But remember, you are not the quarterback. You are not the one calling or executing the plays.  In fact, you are not any one of the players.  You are the football.

You’ve heard all your life, “God wants to use you for His glory and for His Kingdom.”  That’s true.  But some days it will be tempting to think that the game is about what you do on the field.  It will be tempting to keep track of your stats and to compare them with other servants of God.  It will be tempting to love those cheering crowds, even Christian crowds who applaud you for doing godly things.  It will be tempting to want to see your glory shine in those heavenly highlight reels.

That’s what happened in the Corinthian church.  Crowds of Christians began to cheer for their favorite servant of God.  Each one of them was saying, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12).  Godly men who were doing God’s work were being cheered by adoring fans . . . and it divided the church.  Paul corrected that attitude with these words:

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”  (1 Corinthians 3:5-7, ESV)

We recently studied 1 Corinthians in the high school Bible class that I teach.  One day we discussed how the Corinthian Christians were dividing into factions based on their preference for a particular pastor or teacher.  As we looked at chapter three, verses five through seven, the following illustration came to me:

The Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions to beat the Seattle Seahawks 38 to 17 on Sunday.  How silly would it sound for the fans to say: “Wow!  That football was awesome!  What an amazing piece of pigskin! Did you see how it got into the end zone?  Did you see how it flew through the air and skillfully avoided being intercepted?  Let’s put that football in a glass case and give it a spot in the ring of honor!”

Of course it’s silly.  The football is nothing but an instrument in the hands of a skilled quarterback.  The quarterback did the work and the football, submissive to the quarterback’s will, was caught up in a moment of glory.  So, the football is nothing, but the quarterback who made the pass is the one who deserves the glory.

Sometimes in the church we give too much credit to God’s instruments and not enough, if any, to the God who uses them.  We give servants of God celebrity status as if they have done all the work.  We fight with one another over which instrument of God is better than the other.  (Hint: it’s usually the instrument that I happen to follow.)  It’s akin to starting a fan club for the football while ignoring the football player.

And yes, it is true that some footballs get put in glass cases and are given places of honor in the homes of the player who used them to execute glorious plays in big games.  But the player gets to choose which ball he will honor.  Footballs don’t put themselves on pedestals.

God wants to throw you, Christian, so that through you He might get glory.  I have no doubt that He will use your life to make some pretty impressive plays for the Kingdom.  And in the same way that you and I watch and wait on the edge of our seats to see an amazing QB do something spectacular on the field . . . “the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” will be watching and waiting to see what glorious plays God makes with you on your personal playing field (Ephesians 3:10).

And when He does, some people will applaud you.  And you’ll be tempted (as I have been) to cherish their cheers.  Try to remember in those times that holding on to glory that belongs to God is as absurd as having a ticker tape parade for a piece of leather.

At the practice following a particularly poor performance in a big game, a famed football coach lifted a ball high for all the team to see. “It looks like we need to get back to the basics,” he said.    “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

Let’s get back to the basics, Christian.  You are the football.

Play, ball.

JIMMY DAVIS is an Associate Pastor at Metrocrest Presbyterian Church in Carrollton, TX, an Associate Editor for the Worldview Church, and maintains the Cruciform Life Blog.

Does the omnipotent and eternal God actually care about Little League games and Monday Night Football? The Bible calls Christians to do everything for God’s glory, and that includes playing, watching, and talking sports. Learn how to enjoy sports as a gift from God and as a means of growing in godliness.

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