The Article Archives
Topic: Truth in Culture Weekly Commentaries
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Football Fans & Missional Christians
January 26, 2009
S. Michael Craven
Today, when we speak of recovering the missional purpose and nature of the church, we naturally draw upon the Bible’s account of the first-century church. However, recovering the church’s missiological purpose should not be understood as an attempt to replicate first-century Christianity in our time. Our times are dramatically different, especially given Christianity’s unrivaled influence over the last two thousand years. Thus our cultural context in no way compares to that of the Roman Empire. Our challenge, then, is to appropriate the mission of the church (which never changes) to our current cultural context. This is not an adaptation of the gospel message in order to be relevant but rather an adaptation of how we express the gospel relevant to the culture we are trying to reach.
I can think of no more radical example of this than that which took place this past fall on a Friday night in Texas. In a place where high school football often rises to the level of idolatry and players are worshipped, one small Christian school⎯intent on being missional⎯displayed, on the field of competition, the radical values and nature of the kingdom.
As Rick Reilly of ESPN The Magazine reported:
They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas [a Dallas suburb]. It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through. Did you hear that? The other team’s fans?
They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, “Go Tornadoes!” Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions. It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name (Rick Reilly, “Life of Reilly,” ESPN The Magazine, December 23, 2008).
You see, the Gainesville State School is a maximum-security correctional facility. Few schools are eager to place such a team on their schedule and every game they play is away. They haven’t won a game all season and they have few fans. These are young men who have suffered the worst of family circumstances and experienced little or no love in their short lives. This is precisely why Kris Hogan, coach of the Grapevine Faith Lions, invited the Tornadoes to play.
As Rick Reilly wrote,
Hogan wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets. So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an e-mail asking the Faithful to do just that. “Here’s the message I want you to send:” Hogan wrote. “You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.” Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan’s office and asked, “Coach, why are we doing this?”
Hogan’s response expresses the heart of what it means to be missional. Imagine if you didn’t have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you. This attitude, which is contrary to our cultural conditioning, our nature and natural instincts, sought to demonstrate life under the loving rule and reign of God⎯to bear testimony to the fact that they have been transformed by Jesus Christ. The response was nothing less than miraculous.
The Faith fans cheered on the Gainesville players. Reilly noted,
The Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders! “I thought maybe they were confused,” said Alex, a Gainesville lineman. “They started yelling DEE-fense! when their team had the ball. I said, What? Why they cheerin’ for us?” Gainesville QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah said, “I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us....” It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. “We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games,” says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. “You can see it in their eyes. They’re lookin’ at us like we’re criminals. But these people, they were yellin’ for us! By our names!”
Despite losing 33-14,
the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he’d just won state ... Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still...after the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that’s when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. “We had no idea what the kid was going to say,” remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: “ Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.”
As the Gainesville players walked back to their bus accompanied by armed guards, Reilly reported: “they each were handed a bag for the ride home⎯a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player. The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, ‘You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know!’” (Reilly).
Friends, this coach and this community⎯driven by love⎯thought about their unique cultural context and how the gospel of Jesus Christ might be demonstrated in a relevant way to a particular people. This is the kind of missional creativity we need to engage in⎯to lay a foundation in demonstration that gives credibility to our proclamation.
© 2009 by S. Michael Craven
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Responses
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Response from : Eric Baesel |
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January 21, 2009 3:48 PM
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What a great story and right on target. I am asking myself the question, how can I communicate God's love in an equally relevant, meaningful way to those in my "field of play."
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Response from : Bill Borinstein |
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January 26, 2009 8:32 AM
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Michael...this was a great post. I love reading you weekly. Please know that I pray for you, Carol, and the kids. We had a leadership meeting last night with all of our small group leaders and we focused on the issue of taking our eyes off of ourselves so we can be about the Lord's business. Your post is a great illustration that I am sending to our leaders to drive home the point. Thanks for your ministry. Love, your brother in Christ!
http://www.harvestnorthphoenix.org
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Response from : lawson wyatt |
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January 26, 2009 8:32 AM
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this football ministry event was/is a thrill to my spirit and soul.Maybe especially so since I minister in the local county jail.
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Response from : Kathy |
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January 26, 2009 9:24 AM
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What an incredible story. That's a reality that I want to see! Truly, this is how Christ wants me to see ALL people--and how He wants all of us to respond!
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Response from : Pastor David Hillis |
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January 26, 2009 9:30 AM
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Great football story about Grapevine Faith - it's the best news item I've read since the beginning of 2009! May the school be blessed because they honored His name and illustrated His love in a wonderful witness.
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Response from : Donna Pavkovich |
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January 26, 2009 9:42 AM
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I am humbled and moved to tears by this story. Thank you for sharing and reminding us what evangelism is all about.
