Be A Fanatic

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

I am watching the Chiefs game on Monday Night Football. Arrowhead Stadium is absolutely electric. It is really good to see our beloved home of the Chiefs be the screaming raving nut house it was in the days of Martyball when Kansas City was universally recognized as the loudest outdoor stadium and the hardest place for visiting teams to win as a result. There is no doubt that the “12th man” contributed much to the success of the Chiefs on this night. Chiefs win 21-14 and for at least the next week, can lay claim to sole possession of first place in their division!

It’s good to have passion in life, even when it is for something like football. Many people who are not sports fans think it is just nonsense with a bunch of overpaid brutes playing a boy’s game without actually producing anything. There’s some truth to that. No one will get to heaven just by winning a major sports championship. But sports is a great teacher of character and principles of life. Also, major sports provides a lot of great things for a community. There are a lot of jobs through sports, and a city with a major sports team has a better quality of life as a result. It brings together a community around a common purpose. Just consider what the last Super Bowl has done for the city of New Orleans.

It always strikes me odd when I see 80,000 raving lunatics screaming for 3 hours for a football team, and then see how they react when they are invited to church. These people will pay good money, brave severe elements, and spend over 3 hours standing on their feet yelling until they can’t speak. But ask them to sit in padded chairs for 45 minutes to hear the word of God and you would think they were being tortured. They can’t say amen to the message because they blew their voice out over a touchdown. You can get 80,000 people to a ball game, but try getting 80 of them to show up to church for a work day or to canvass the neighborhood to pass out tracts.

Having a passion in life for your favorite sports team or for your hobby or your work is fine. But why not have it for the Lord Jesus Christ as well? I would not expect people to paint their faces and wear goofy outfits to church. I would hope they could contain themselves enough during the message so as not to distract everyone around them. I am not asking for cheerleaders at the front of the auditorium waving their pom-poms to energize the crowd. The venues of a football game and church are different, and the behavior should be as well. But the passion for the things of God should be just as real as the “thrill of victory” at Arrowhead.

One of these days very soon, Jesus will descend from heaven and call us home to be with him. Notice the verse I quoted above says he will do it with a shout! I don’t imagine he will whisper. I can’t see him saying, “Psst… Hey guys… If it’s not too much of an inconvenience, do you suppose it would be OK if you would come up hither?” After all, this day is called in the Bible “The Day of Christ”. It is his special day. The Bible likens it to a bridegroom getting his bride. That is a pretty special day! Some of his people who have been too dignified to let a little passion be shown will get turned loose on that day. I am old enough to remember the city wide ticker tape parades for the Chiefs in 1970 and the Royals in 1985. Imagine the celebration when the King of kings and Lord of lords walks down the streets of the city of Jerusalem to usher in the glory of his millennial kingdom. I really enjoyed the game last night. If you can get more out of something like that than you can the return of the Lord, check your spiritual temperature. Let us continually be about his business until that day comes.