By Justin Pratt, Clear Springs Baptist Church Senior Pastor
I have the unique opportunity every fall to stand on the sidelines of college football games, and let me tell you, collegiate football looks different from the front row. From the stands, you see formations, touchdowns, and tackles. From the sideline, it’s as if you can almost feel them.
These are young men who have spent years building their bodies for grueling sixty-minute moments around twelve times a year. They are strong, fast, conditioned, and seemingly built to the max. Standing only a few feet away, you hear the collision of shoulder pads. You feel the ground shake beneath your feet. You see the sweat running down faces and the steam rising from helmets on a cool fall evening. You hear coaches shouting instructions and teammates challenging one another to dig a little deeper. And over the course of a game, they give everything they have.
They aren’t merely playing football. They are representing something. Across their chest is their university’s name. On the side of their helmet is a logo representing generations of players who wore it before them. Thousands of people fill the stadium wearing those same colors, and millions more watch from living rooms across the country. Here in our college town of Knoxville, at the University of Tennessee, there is a tradition that captures that idea beautifully. Just before the Volunteers leave the locker room and step into the roar of Neyland Stadium, they pass a large cutout shaped like the state of Tennessee, painted in that unmistakable shade of Pantone PMS 151 C orange. We call it “BIG ORANGE”. One by one, they slap it. Shoulder pads strapped tight, helmets in hand, cleats clicking across the floor, adrenaline flowing, and then the familiar sound of hand after hand striking that orange Tennessee. Every smack is a declaration: This is who I represent. This is what I’m playing for. I’m about to walk through those doors and give everything I’ve got.
Every time I think about scenes like that, I wonder what would happen if followers of Jesus started every morning with that same determination. What if, before we walked out the door, we reminded ourselves: Today, I represent Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23). That means our lives should never be lived halfheartedly.
Whatever field God has placed you on today, give your all. If you’re raising children, give your all. Leading people, teaching a class, working a job, serving your community, caring for someone who needs you, building a business, coaching a team, and just representing Jesus in your sphere of influence; give your all. Not because everyone will notice, there will be stands of people applauding, or get your name recognized on a scoreboard, but for the glory of God and the good of others.
We don’t wear His name across the front of a jersey, but we do carry His name everywhere we go. We don’t have His logo painted on the side of a helmet, but Scripture says, “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Every morning, the tunnel opens again.
Another day. Another opportunity. Another field God has allowed us to step onto. There will be collisions. There will be fatigue. There will be moments when you want to coast, quit or go through the motions. But before you walk out the door, remember whose name you represent. Square your shoulders, put your hand on the door, thank God for another day, and determine that whatever assignment He places in front of you, you’re going to leave everything you’ve got on the field. We are never playing for ourselves; we are giving our all for his glory and other people’s good, so walk out of that time and give your all.
