Recently, I passed a billboard that was advertising some type of betting app that read, “Life is more fun when you have skin in the game.” This thought stayed with me and while I’m neither a fantasy football enthusiast or a gambler, I believe there is some truth in that statement.
“Life is more fun when you have skin in the game”
According to Wikipedia, to have "skin in the game" is to have incurred risk (monetary or otherwise) by being involved in achieving a goal.
The church of today has become, to a large percentage of church-goers, a spectator sport where you show up on a Sunday, sit and listen to the sermon then leave, only to repeat the process the following week. One might even compare this to a sporting event or a concert. There is some standing, sitting, applause, standing and sitting again. And, depending on the church, there may even be a food court for coffee, donuts, designer coffee drinks and breakfast sandwiches. Is it any wonder that so many are left feeling empty? Is it any wonder that many feel the church is no longer relevant?
In a teaching series by Francis Chan, I remember seeing a short video clip that showed a football team in full uniform meeting in a huddle on the football field. There were spectators in the stands and an opposing team also huddled on the field. As the camera zoomed in on the team huddle, you see the team place their hands in the middle and shout “break”. Then they all turn and run back to the bench and sit down. The spectators look at one another in confusion until the team, head back to the field to huddle once again. After the shout of “break”, they head back to the bench to sit down and wait for the next play. The opposing team is confused by this action, because no one is actually playing football. It doesn’t take you long to make the connection. This is the church. We huddle each week, listen to directions from the coach (pastor), get encouraged by the cheerleaders (worship team), participate in a rousing benediction, then head back to our homes to wait until the next week where we will huddle again and go through the same rituals. All this is done without ever actually participating in the game.
I’m not suggesting that our faith-walk is a game by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, I am suggesting that at some point, many of us hit the auto-pilot button and are moving though life without any real intentionality. We are “saved”. We attend church every Sunday. We even give our 10%. We live a good moral life. What more is there to do?
Jesus left his disciples with this charge. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19,20
He challenged them to put some “skin in the game” and “go”. He even went a few steps further and charged them to “make disciples” and to “teach”. This would require them to give of themselves. It would require an investment of time and effort. It would mean that they might be away from home and family. It would “cost” them something.
This challenge is still echoing to the church today. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus tells his disciples, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.
There was no way that those eleven men could reach the whole world. But Jesus wasn’t asking them to. He was asking them to go and tell knowing that the message of grace, hope and peace was so life-changing that each person who heard it would feel compelled to share the message with others.
Remember the shampoo commercials from the 70s
(I know, I’m aging myself)? “… and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on and so on…” That is how the whole world will hear.
We are living in a time when there are some real problems in our world. We are dealing with a pandemic, terrorists, fires, hurricanes, famine, drought, political unrest among other things. These are causing wide-spread fear and anxiety both inside and outside of the body of Christ. I would say that there has never been a time when the church needed to be more relevant, but I would be wrong. Almost every generation has lived through these same challenges.
So, what has changed?
We did. We settled into the “new normal” and went right back to our auto-pilot existence. It’s time to make a change.
Ask yourself these two questions.
1. Are you content with your current relationship with God?
2. Are you content with your impact on the Kingdom of God?
If you answered “no” to either of these questions, it’s time to put “some skin in the game”. Get involved beyond simple church attendance. Be bold. Share your faith at work. Dig deep into your relationship with God. Ask the Holy Spirit for Divine Appointments or seemingly chance encounters. Pray for a co-worker.
If you impact one person each week, then they impact one person each week, before you know it, the whole world will hear. Don’t psych yourself out and try to focus on the “whole world”, instead focus on your world. Focus on the people that God has brought into your life through your family, your work, your school, and your social activities. Share what you have and what God has done for you. We are a social people. We are not shy about sharing our ideas, complaints and opinions – just look at your Facebook feed. Why is it so difficult to share the one thing that would change someone’s life?
Church, it’s time to get off the bench and get back into the game of life. Turn off the autopilot and open your eyes to the life that God had given you. Yes, this will come with a cost, but it will make the win so much sweeter knowing that you played and helped bring about the victory.
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