A Worshiper and Sounders fan

By Josh Weisbrod in Uprising in Worship on 6/24/10

Soccer/football supporters are sometimes looked at as crazy. We are seen as the lunatics who wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning to drive down to Seattle to watch a game with our friends in a crowded room in order to support team USA. We are the people who scream the whole game. Football supporters don’t care about the gimmicks or free stuff, they don’t even care about having seats in the stadium. All that we care about is cheering for our team and giving them all we have for 90 minutes. To many people this seems insane or exhausting, but to me it is the way to live life. You get on the side of what you love and believe in, then you give your all in support of it. There is an even greater lesson that I gathered from being a football supporter and that is: don’t stop cheering and shouting when you are losing. When your team is down, that is when the true supporters must unite to raise the spirit and belief of the team.

For me this parallels what I believe about worship. Many people are great worshipers as long as they are feeling on top of the game. When things are going great in their life they will be the loudest worshiper, but what happens when you go down a goal? What happens when you don’t feel like you are winning anymore? We have to look at how we worship in these situations. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas are put into prison, and yet they worship. These men are beaten and thrown in jail and yet they continue to praise God and sing hymns. Why? Why do they sing praises to God when they are in prison? It is because they believe in a God greater than themselves. They know the God that created the earth and sent His son to die for us. They know a God who can move mountains and heal the sick, but most importantly they know a God of mercy, love, and forgiveness. This is why they praise. In Mathew 5 Jesus tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted. We should praise God in all situations whether we feel like we are on top of our game or getting beat.

So when you see the fans in the end zone screaming and shouting for their team just remember that they are not so crazy. You can’t just cheer and give your all when things are going great. A true worshiper is the same way. God has blessed us with mercy and eternal life and from that we should always be praising him in some way

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