We are coming up on football season. The air is about to get crisper. The leaves are going to change, and we are about to sever all ties with friends and family members who support different teams. It’s my favorite time of year. There’s an electricity in the air that comes from healthy competition, but that can easily tip over into downright division. For the past two years, my wife and I have been living as strangers in a strange land—UGA fans in Texas. When we hit football season in the fall, it was always lonely because we were surrounded by people whose loyalties were with different teams. We felt like outsiders.
Football is a fun example to use to talk about rivalries, but how often do we alienate others and squabble over things in the church? How often do we make others feel like outsiders? In our text for today, Romans 4:1-12, Paul addresses Christians in Rome who are divided over whether circumcision is the marker of salvation. Paul’s argument is quick and clear. Didn’t Abraham have faith before he was circumcised? If this is true, then salvation must come through faith and not the other way around. Abraham’s circumcision was a sign of his faith, not the foundation for it.
Today, there are many conflicting opinions about what the Bible says and how Christians should live their lives. This exact same fight plays out repeatedly about where faith fits in politics, identity, values, and justice. It’s all just a version of the circumcision argument. We must ask ourselves the question of whether or not we are making the hills that we die on the foundation of our faith or whether we are making Jesus the foundation of everything. Jesus is the one who forgives us of our sin. Jesus is the one who saves. The way we live in the world should flow out of that truth rather than out of our own opinions. Failing to remember this risks alienating people and keeping them out of the church. We have to be people who make Jesus more important than being right.
To bring it back to football, being a fan of our team is not dependent upon whether fans of an opposing team follow your team or not. I don’t support UGA because Florida fans support UGA. I cheer for my team because I love them and my actions flow out of that love. If we spend all our time focused on the fanhood of other teams, then are we really a fan of our own? What makes football fun is the rivalry and our shared love of watching the sport. In the same way, what makes Christianity work is our shared belief and love for the saving power of Jesus, regardless of our differences over theological issues.