Are You Ready For Some Football?

The first weekend of the NFL is in the books. Empties have been put in the recycle bin, nacho cheese drippings have been cleaned from coffee tables, and sports DJs have enough to keep them talking until next weekend. Fantasy football team rosters are being scrutinized with an eye out for trades to improve the lineup. From now until the Super Bowl XLV, men will argue with the TV, second guess coaches, and insert themselves onto the field.

One reason guys watch sports like football is because it gives us an opportunity to vicariously live out a life of action while comfortably loafing in our "man caves." We imagine ourselves in the line stopping the opposing forces from sacking our QB. It's about using muscle and brain power. We have to outwit, outmaneuver, and win the battle of the line. Sure, some of us relate to the QB, the receivers, or the running backs, but for many of us the action on the line is what gets our heart fired up.

What is even more fun for many of us is to second guess the coaches. When they agree with us, they're brilliant. When they make a boneheaded decision, they should be banished to coach a farm club or, better yet, booted from the league altogether. Then there are the referees. Don't get us started on bad calls, missed penalties, or the horror of impacting the outcome of a game (always erroneously, of course) by throwing a flag. C'mon! No one person should be able to determine the outcome of a game in the final two minutes for an infraction like "holding." Hey, let the guys play!

Men get passionate about football. But perhaps it's time we get as passionate about our role as Christian men. What if we would invite the boy with the absent dad over to watch some football or get outside and toss a few bombs to the neighborhood kids? Wouldn't that give us a chance to get to know and encourage them through friendship and a relevant witness? What if we would spend as much time memorizing our Bible as we do memorizing team stats and player salaries? Wouldn't that make a difference in how we live? What if we set aside the same amount of time to be with our wife as we do for football? Watch out on that one! It might just enrich your marriage more than you can handle.

There will always be another thing coming down the line to preoccupy us.

The puck drops on preseason games September 21!

See what I mean?