College football season is underway. Most of the time at the beginning of the season there aren’t many exciting games. The big schools play the small schools, and while there are sometimes a few upsets, mostly the big schools dominate. This season one of the universities that has not had much success recently in football has been the center of conversation. That institution is the University of Colorado. During the offseason Colorado hired a new coach, Deion Sanders. Sanders was an outstanding athlete both in college and in the NFL, as a professional football player and in the MLB, as a professional baseball player. He was fast, flamboyant and effective as a player. He was also known for not being afraid to speak his mind and sing his own praises. Nothing has changed in the time Deion has moved from the field to the sidelines. He is effective and exuberant as a coach as well!
In Colorado’s first game they faced off with Texas Christian University’s squad. Colorado was an underdog in the game as they had only three starters returning from last year’s team and over 50 brand new players transferring into the program. Yet, they were still able to pull off this amazing win against a team that played for the national championship last season! It was a fun game to watch, and it was even more fun to listen to Coach Sanders talk about the victory. At halftime he was proclaiming one of his players as a lock for the Heisman Trophy (college football’s award for the best player) and after the game he had much more to say in the postgame press conference. I’m looking forward to watching the Buffs and listening to their coach all season long.
In sports it is fun to hear people be bombastic and make predictions. We love it at baseball games when coaches argue with umpires, we like it when players make predictions and we enjoy hearing athletes be brash, but more important than how loud they speak is how well they play. That is true in all areas of life isn’t it? We live in a world where clicks and likes are celebrated and the easiest way to accumulate clicks and likes is to say something loud and provocative, and while those folks garner a lot of attention, do they get much respect?
I know in my life I want to lead by example. It was my goal as a parent for my kids not to just have to “do as I say,” because they couldn’t “do as I do.” As a follower of Jesus, that is my same goal. I want people to be able to imitate me as I imitate Jesus. In his short letter to the Thessalonians, Paul commended the church because their faith was known due to their actions - they didn’t need to say anything. What can you do this week so that others will know the love of Jesus without you saying anything?
Because of Him,
Lance
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, which the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia an Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8