A little lesson from a BIG game

 A little lesson from a big game!

Football is a game I like.  I like just about every aspect of the game from the bruising running of Walter “Sweetness” Payton to the amazing athleticism and accuracy from Russel Wilson.  How about the 85’ Bears?  The Legion of Boom? The West Coast offense was awesome and the Greatest Show on Turf was frustratingly a pleasure to watch.  The one thing that all of these have in common; other than they are all pro examples, is that the big game we have come to know and love really mostly comes down to a game of inches.  There is a famous speech given by a character in a movie you may have seen that highlights this thing about inches:  “… The inches we need are everywhere around us. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches, that's gonna make the difference between winning and losing!"

Sure, the long pass to the end zone is exciting. But in between the big plays are a lot of short ones, and those short plays are often decided by a matter of inches.  To be honest, I sometimes feel the same way as I learn about Jesus and his teachings. Salvation, Baptism, or marriage to me are like the big play that makes it to the highlight reel on Adam Bjaranson’s Sunday night sports show on FOX. There are other smaller “plays' ' that don't get the headlines like first downs or that nice pancake block from an offensive lineman, not headliners but they still move us closer to the goal of being more like Jesus. 

It’s time for some talk on fundamentals: 

In order to be a coach, you have to be good at team building. In football, defenses have to defend multiple types of offense, but before you can teach them to defend anything, they must learn how to tackle. Let's face it, tackling is something that as a general fan we feel should be natural, but a good coach knows the importance of practicing tackling.  Success can be found in strong tackling fundamentals. Here are three fundamentals that are important to practice as a Christian:

Prayer - asking God to do amazing things in you and in other people.

Reading the Bible - listening to Jesus and doing what He says.

Serving - helping others learn about the fundamentals of Faith. 

Looking for opportunities to apply these fundamentals in your life can not only make a difference for you, but it will make a difference in the lives of others. When the church began and a man named Paul traveled around to help churches get started, he worked with a variety of people to share the message of Jesus. Paul describes one person, Titus, not just as another person on the team, but as someone he could trust: “As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ” (2 Corinthians 8:23).

Paul trusted Titus and gave him more to do.  Kinda sounds familiar to a coach giving a player more playing time when he sees the player becoming better in the fundamentals. Every little decision we make or small choice we focus on is so often the difference between winning and losing.  I have learned; often the hard way, that with Christ I win and without Him, I simply lose.  I always strive to be better in my life fundamentals such as being a better husband, father, and follower of Christ but I often find myself falling just short of the goal line.  I want to fight for all those inches because I know that in the end, they will add up to better fundamentals. Look, as a Christian, I know that in Christ I win, but I must also continue to fight for those inches, so I can one day share the message of Jesus to others.  

Lastly, I don't really have anyone I’m really rooting for in the Playoffs but I will lean towards the Buffalo Bills since Astoria’s own Jordan Poyer is a key piece to that tough nose defense as a Safety (21).  It would be nice to see a hometown kid win the Super Bowl. 

Take care everyone.  

J