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Response from : Karyn Brownlee |
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January 26, 2009 10:53 AM
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Thank you for impressing upon us the importance of being on mission for our King. I, too, was inspired and awed by this real life story of hope, and shared my reflections on my blog (12-24-08), http://prayerfullypenned.blogspot.com
http://brighterwalk.com
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Response from : Jennifer Smith |
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January 26, 2009 12:10 PM
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Oh my gosh....what an incredible story. Funny thing is, their sacrifce wasn't extremely great, but when the love of God is expressed in such a selfless way - amazing things happen. I'm going to read this to my Bible Study group tonight as we are studying the love of God. Bless you!
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Response from : Mark Hamilton |
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January 26, 2009 1:35 PM
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Enjoyed the article and used it in my college sports ethics classes today contrasting it to the 100-0 basketball game that recently occured.
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Response from : Selase Kwawu |
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January 26, 2009 1:53 PM
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This is true and I have numerous other testimonies to confirm this. I am convinced that God has given sports as a tool to press the Lordship of Jesus across cultures. I am into Sports Ministry and I know sports is a universal language which cuts across all language, ethnic or even religious barriers. It is probably the least expensive and yet one of the most powerful ways in Missional Christianity, to build a church without walls. I am willing to provide further information, at no cost, to any individual or groups that are interested. Many young adults in Africa, Asia and the America's have come to know the lord and are being discipled through through the power of sports. Thank you Michael for allowing yourself to be an instrument, God is using to confirm His truth.
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Response from : Ron Cornelius |
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January 26, 2009 2:35 PM
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Michael, I appreciate the attention our school is getting, but quit frankly I am very suprized by it. I help coach on the Faith team and was on the sidelines and in the middle of the field at the end of the Gainsville game. It's a good story and this is an accurate account of what happened. I am just amazed it is still in the news almost 3 months later
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Response from : David |
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January 26, 2009 6:14 PM
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excellent... absolutely what it's all about. forget titles, categories, stereotypes, even justifiably deserved reputations. the unconditional love and mercy of Jesus Christ is what the heart really reponds to... that's when transformation and realization of God grips the heart. the best one yet, Michael :)
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Response from : K. Rogers |
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January 26, 2009 10:20 PM
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Pass the tissues! It is wonderful that the friendship didn't come across as patronizing to the Gainesville players. I will pray for them tonight. A great story to read when we all invite our neighbors and co-workers over to watch the superbowl!
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Response from : Gary Boyer |
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January 26, 2009 11:06 PM
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Michael, the men in our church are reading "The Present Future" and using it as the basis for a weekly Bible Study; and I just wanted you to know that this is a perfect example of what we are wanting for the church, and I thank you for sharing it with us.
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Response from : joann freeborn |
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January 27, 2009 4:28 PM
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Not much to say but lots of tears over the tendernes of the heart of Isaiah and others.
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Response from : Patti Stine |
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January 27, 2009 6:25 PM
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What a great article! Our world would be a much better place if we had more kids, and adults, with the attitude of those at Grapevine Faith.
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Response from : dot thomas |
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January 31, 2009 10:22 AM
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What a beautiful wake-up call.
We are seeing a lot of this same
rejection in our public schools.
Love and the right kind of discipline
is what it is all about,but discipline
with out a LOT OF LOVE IS CRUEL.
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Response from : Tammy Fayle |
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January 31, 2009 2:20 PM
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Heart warming. Brought tears to my eyes. I think there are a lot of coaches that could learn a lesson even if they are not classied a "Christian School"
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Response from : Karen |
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January 31, 2009 7:53 PM
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This is a perfect example of thinking "outside the box" to win souls to Jesus Christ. Those inmates will remember that for the rest of their lives, and hopefully motivate them to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It is never too late!!!
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Response from : Bob Calvert |
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February 1, 2009 3:31 PM
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FANTASTIC!
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Response from : Thom |
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February 15, 2009 6:24 PM
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Thank you, Michael, for passing on this story reported earlier by ESPN. It reminded me of the "out of the box" presentation of the love and gospel of Christ demonstrated by Tony Campolo to a woman of the street when he threw a secret midnight birthday party. Such epiphany's are indeed an expression of Christ (Titus 2:7ff) that should spring up more frequently . . . but not to the eclipse of less spectacular missional activities that are carried on day-after-day, week-after-week and demonstrate the long-term fleshing out of the gospel and "tough love."
Lord, please energize our imaginations with the zeal to engage in beautiful, senseless, and unexpected acts of love; and, Lord, please grant us the energy, persistence, and faithfulness to engage in the long-term work of discipleship. Amen
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