This question was posed to a group of college athletes who follow Jesus:

If your church was a professional team and the senior pastor was the coach, would you be a starter? Would you be on the second string? Or would you be a benchwarmer?

As an ultrarunner, I am familiar with sports analogies in religious circles, particularly with people who follow Jesus. I have read Paul’s analogy of running for the prize: following Jesus isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. That works for me. But the above analogy doesn’t because it takes out our differences and uniqueness that only we have.
The question itself eliminates and alienates anyone who doesn’t play sports. What’s wrong with being a benchwarmer if that’s the best you can do? What’s wrong with being on the second string, especially if you can’t take the punishment the first string can? What if you are a cheerleader, encouraging and getting the team pumped up?

God doesn’t look at the church or followers of Jesus as a sports team. We are a body. And each of us has a very well-thought-out path dictated by our creator to do a specific thing in the body. What if that thing isn’t playing sports but instead playing role-playing games, reading comic books, and listening to Weird Al? Where do you fit that into your analogy? And how do you square that with all those girls who don’t play football or sports? The whole idea that this is supposed to somehow make you feel good or bad about the ‘things’ you are doing for your church feels very manipulative and cringy. The question made my shoulders tense up, and my heart hurt.

Instead, we need encouragement to live and act like Jesus taught us, using Paul’s analogy of running for the prize. We need to remember its not all about the ‘what’ you do, but how you love God and others, honoring people for how they are serving in God’s kingdom. Not all of us can be eyes or ears in the body of Christ. Some of us are designed and perfect to serve as the big toe, stuffed into a workboot all day, building and crafting buildings for God’s Kingdom instead of playing games on a field.

So, instead of using a bad analogy, why not use the body analogy? Coaches, athletes, and sports enthusiasts remember there are people out there who don’t love sports and would rather curl up with a book than be outside on the field being tackled. But most importantly, remember that everyone deserves to know Jesus loves them exactly where they are.