« September 10, 2003 | September 10, 2003 | September 10, 2003 »

Student Ministry

Posted on September 10, 2003 ...

I must admit, I’m a big Tennessee football fan and I’m glad football season is here again! But if you get right down to it, how can you really know I’m a huge Vol’s fan? Is my word good enough? If you don’t take my word for it, I could show you my ticket stub from the Tennessee/Fresno State game. Would that suffice? Probably not, it’s just a piece of paper. I could have gotten it from someone else just to trick you. It really doesn’t prove anything. OK, if that still isn’t enough, you can look at my face and see the sunburn I got from watching the Big Orange on Saturday. Still, that proves very little. I could have stood in my front yard and gotten a sunburn. Just what would it take convince you I’m a UT fanatic? Probably the best proof would be for you to watch a game with me, either at Neyland Stadium or on Television. If you did that you could hear me cheer, react to plays, and discuss the intricacies of the game. I would be displaying my knowledge and love for UT in a visible way for you to test and see.

Being a fan or big a supporter of one thing or another has many similarities to being a Christian. We can tell others that we’re Christians, like I could tell you I’m a Vol’s fan, but that really isn’t enough. We can go to church every time the doors are open, but that doesn’t prove we have a relationship with the Lord. The best way to reveal that we are Christians is to display our love and devotion to Him in a visible way, through our daily lives and witness.

I John 3:18 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Professing Christ with our mouths is important to our Christian faith. However, professing Christ with our lives through service to Him and to others is vital to the survival of our Christian faith. If we’re going to pass on what we believe we must do it in a visible way for others to see and believe for themselves. The world will know of our faith by the way we love our Lord, one another as believers, and those who are yet to believe. Display your faith visibly, let others see Jesus in you, and show this world that Christ is alive and loves us all to no end!