I’ve mentioned before that my small group at church is studying Frances Chan’s “Forgotten God” series and I usually walk away from it with a lot to think about. That being said, be prepared for me to share some of my thoughts on this series each month and for me to ask for your feedback.
To preface this: Most of us ask a lot from God, but we seldom recognize His blessings and thank Him for them. When prayers seem to go unanswered, instead of sitting back, praying more, and realizing that our expectations might not be what God has planned, we get frustrated.
It all sounds confusing, right?
Well, Chan focused specifically on this issue in Chapter 3 when he compared most Christians to football players in the middle of a game.
Picture this: The players running onto the field. The crowd gets on its feet. The players huddle together and the crowd is ecstatic. What would happen if the players then ran to the sidelines and sat down on the benches? It would look a little bizarre. Say they got back up, huddled again, then sat back down. It doesn’t make sense. The crowd would be very confused, and eventually, even the most die-hard fans would leave.
Many Christians are just like that. We go to church on Sunday, get excited about the message, talk about ways to change, then wake up Monday morning with the same goals and attitudes as we did the week before. No wonder Christianity confuses people. No wonder people get so frustrated with us. Each of us has so many talents (talents that are God-given) and we so often fall so short.
What do you think the world (or, to make it simpler, your community) would look like if we didn’t run straight to the benches?