By Brad Locke
February 25, 2005

(AgapePress) - The beauty of sport lies in its simplicity. Throw out the playbooks and chalkboards and strategy, and you're still left with the purity of physical and mental competition, of mutual desires for enjoyment driving each side forward.

Of course, organized sports aren't played without playbooks, chalkboards and strategy, for those elements are essential to achieving maximum potential and, ultimately, victory. Sports can survive without an abundance of X's and O's -- it thrives across the back yards of this nation -- but they are greatly enhanced by them. Take the Super Bowl-champion New England Patriots. Not only is their playbook vast, but head coach Bill Belichick doesn't even need a cheat sheet like most coaches to call plays and make adjustments. He knows his system inside and out, and he knows his personnel and how they can best perform within that framework.

New England's players also know each others' tendencies, enabling them to make those wordless adjustments in the middle of a play that can lead to a big gain. The Patriots also study and learn every little tendency, strength and weakness of their opponent in order that they might find an advantage and never be caught unawares.

Football, in this form, is a complex beast, as is any sport. Yet its bedrock is always its simplicity, the kind even a child can understand. How do you play football? Move the ball down the field, keep it away from the other team, and try to score points. Those are the bare essentials.

Most things, really, are complexity wrapped around simplicity. Christianity is no different. Its basic message is that we are all -- as Caedmon's Call so beautifully puts it -- "stillborn and dead in our transgressions," and that the only way to spiritual resurrection is the love and grace of God through His perfect son, Jesus, who died for our sins. Faith in Christ is all that's required for inclusion in His eternal kingdom -- Christ plus nothing, as they say. He alone is enough. It's something even my young children can comprehend. This simple truth confounds the world, or as I Corinthians 1:23 says, it is "a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles ...."

But Jesus didn't give us the light of truth to keep to ourselves. It's to be our beacon in the darkness we face daily. How best to use that light can be discovered only by thorough study and meditation of, and prayer over, God's Word. The Bible is our playbook. Without it, the enemy will swarm us and hinder our forward progress, if you will, as we attempt to mature, witness and disciple. The Bible isn't always easy to understand, which is why we have preachers and elders and theologians. They can help us use scripture to build a sound theology and also direct us in how to best use our spiritual gifts for God's kingdom.

As vital as knowledge of scriptures is the cohesiveness of the body of Christ (i.e., the church, both local and universal), as well as knowledge of what the enemy is doing to undermine God's truth. As a personal example, I somehow got put on the e-mail list for the Human Rights Campaign newsletter (I'm sure one of my "fans" is responsible). The HRC is a grass-roots pro-homosexuality group that keeps its supporters abreast of homosexual-related news and calls them to action. I almost blocked the address, but I got to thinking that I could use this to my advantage. So I decided that keeping tabs on those who oppose God's truth would be a good thing. Again, know your opponent.

Of course, all the X's and O's and knowledge are worthless without one thing -- complete faith in the system. If Tom Brady doesn't really believe "Zoom 72 Cross" -- whatever play that is -- will work, or doesn't think Belichick knows what he's talking about, failure is inevitable. Lots of Christians say they believe God's Word to be inerrant and the only guide for righteous living, but they don't really believe that to the point of declaring it and living it unapologetically.

The only inconsistency in this analogy is as beautiful as the simplicity of God's message -- in this spiritual showdown, we already know the outcome.