“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

One of my favorite things about football is the variety of offensive strategy used. Some coaches base their offense on running the ball, others only run to keep the defense on their toes. You have the Power I, the Wing T, the Veer, the Spread, and the Wildcat. Some strategies hinge on having a mobile quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott or Russell Wilson, while some forbid the signal caller from running.

All of these strategies, at every level of the game, have different objectives. To control the time of possession, you may run the ball more. The hurry-up offense makes the defense tired and limits defensive adjustments. Some schemes are designed to physically dominate you, while others want to keep you guessing.

Regardless of the various objectives for each offensive philosophy, the goal is always the same: to get the football in the end zone. No matter what is happening in the huddle, everybody knows that you are ultimately just trying to put points on the board.

So what is the ultimate goal of being a Christian? To love our lives for Jesus Christ and to let other people know about the gospel (good news) of His life, sacrifice, and resurrection. I believe that the majority of Christians would agree with that.

If that is the case, though, why do we spend so much time arguing about how we are trying to accomplish that goal? We debate the clothes we should wear, what baptism should look like, what kind of music we should use for worship, and what version of the Bible to read. Unlike football, however, we put a great deal of energy into arguing about the best strategy instead of just staying focused on our overall goal.

Whether you are Methodist, Baptist, Church of Christ, Presbyterian, or one of the other hundreds of denominations out there, we need to acknowledge that the great commission would be better served by us working together instead of debating which of us is wrong.

We all need to be focused, but also flexible in how we share the gospel. We should be willing to adjust to the defensive, to utilize the talents of our personnel, and to even run a trick play or two if the situation calls for it.

Let us put the process details aside and focus on our bigger calling as the body for Christ, to ensure that everyone in creation has an opportunity to experience His love. We may not all be running the same plays, but as long as we are using the same playbook, the Bible, we can help each other to work toward our common goal.

– Jamie Boggs

If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@pao.org.