We’ve all seen kids play sports.
Whether it was us or a family member or friend, we’ve all been there.
I think back to playing soccer when I was younger. I feel like it was a requirement for every kid in our town to play soccer for a year or two before they decided they wanted to do something else.
You always had the kids that tried really hard and they usually became the ones to score all the goals and were put on offense. Then, you had other kids that were good at defense and given that role. And then you always had that one kid, let’s call him Johnny, who would rather be anywhere but in that game. He didn’t care at all about who was winning and who was losing. He just showed up because someone told him he had to play.
I feel like this is such a good parallel to most Christians today.
There are the people on offense. They are running full force for Jesus and doing everything they can to win souls for the Kingdom.
Then, there are those who are on defense. They maybe grew up in church and have Christian values and beliefs, and they’ll defend the word given the opportunity, but they’re not actively looking for areas to serve.
Then, there are Johnny’s. They were maybe raised in a Christian home and taught Biblical principles but when it comes to actually living out their faith, they would rather be anywhere else.
They don’t offend or defend for the kingdom. They just showed up because someone told them they had to.
See, so many of us get caught up in life and the world and think that if we just play the game like we’re told, we’ll be fine. After all, we’re not doing anything “wrong,” especially by the world’s standards.
To the world, we are upstanding citizens. We are “good people.” We’re generally nice to people and we might even show up for church on Sunday morning.
But to be honest, we really aren’t doing anything for the Kingdom. We might not be doing anything against it, but we certainly aren’t pushing it forward.
Christianity isn’t a passive position. It’s an aggressive one. We should be actively looking for new opportunities to listen to God and serve Him DAILY.
This doesn’t mean we need to be aggressive in how we treat other people in the process, but aggressive in our relentlessness for the Gospel.
We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. We don’t know that we have a lot of time. To be honest, I think that was one of the biggest lessons that I learned from living through the pandemic this last year. We truly never know what tomorrow could bring and we need to seize the days and the moments when we do have them.
So friends, when it comes to living out your faith, don’t be a Johnny.
Don’t be passive!
Defend the gospel and run the race to the best of your ability because that is what we are called to do as followers of Christ.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." HEBREWS 12:1 NKJV
