It was a good week for the NFL. "The league drew its best Week One TV ratings in 23 years, including the most-watched Week One Sunday game of all-time."[1] Almost 20 million fans tuned in to each game and more than 25 million watched three of the contests according to Pro Football Weekly.
For the record, I am a fan of the National Football League. Football is a great game. But one has to wonder, are we becoming a nation of spectators? "Entertainment and spectator revenues are almost one-tenth our GDP of $14.4 trillion."2 That is a lot of sitting and watching!
This morning I continued my reading of Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream, by David Platt. Platt reminded me: "The plan of Christ is not dependent on having the right programs or hiring the right professionals but on building the right people--a community of people--who realize that we are all enabled and equipped to carry out the purpose of God for our lives."
I am stuck on those words enabled and equipped. Enabled and equipped people are meant to be players in the contest, not simply spectators of it.
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them . . . . (Romans 12:4-6 ESV)
As you join the family of God in the big house this weekend, engage: Worship. Pray. Serve. Welcome. Connect. Love. And if you know you are doing too much watching, ask how you can get out of the stands and onto the field. There are no spectators in this game.
STAY FOCUSED TODAY: Ask the Lord to help you see how he has enabled and equipped you to serve his purposes.
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1 "NFL draws best Week One TV ratings in 23 years," in Pro Football Weekly. www.profootballweekly.com, accessed September 16, 2010.
2 Phil G. Busey Sr. "Are we becoming a spectator nation?" (September 24, 2009) from www.edmondsun.com. Accessed September 16, 2009.