Since the Super Bowl is finally over and since football season is behind us (I’ll pause for a moment so the football “widows” can cheer!), I was thinking about what football shows us about the Christian life. I’m actually serious, so let me explain.
When a football player puts on his pads, helmet, and uniform, he is expecting to participate in a tough, physical struggle. I have never seen a football player run off the field because an opponent knocked him down. He expects that to happen. It’s just part of the game.
Tough struggles are a part of the Christian life, too. You may have never been a football player, but if you are a Christian, God has enlisted you into His army to be part of an epic battle. That may sound strange to you because in today’s Christian culture, Jesus is often portrayed as the solution to difficulties, not as Someone who brings them on. But, following Jesus is not easy, and Jesus told us to expect this treatment: “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…” (John 15:20). The Bible even promises that all dedicated Christians will have battles: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
I’ll describe what these struggles can look like in a minute, but first I want to be clear about the kind of battle we should expect.
A Christian’s battle is not a physical one. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood….” (Ephesians 6:12). We don’t need guns or knives in order to follow Christ.
Not only that, but God does not call Christians to punish (or get rid of) those who follow another god. If someone opposes or insults our Lord, we know that He doesn’t need us to defend Him. God is fully capable of taking care of His enemies without us. “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, OK, you may ask, then what are the battles that Christians face? Sometimes, we have to fight this world’s way of thinking (see 1John 5:4). Other times, we have to fight the influence of Satan himself (see Ephesians 6:16). Sadly, often we are just fighting our own sinful tendencies (see Romans 6:11). Those are three formidable enemies, but don’t despair. Victory is still possible! “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37–39). The weapon that Christians use to wage their battles is more powerful than an AK-47. We are called to “Fight the good fight of faith…” (1 Timothy 6:12). Faith in what God says is powerful enough to give us joy and peace even in the midst of many different kinds of hardships. This happens as we trust what God says instead of trusting what we think or feel. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6). When you are attacked by discouragement or fear, trust that God’s promises to His followers are true. Here is an example: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand… For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you’” (Isaiah 41:10, 13). Faith in Christ is so powerful that it changes our eternity: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes….” (Romans 1:16). That faith infuses real life in us. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life…” (John 3:36). Football games are physically rough. Our journey through life gets rough at times, too, but those of us who love Jesus find the strength and comfort that we need to keep going. Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him…. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:21, 23).
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