Playing On God's Team

Playing On God’s Team

Scripture: First Corinthians 12:14, 18; 27-28; Jeremiah 15:16

The title of my message this morning is “Playing on God’s Team.” As many of you are aware, Fall is upon us and with the coming of Fall football season is back in action. I got the opportunity to go to one of my godson’s games a week ago and it was fun to watch the kids really go at it. Many people are now planning their schedules around football games, especially those who love to attend live weekend games and tailgate. This morning I want all of us to think about football – not the games that might be scheduled for today, but football from a spiritual viewpoint – and you will need to use your spiritual imaginations during this message.

In spiritual football, there are two opposing teams: God’s team and the team the devil manages. On God’s team He is the head coach and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are His assistants. Now let’s assume that Jesus is the offensive coordinator while the Holy Spirit is the defensive coordinator. Now for those of you who know a little about American football, the head football coach manages the team, preps players for the game, and has to know each player on both sides of the ball (offense and defense). The head coach also manages coaching duties on the sideline and decides on the in-game strategy. The offensive coordinator is in charge of the team’s offensive game plan, and typically calls offensive plays during the game. Likewise the defensive coordinator is the coach responsible for the team’s defense. Both of these coaches report to and partners with the head coach around their strategy for the game. Finally, each coach has what is known as a playbook for their team. The playbook is a notebook containing descriptions of all the plays and strategies used by a team, often accompanied by diagrams, and issued to players for them to study and memorize before the season begins. It is vastly important that each member of the team knows the playbook by heart. As I go through the message this morning I want you to keep this brief overview of American football in the forefront of your mind.

Some years ago, a well-known professional football player was selected to be on the cover of the new John Madden football video game. At the announcement, a reporter said, “Every player had a less productive year than the year before after he was put on the cover.” And then he asked him, “Do you believe that being on the Madden cover is a jink?” The player was a linebacker and the question presumed that he would have less tackles than he had the previous year. The player responded, “I don’t believe in jinks. What God has for me He has for me.” In essence, he said that being on the cover of the well-known video game would have no impact on what God had planned for him during the upcoming football season. New Light, this sounds a lot like many Christians today who faithfully believe that God is in control of everything in their life, so whatever happens in their life is part of His divine will. For example, I have heard Christians rationalize after not getting a particular job say, “I guess God didn’t want me to have it.” And then there’s the “God I don’t understand why You would allow such and such to happen.” You see, people who think this way believe that everything that happens in their life must have been the will of God. Imagine telling parents who lost a child in a shooting that it must have been God’s will for this to happen and we don’t always know and understand the ways of God. How can we say such things with a sincere face?

In thinking about this, the idea of God being a “football coach” came to mind. It’s an analogy that can help us understand why many Christians question God and blame Him for the uncomfortable things that happen in their lives. So, let’s talk a little about God’s team. Everyone who is born on this earth is by default assigned to Satan’s team because we are all born under sin. But, and this is the good part, to join God’s team all you have to do is make the request. God does not hold tryouts to see if you are capable of being a contributing member of His team; no if you want to be on His team all you have to do is ask. But remember, for every person who joins God’s team, Satan loses that person from team, so He will do everything in his power to keep everyone on his team.