Football’s Finishing Up; Restart Your Study Of Jesus & His Word
Word-of-the-Day: ‘(12) In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! (13) Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. (14) But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.’ (Hebrews 5:12-14)
As yet another season of football (good old American football, not the global version) is coming to an end, there will be some with ‘withdrawal’ as to what to do with their time. For twenty-plus weeks, since late August, the weekends (and if you’re into the MAC college games the weekdays) have been filled with games. By 9 February, though, the Super Bowl will be played. While the old national pastime of baseball and the southern tradition of stock car racing will soon begin afterwards (with hockey and basketball continuing into summer), the sports junkie will have something to occupy their time. Others, though, may be searching for something to do.
I suggest getting back into the Bible, again. Throughout Christendom, distractions, not always football or sports but often our daily life events, take us away from the Word. This happened to the Jews and other Believers living in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Roman Empire, for whom the Book of Hebrews was written. Though the author is attributed as Paul, it is thought it may have been written just after Paul’s death by one of those inside his circle, to exhort Christians to stay the course. In Acts, the Church grew from a body of 120 at the time of the provision of the Holy Spirit to the believers at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) to tens of thousands at the time of Paul’s execution in Rome in or about 64 AD.
At this point in time, several of the Apostles were already executed and others had left Jerusalem to go out as missionaries, some as far as Spain to the west and India to the east. Not all of the churches planted by Paul or the Apostles in Israel or Asia Minor and Greece had strong leadership, though Timothy, Apollos, and others who served under Paul and the Apostles took on the roles of church leadership – overall and in individual churches – afterward. The early church, after Paul and the Apostles left or were leaving the scene, found itself where many churches today find themselves; competing with the pressures of the secular world, the need to focus on careers in order to earn money, and the drawing away of the people by cultural norms and humanistic pursuits.
Many identified as followers of Jesus, but fell into the ‘routine’ of being Christian; they went to church every Sunday, heard the sermons, sang the hymns, and then left to return to pursue their secular desires. They returned to their jobs, went back to fulfilling the cultural demands placed upon them, and did not put their relationship with Jesus as a priority. This is as true today as it was back then; the need to fit into societal norms and pursue personal desires took over their desire to conform to the Lord.
Part of the reason almost all churches suffer from the 90/10 ‘rule’ (90% of all the work done within a church is done by 10% of the congregation) is due to this phenomenon. The author of Hebrews recognized this, that many who followed Jesus, and truly believed in Him and received His Salvation and Holy Spirit, were not fully committing to serving Him. They came and heard the sermons but would not take the time to build their relationship with Him, or with other Christians in fellowship.
It is often thought, for example, that Elders are exclusive and special, but truthfully all men, except for those who are ineligible to serve as such, should aspire to be Elders and should be ready to serve as such. Even those who are ineligible to be named Elders can still teach and share the Word with others. But in Hebrews we find many were still Spiritually infants, though they were Christians who came to Faith many years ago. Some have the mindset of ‘I’m saved! Now I can relax and return to my regular routines’, and have done so for years.
But Jesus didn’t provide Salvation to relax but to share His Gospel with others, through His command of the Great Commission. To perform the Great Commission, one has to know the Word and be prepared to teach. This does not mean everyone must teach a Life Group, preach sermons, or become an Elder, but be prepared to share the Word to those who do not know Him or what Righteousness is. To become prepared, we must know the Bible, know Jesus through building our relationship with Him, and be tuned into the Holy Spirit within us through our self-study of the Bible, having fellowship with other Believers, and pray often to seek His guidance and wisdom.
This does not mean you can’t have hobbies, or not watch the Super Bowl or tune into the NFL draft in April to see who your team selects. It does mean these things take a back seat to Jesus – put Jesus first, become doers of the Word and produce ‘fruit’ of the Spirit and not just consume it. Become mature, fill yourself with Jesus so much that He has to spill out to be shared with others. Consuming milk may keep you going, but eating solid food is what gives you energy to go and do things for Jesus and His Great Commission.
