February 10, 2025

Yes, I did watch the game.  I wasn't quite sure, at the end, whether to be impressed with the Eagles or disappointed in the Chiefs.  Maybe a mixture of both.  I'll admit, I do not wear either logo.  Nor any gear from any NFL team.  I just don't watch or care much.   I do like the "midnight green" of the Eagle's uniforms so maybe my allegiance is not color blind?   ***   I was much more interested to hear statements about the players that share their faith.   Here was a pre-game clip from several Eagles:  CLICK HERE   (note, if you don't have access, like me, you'll probably get a pop-up box you'll need to close and then unmute this video... some of the statements are SO good).

I am frankly disappointed in what sports teach our kids.  Yes, I'm in favor of learning to play on a team, doing your best, preparing hard, exercise, and being coached.   Yet, it seems that every coach and every team is taught to overtly sin!  You must sin to win.   Now, I know, when make a statement like that, I need to justify it.  So here you go:  It seems to me that most every sport promotes the sin of lying to get ahead.   Now, I fully realize that a player has a hard time judging themselves to have crossed a line.  They may have thought they were "in bounds" or that the ball went "out of bounds" or whatever.  Sports move fast.  But, very often, they know.  They know they are telling a lie.   This occurred to me most noticeably when I watched one of the final Husker volleyball matches back in December.   It was questioned whether one of the Husker gals touched the ball before it went out.  "Who me?" was the seeming response from the player.  The referee looked at the replay and you could see the ball sliding off the player's fingertips, moving the tops of the fingers and, with fingernails, there was just no way this young girl did not know that she touched the ball.  But, what is she taught to do and say?   She must lie.  Lie to get the call you want.  Lie to get the point.  Lie to win the game.      

And we as fans, parents, and players accept that as a requirement of playing sports (we should NOT).  Does God accept it?   We are a culture that must win at all cost and yet "at all cost" is offensive to God and the ultimate "cost" is punishment for sin.  It's too high of a cost to pay!  Too high of a cost to promote.  

I don't know that we can change the whole culture aside from God's Spirit moving.  I realize some of you are offended by this conversation because it is just a little lie.  God would not be pleased and He does not measure sins like we do.  We do have a choice in how we raise our children and how we instruct them.   Lord willing, some of us know coaches (or are coaches) and we can teach them to honor truth and seek God's way...  even in sports.   May the best teams rightly win.  

What has often been called “The Great Commission” is Matthew 28:19-20:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is most-often used as a call to sending out missionaries or for us to evangelize.  It was spoke to the eleven disciples.  They were being told to “go” and “make” and “baptize” and “teach.”  We are, first and foremost, to be a part of those that are made, baptized and taught.  An omission that is most often missed in the Great Commission is that disciples are to be taught “to observe all that [Jesus] commanded.”   If we want to live out this commission, we must be teaching and observing His commandments.   There should not be omission in this commission!    A disciple obeys the commands of Jesus.  If we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). It’s how we are to be His friends (John 15:14).  One writer speaking about obeying Jesus in everything He said wrote,  “My concern is that too often we fall into the trap of talking about real Christianity instead of actually living it.”  We need to believe in everything Jesus says and commit to obey what we’ve heard from Him.   Obey Jesus; be the church!