Are You A Fan?

I used to hate it when people would compare a sporting event to a church worship service. Of all of the things that I would find offensive and trivial, it would be the statement, “If you were at a New York Knicks game, I bet you would be cheering and making noise right now…but you can’t make noise for God?” Ugh!! I used to hate that. I find such statements to be so cliche’. Then…I experienced my first New York Jets home game at Met Life Stadium.

First, let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE New York Jets fan, or at least, I think I am. Now mind you, I don’t get the opportunity to watch every game,

nor do I know every single player on the team roster. But…I have never given up hope for a chance to win the Super Bowl with my Jets. I proudly wear my colors, and I never back down from an argument or conversation that paints my beloved Jets as losers. Are we perfect? No. Do we win most of the time? Probably not. But…I am proud (most of the time) to be a Jets fan. My wife is a Jets fan. My children? That’s right…Jets fans. We bleed GREEN in my household.

You can imagine how excited I was when my wife gifted me with tickets to go see the NY Jets and the Buffalo Bills at Met Life Stadium. A few of my friends came along, and what an amazing time we had. I saw the stadium from afar, and my heart melted. As we approached the gate to enter into this beautiful stadium, I took it all in. I’m not sure, but it is possible that I wiped away a tear from off of my cheek. As the game began, I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. Then, as my team began to play horribly, I knew I wasn’t dreaming. My poor Jets looked inept and confused at times, and the Buffalo Bills fans in the stadium enjoyed rubbing it in. And then…it happened. First, a spectacular touchdown drive, followed by an impressive defensive play, and my beloved Jets were back in the game. It was at this moment that I had the most interesting experience.

When the Jets began to mount an incredible come back, I began screaming at the top of my lungs. I was waving my Jets flags and jumping up and down. The showers of rain that came and went during the game did not stop me from enjoying this incredible come back. I was giving total strangers “high-fives” simply because they were wearing the color green. And when our team scored the touchdown, I jumped and screamed so loud that I became light-headed. I really felt like I was going to pass out. It was AWESOME. There was an elderly man and his wife sitting in front of me the whole time. They did not show much excitement throughout the game, but when our team scored the touchdown, they jumped up and began cheering as well. The gentleman’s wife even kissed me on the cheek (yikes!). The man didn’t even get angry (whew!!) because we were all celebrating the touchdown. Did we win the game? Well…no, but I still came away with a wonderful experience. Wow! When I got home later that night, I was putting away some of the memorabilia, and I thought to myself… “Have I ever been that excited about the Lord, that I would almost lose consciousness?” When was the last time that our worship service brought people to their feet to cheer with ecstasy?

One of the scriptures that came to my mind that evening is found in Psalm 98:4 which states, “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!” When was the last time you made a joyful noise because your “spiritual team” was winning? The words, “joyful noise” in ancient Hebrew can be translated to mean, “to shout, raise a sound, cry out, or give a blast.” It can also mean "to shout a war-cry or alarm of battle". The verse also mentions to “break forth into joyous song”. The term, “break forth” in Hebrew does not imply a small trickle of water that leaks from a cracked water pot. Instead, it is a large bursting. It is an explosion of water gushing out from a broken dam or levy. To “break forth” does not mean to begin with a whisper and then eventually increase in volume. No! Breaking forth means starting out with the volume on 10!! It is sudden and possibly startling. It is loud and exciting. It energizes your team and puts fear in the hearts of your enemies.

I must say, this is exactly what we did at the Jets game, and it felt great. We became one large choir, filled with thousands of people from different walks of life, different cultures, different ethnicities and skin colors. We were led by our choir director, an interesting man dressed in green with many different green beads around his neck. He wore a foam hat that was in the shape of a green Boeing 747 jet. He led us in our chant in unison, “J-E-T-S Jets, Jets Jets!!!!” We broke out and sang for joy. We made a joyful noise. It wasn’t unto the LORD however. My God has never lost a match. He has never lost a battle. He does not know how to lose. He has never left me. He has never forsaken me. He always comes through for me, even when I give up on him. You would figure that with such a resume, I would be cheering and making noise for Him. No. I broke out in song for my team…the New York Jets. That’s right. I jumped up and down in ecstasy for the team that still lost that day. A team that has brought me to tears many times. A team that does not even know that I exist. Yet…I am a fan of the New York Jets. Hmmm? I wonder…when will I be a fan of God? When will I be out of breath because I was cheering His exploits with all of my might? When will I jump up and down and worship and praise God with people who don’t look like me, and not even care about it because we are so focused on worshipping Him? When will I not care about the price of “admission” because I know that the experience of His presence is more than worth it? When will weather no longer be a factor? When will time no longer be a factor? I wonder…when will I truly become a fan of God? Are you a fan?