Faith— 09/17/2020

“Drop Kick Me, Jesus?”

By Pastor Ron Buxton

It was the #1 song for country music singer Bobby Bare back in 1976. And although initially many considered it to be sacrilegious, the lyrics seem to unfortunately reflect a modern-day view of Christianity. The song was called: “Drop kick me, Jesus, through the goal posts of life!”.

I was thinking about that song the other day, and my thoughts took me back to 1985 in Foxborough Massachusetts. That was the crucial game between the Patriots and the Bengals that put the Patriots into the playoffs that year. And there I observed first-hand the isolated life of a professional field-goal kicker. His name was Tony Franklin, and he couldn’t have stood higher than 5’6″ tall. Among the giants of the gridiron, he seemed even smaller. And nobody (and I mean nobody) interacted with him for 99% of the game! There he was–all alone–sitting on the furthest part of the bench. The nearest player sat a full 5 yards away. And nobody talked to him. At least not while he remained seated for almost the entire game. You see, he trotted out to do the kick-offs, extra-points, and field goals–but all without anybody ever talking to him! Very bizarre.

This brings me back to that #1 song from 1976. Couldn’t that song title reflect most people’s attitude towards God? Imagine it. Just like Tony Franklin–seated and isolated on the bench–sits Jesus Christ. A quick prayer is uttered–and up off the bench– He rises! Folks call upon Jesus to do His job! And just as quickly, they expect Him to sit right back down again–isolated and quiet–upon the very sidelines of their lives!

It all sounds foolish, doesn’t it? But isn’t that the truth? Very few people recognize Him as their Lord and Savior which is much higher in importance than any field-goal kicker could ever be! And yet, you would not get that idea from most church-goers in the American church today. Sadly, Jesus gets limited attention on Sunday mornings, only to be left in the church building later that same day. That is, if they make it into the church building at all. Why? They only think they need Him to “kick-in” on a few occasions when life seems to be a losing proposition! Folks, I am not joking.

Allow me to continue (and conclude) the football analogy. You see, Jesus needs to be the quarterback and not just like some field-goal kicker! And if life could even be compared to a football game, then God the Father would also be like the head coach. And what that means is quite different from what Bobby Bare’s #1 country-western song implies! Rather than sitting isolated on the bench, Jesus must call all the plays–and then execute them–with our total cooperation and involvement. Please think about what I wrote here as you watch football games this season. It’s no exaggeration to say that every play is “first and goal” with Jesus Christ in your life!

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