What Comes First?

This week, I was talking with my boss and my pastor, Steve DeFrain. The topic of sports and youth actually came up and the content of my 'interview' or discussion with him is what I'll talk about here. His premise is one that goes against the grain of culture: youth shouldn't be allowed to do sports when they conflict with church. That is, when they conflict with the services held on Sunday.

But wait, shouldn't we teach our kids to be well-rounded and aren't there great lessons they can learn from sports?

His response would be that our goal is not to raise well-rounded kids, but rather, kids that love Jesus, His Church, and lost people. Outside of that, everything else is trappings. Certainly we wouldn't sacrifice a Christmas tree because an ornament didn't look good on it! In the same way, we shouldn't sacrifice youth and children's involvement in church for something that is fleeting and will pass. 

We need to teach our kids by our actions that Church and Jesus come before everything else.

That means when a soccer game falls on a Sunday morning that would prevent our family from coming to church, we don't go. It's not that we have anything against sports or soccer, but we know what's most important. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the good for the great. It's a matter of priorities, bottom line. Does this mean that youth should never play sports? His answer is no, so long as our youth understand their place on the priority list. 

Sports can teach valuable lessons, but are we willing to say that they can teach more valuable lessons than God's Word?

It may seem legalistic, but it's not. It's finding a very practical way to put God's Kingdom first. We cannot afford to teach our kids to sacrifice Sundays at the altar of busyness, success, affluence, or 'well-rounded-ness.' 

Ultimately, it becomes a question of, "What comes first?"

Bibliography

DeFrain, Steve. "About Church." Personal interview. 14 Sept. 2014.