Ahh…the game of Silent Football…Takes me back to the days at church camp when all the team leaders would sneak out after the kids went to bed, and circle up to play this epic game. Hours upon hours of endless laughs, excitement, and goofing off bonded all of us together each summer we were together up on that mountain.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the game of Silent Football…let me take a minute to explain the basic rules. Silent Football should be played with 5 or more players at a time. The object of the game is simple DON”T LOSE. A player loses (only that round) by gaining 3 points. The game does not involve a football and is only silent when the “master” isn’t speaking or allowing someone to speak. The master of the game is in charge of how the game flows, who gets points, and also regulates the atmosphere and humor of the game. Generally each master of the game has a demeanor of sarcasm and tends to be a tough one to grasp. The rules of the game are simple…no laughing, no showing of teeth, no smiling, no talking, no pointing, and make sure you are doing all the moves correctly (otherwise another player will call you out in hopes that you will receive a point for your actions.) I won’t go into detail on the moves of the game but there are 4 simple moves that move the imaginary ball around the circle…a knee tap which moves the ball in the direction you tapped, a zoom which sends the ball across the circle, and a shrug (shrugging sends the ball back) and a shrodem…which is difficult to explain just imagine that this is probably the most difficult move of all.
Once a player has received 3 points from the “master” of the game, he or she must perform a task/dare to be accepted back into the circle and resume playing of the game. Many times (depending on the group of people playing the game) these tasks/dares are embarrassing, gross, and even sometimes refused by the player.
I can imagine you are thinking…what does this have to do with the World Race or even living life as a vessel for Christ…here comes the good part.
Many times as Christians or even those on the outside wanting to peer in…see God and our relationships we have with God, to be very similar to the rules of Silent Football. We see God as the Master of all, who governs the flow, and regulates all within our life (the game). Yes God is the Master of all but this is where the game looks very different to life as a Christian. We are always messing up and we always have people watching our actions and waiting to “tell” on us or confront us on how to appear to be or when we mess up. But when we do mess up and have the world around us raising their hands to tattle…God’s grace is overflowing with forgiveness and love. He never awards points against us and we are never asked to perform tasks to get back in his good graces. We have the freedom to be individuals and rest in that freedom that Christ has so died for. I am never waiting with my hand raised for God to call on me and ask what I need…he is always willing to listen and has the patience and forgiveness that the world does not offer.
This subject has been something I have struggled with for so long and it took me examining the silly game of Silent Football to make the connection. Living in this world does mean I am of this world and I serve a God bigger than any earthly master. My God has grace so abundant that I do not deserve to be forgiven but I am anyway…
I am free… I am forgiven…I am His.
