Fantasy football is starting back up, and I couldn't be happier! I love everything football. I can debate it all day long, talk the ins and outs of the game, and even enjoy studying the technical aspects of football from time to time from experts. But here is the catch...I've never played football. Ever. There is a huge difference between knowing about football, and actually playing it. Well...the same thing could be shared about sharing the gospel. We know a lot about evangelism, don't we? We study it, debate it, read about it, and promote it. But what are we actually doing? There is a big difference between knowing the importance of sharing the gospel and actually opening our mouth and sharing Jesus with others.
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Fantasy football is starting back up, and I couldn't be happier! I love everything football. I can debate it all day long, talk the ins and outs of the game, and even enjoy studying the technical aspects of football from time to time from experts. But here is the catch...I've never played football. Ever. There is a huge difference between knowing about football, and actually playing it. Well...the same thing could be shared about sharing the gospel. We know a lot about evangelism, don't we? We study it, debate it, read about it, and promote it. But what are we actually doing? There is a big difference between knowing the importance of sharing the gospel and actually opening our mouth and sharing Jesus with others.
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together.
If you know anything about me, you know how much I love sports – particularly baseball and football. As baseball is drawing near towards the end of the regular season, football is just about to start up again. Naturally, this is also the time of year that I jump back into all of my fantasy football leagues. If you don’t know what fantasy football is, essentially you compete with your friends to draft the best players that you think will perform well in games during the upcoming season. Yards, catches, touchdowns, and such will all score you points. Negative plays such as sacks, fumbles, and interceptions however will cost you. This year I am in 5 different leagues, including an all-preachers league which has already been a ton of fun. We all video called and harassed each other while we drafted our players, talking all of the ins and outs of each player along the way. It’s been a long while since I just sat and talked sports with a bunch of guys, so it was refreshing for me. I would talk about football for hours on end if you gave me the time. I love the debates back and forth from both passionate fans and statistical experts. I enjoy staying up to date on coaching staffs and their overall schemes. I have actually gotten to the point where I even study football! In my limited free time, I will watch the episodes where Payton Manning breaks down the play of different quarterbacks in game and highlights their strengths and weaknesses. I study routes of some of the best wide receivers in the game. I know whether the defensive backs should press in tight with coverage or play off from their counterparts. I understand that a good run or passing game is only as good as your offensive line. If you haven’t caught my drift yet, I really enjoy learning about football, watching football, debating about football, and playing fantasy football. But you want to know something that’s really odd, given everything that I just said? I have never once actually played football. Not one time in my life. Sure, I’ve thrown a ball around with the boys before, maybe played a little intermural in college, but never once have I thrown pads on and been a part of a team. I’m really not all that good at even throwing or catching a football for that matter. When it comes to football, unlike Marshawn Lynch who was always, “about that action, boss” - I’m all talk. All that knowledge is simply that, head knowledge. But there is a huge difference between knowing about football and actually playing the game. Between understanding concepts, and actually getting out on the field and doing them.
While I may never get out onto an actual football field in my life, because let’s face it, I’m a 32 year old chubby hubby with a family – I believe there is a much more important lesson to be learned here. I recently shared some thoughts like this with our church family here in Danville, KY after we finished a series of lessons on evangelism. Naturally, we know the mission that we have been given by Jesus in regard to sharing the gospel with the world. Jesus is recorded as saying in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” This is our mission that we have been given in Christ Jesus – to let the light of Christ shine through us, and to go and share the gospel with all the world. So, what do we do? Well, for starters, we all come together and we talk about exactly how to do that every week. We have lessons about how we should love the lost and how to approach others with the gospel. We break into small groups and discuss obstacles that stand in the way of seeking the lost in our culture. We go to the bookstore, buy books on how to teach others about Jesus, and post about the books we read so others can read them too. We know all the ins and outs of different approaches when it comes to evangelism – the pros and cons of door knocking, revival meetings, social media work, or radio & television programs. We come up with yearly themes and celebrate that this year we will focus on even more study on the importance of sharing the gospel. We’ll invite guest speakers to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to talk with our local churches about new or exciting ideas about evangelism. At this point, you get the picture. But let me ask you again… what do we do? James writes in his letter the following admonition, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25) There is a huge difference between knowing about evangelism and how to share the gospel & actually doing it. Everywhere that you look around you, there are churches that are dying right and left. Despite growing constantly in knowledge, they never grow as a congregation or in their community. It leaves one scratching their heads and asking, “what are we doing wrong?” May I be so bold to suggest that perhaps the problem is that we’re not doing anything! For many Christians, when it comes to sharing the gospel, we are all talk…but we are not about that action. But my friends, what good does any of that actually do at all if that is all? What good does knowing the importance of sharing the gospel & all the ins and outs of evangelism actually do if I never open my mouth and share Jesus with someone? Please allow me to clarify – I am speaking in generalizations. I know many, many Christians who do not simply talk the talk, but they walk the walk when it comes to sharing the gospel with others. I know of several churches that are constantly growing because they are not just debating and discussing the gospel but are out there sharing Jesus with others. But if these thoughts convict you – then it’s time to get to work. It’s time to put all that knowledge to some kind of good use. It’s time to be about that action, boss. Let’s finish with the words of Paul in Romans 10:13-15, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Tuesday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able to be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.