Lessons from Football?

Ok.  The truth is out.  I am a Green Bay Packers fan.  I admit it.  This is not a popular team in my family, so I am the weird one.  They have had enormous fun poking at me since the team hasn't been playing well this season.  Actually, the NFC North isn't doing well this year.  It must be a bad year when the Vikings beat the Bears and tie the Packers, and the Lions are better than the rest of us.

The Packers started doing badly this year when their star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers was pulled out for injury.  Since he was pulled, they have not won a game without him.  This team really depends on the leadership of Rodgers.  Without him, they are lost and seemingly without direction.  Even under the leadership of their coach, they are lost.

This made me think about the churches of today, and how dependent we sometimes get on our leaders and pastors.  This is for a variety of reasons.  Some leaders are so charismatic that they naturally draw the attention of the church body.  When the body of the church forgets to check the words spoken by the leader with the Bible, they often begin to take the words of the leader as absolute truth.  What happens when the leader begins to make bad decisions or speak about things that do not line up with the Bible in this scenario?  This would lead to the destruction of the church.

A healthier church runs like a team that has many reliable players that can carry out the plays, with greater emphasis placed on the team's talent, rather than the talents of a single player.  Paul the Apostle was clear about this when he wrote his letter to the early Corinthian church.

"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body.  So it is with the body of Christ.  Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free.  But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.  Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.  If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am not an eye," how would you hear?  Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?  But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.  How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes there are many parts, but only one body.  The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you."  In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.  All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it."

1 Corinthians 12:12-22, 27 (NLT)

Paul goes on to describe the different gifts and talents God gives to each of us.  We are meant to share our gifts with each other and unify the body of Christ, while keeping Christ as the head.  Think about your talent and how you can contribute to your church.  

On Monday, the Bears will face the Cowboys.  Who will join me in hoping that Tony Romo is on his game and the Cowboys beat the Bears?