BIBLE,
CENTRALITY OF

IN THE game of football, there is no game without the ball. Players can put on the gear, wear the helmets, and walk in the cleats, but there is no game without the pigskin. Nothing really matters much in football if you don’t have the ball.

When you think about it, that little piece of pigskin controls a lot. A touchdown is only a touchdown measured by where the ball is. A first down is only a first down measured by where the ball is. You’re onside or offside in relationship to the ball. Whether it’s a catch or an incomplete pass depends on control of the ball. Everything has to do with the ball. Three points or a lack of three points has to do with where the ball went. Isn’t it amazing? You can have all the other stuff right, but if there is no football, you just wasted your Saturday afternoon.

In the Christian faith it is possible to have a bunch of stuff right. You can go to the right church, carry the right Bible, and use the right “Christian-ese.” You can have all the accessories of Christianity and still not have the main thing. If you don’t have the main thing, everything else is a waste of time. Just like we can’t play football without a football, we can’t be effective Christians without the gospel.25

[Gospel; Scripture]

Rom. 1:16–17; 1 Cor. 9:23