but the church is not necessarily a building. A Christian can be found in a church building, but not everyone who regularly attends church necessarily has Christ in their heart.
The buildings labeled churches should be meeting places of Christians and the people labeled Christians should be called that because their label accurately describes their contents . . . Christ!
If that were so, perhaps there would be a greater interest in the product.
