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World Wide Christians
Football Anyone ?
Rev . Billy Bowyer Mobile , Alabama bmxchaplain @ yahoo . com
When football season comes around I notice everyone getting their grills ready , cleaning their coolers and buying new large screen TV ’ s . Football is huge here in the south ! People plan weddings , family events and I have even seen a couple try to plan the birth of their son around the Iron Bowl . Football is almost a religion here in the south . People will spend days outside grill and preparing for the ultimate tailgate extravaganza . They will spend hours in the sun grilling , setting up and then watching the football game itself . It becomes the most important thing in life at that time . We have seen people in sub zero temperatures without shirts on and their bodies painted , jumping up and down screaming as loud as they can a their favorite player scores a touchdown and we even see them pledge allegiance to their team .
However the one thing that perplexes me is why these same people when ask at church do volunteer have objections . I have been asked before to change the time of an outreach event because people may be in the sun in the afternoon , even though they will be under a tent . I have been told we cannot expect people to stay at an outreach event for three hours because it is too long and they may get hot or cold . Really ? We have grown to become more worried about people ’ s comfort as opposed to lost souls . We change events to fit the comfort of the congregation . We make sure the AC or heat is set just right . We make sure the music is not too loud or too soft . We have created a generation of comfortable Christians who cannot make it in the world .
The same people who complain about the AC and heat in the church are the same people who will go out in freezing temperatures or stand in the blazing sun for hours on end to watch their favorite football team . Yet when it is time to help , they can ’ t because it is too hot or too cold outside .
The church is losing ground in America . We can see this if we truly open our eyes and look around . Prayer was taken out of school . Cursing and sex appear on regular TV . Atheists run rampant in university faculties . Christians are demeaned and taunted . Our religious freedoms are being taken away ! Why ? Because , we are more concerned with comfort instead of commitment . What if we gave God the same commitment we gave our football team ? What if we quit complaining and started working and showing love to others ? The what if ’ s could go on all day . The one question remains … are we going to be comfortable or committed ?