Sports.....now for those of you who know me at all, I am not the athletic type. I guess you could say that I have never really enjoyed sports. It could have something to do with my lazy eye and the fact that I have pretty much non existant hand-eye coordination, it could be that I am not good at running, because my legs are so short, or those could just be excuses for the fact that I just plain dont enjoy playing sports :)
When I was in high school, I loved being in all of the music and drama classes and organizations that I could. I may have never won a medal in track or recieved the honor of being an MVP in a sports game, but I was voted the "best singer" in my class. I was voted the "outstanding singer" in choir, I was section leader in both chorus and show choir, and I was voted the "best actress in a supporting role" for a play I was in. Yes, these are just a few of the honors that I carried with me, but you see, those things were so great and important to me and I didnt understand what was so great about sports, but to those people who play sports, the honors they recieved and the fun they had playing the sport were just as great.
This week I have been driving around this new little town of Sumner, which by the way takes much less time than when I lived in Oskaloosa :) But I have been seeing all of these signs. You see, let me back up for a minute. Since moving here, I have been to 5 volleyball games, 4 football games, and this is only my 3rd week here! I have learned one lesson from all of this, SPORTS ARE A BIG DEAL HERE IN SUMNER! I have seen all of these signs around town for support of the teams and its more than I have ever seen before. Did I mention that only 2 of these 9 games I have attended have been in town? Yes, thats the real lesson, this entire town follows the teams to all of their away games. Yesterday, we drove 1 and 1/2 hours each way to see the Volleyball girls play for state. The night before, we drove about 45 minutes to see the boys play in the playoffs for football. There was a sign that read, " Last one out of town turn out the lights" last year when the boys basketball team went to state. And its true, when we were leaving town, I noticed that there were many cars behind us, literally, almost all of the town was in a caravan to see these games being played.
Now I will be honest with you, I have loved watching my youth play in these games. My girls have been amazing in their volleyball games. And the guys have done just as well in football. So dont think for a minute that I am complaining about going to these events, that is not the point of this blog at all. But, as I was sitting last night during the 4th of 5 volleyball games that were played, I started to really begin to think. I got completely distracted from the game for a few minutes as my thoughts were consumed by this. You see, sports are a very huge deal here. It builds a unity with the people of the town as well as the teams that we are watching. And I think thats great, but why isnt the church more like that?
I started thinking, to drive the distance to these games, many people had to get off work early so they could get there on time. When the teams win, school gets cancelled so everyone can support them as they play. In fact, we had a meeting scheduled here at church and as i am the secretary as well as the youth pastor, I had to change the calendar twice to accomodate a sporting event, because people would not come to the church event if there was also a sporting event at the same time.
Now I am not trying to step on any toes here at all. As I said, I have enjoyed these sporting events as much as everyone else has, however, it really got me thinking. Why is it that sports are becoming more important to us than the growth of our church? When was the last time that someone took of work early or took a vacation day to be at a church event? When was the last time that people got so excited for God that they invited the whole town to be a part of sharing in him together? Again, this is not a slam on anyone, It was just something I was thinking about. But I think its true. For myself as well as others. We have trouble asking for a week off in the summer for church camp, or taking a day off so we can go to a youth event that will help us grow in our faith. Its not hard for us to miss a church event because we are sick or have a headache, but we will do everything we can to make it to a sporting event, no matter how sick we feel.
I did the same thing in high school. I would rather be at show choir practice puking my guts out than to stay home and miss doing what I loved. I would rather be running lines at play practice with a headache the size of Montana than stay home and rest. And if it meant that I had to miss show choir or a play practice or anything of those things that were important to me, I just refused. I missed many church events because these things were more important to me. Looking back now, I dont understand why. There is not really a demand or need for girls who have 4 years of experience in show choir.
I guess what I am trying to say in all this, is that I am learning what a chance we have to make a difference for Christ in the lives of those around us. If we would choose to take a little more time for him. If he was as important to us as sports, what am impact we could have for him. If we had the same sense of unity in the body of Christ as I have seen at these games, we would be doing AMAZING things for him!
I am not trying to hurt anyones feelings or say that sports are not important, not at all. I love the sense of unity at these sporting events. I love how supportive we all are of one another in these events. I just wonder what it would be like, if we let that sense of unity flow over into the church? If we let that sense of loyalty to practice and games spread into bible studies, small groups, church services, just plain doing things to bring us closer to God, I just get excited thinking about what could happen and how much of an impact we could have for Christ.
I have been challenged, and I hope that is what this blog is to you who are reading it. A simple challenge to look at where the focus of your life is, what is important to you. And how you could be doing better. I know I am going to try!
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