Articles
Is the Church Like This?
Bud Wilkinson was one of the most successful college football coaches ever, building an impressive record at the University of Oklahoma from 1947-1963, and serving on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness during the Kennedy administration.
A reporter once asked Wilkinson, “Coach, what would you say is the contribution of modern football to physical fitness?” Expecting some profound, detailed answer, he was unprepared for the coach’s response: “Absolutely nothing.”
Taken aback, the reporter stammered, “Would you care to elaborate on that?”
“Certainly,” Coach Wilkinson replied. “I define football as twenty-two men on the field who desperately need rest, and fifty thousand people in the grandstands who desperately need exercise.”
Wilkinson’s description reminds me of some local churches: a handful of active people scramble to do what needs to be done, while the majority are content just to watch. That is not the way it should be. We need more people who feel compelled to get out of the grandstands and into the game—serving, leading, encouraging, helping, teaching. God wants every individual part to contribute to the growth of the whole (Ephesians 4:15-16).
What about you? Do you exercise your spiritual muscles every day, or just sit in a pew a couple of times a week? Get out of the stands and get in the game!
