In Christianity, there is no prize for spectators

I dislike watching the game of football. Truly, I do. But this doesn’t mean I am against sports. I simply dislike the fact that I have to spend over ninety minutes of my time cheering, screaming, and even suffering anxiety just watching millionaires enjoy the time of their lives tossing a ball around.

It’s annoying! And the attention the game of football gets from the media and fans all over the world makes it all the more annoying to me.

Maybe I wasn’t born with a bone for sports. Well, the only time I actually do think “sports” is when I bother about how I’m going to lose all these extra calories.

Last year though, I was drawn to a particular boxing match: the great fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. There was so much noise about it on social media, it was hard not to notice.

I didn’t get to watch the entire fight when it was aired on television but I did see some clips of it on the internet. It wasn’t the sport that caught my attention; it was the crowd of spectators who had spent good money to watch the fight.

At the end, win or lose, both boxers went home with lots of money and the spectators, nothing!

Sad!

With all the energy the fans expended in promoting the fight, in cheering the boxers on the ring, they went home with nothing but the rewards of their emotions which will pass as soon as the reality of their own life challenges hits them. So, in all honesty, there is really no prize for the spectator. Nothing tangible!

And this makes me think of the body of Christ as it is today. I see the large crowd that turn out of several churches around the world on Sundays. Worshipping, praising, praying, giving. But like Jesus said, the labourers are few. Yes, the true worshippers are few. Like the 22 men on the field in a football game or two men in the ring in a boxing match, there are just a few really working, labouring, fighting to save souls for the kingdom. The rest of this huge crowd that show up at church are just spectators. Watching others do what the Lord gave instructions in Matthew 28 for the Church to do.

The end of the story is this: like every game has an end, so also the story of the Christian race. Only the players will take home a prize. These are the good and faithful servants.

So ask yourself today, which are you? A player or a spectator?

Choose right, don’t waste your time on earth cheering others. There is no prize for the spectator.

God bless!