Why We Get Men Together for Monday Night Football
By: Pastor Russ Ramsey
You know those little yellow flags NFL referees tuck in their belts?
Those flags, as I’m sure you know, are in case someone commits a foul on the field during the game. Sometimes a quarterback or wide receiver takes a hit—I mean the poor guys gets his clock cleaned.
Was it legal? Look for the flag. No flag, no foul.
Those little flags also tell you who the guy next to you is rooting for. After a big hit, listen carefully and you’ll either hear him say something quiet like, “No flag. No flag! C’mon, no flag!” or you’ll hear, “C’mon Ref! Where’s the flag.”
I’m happy to report that no one has ever called a foul on Men’s Monday Night Football as a regular Oak Hills Men’s event. No one has ever come to me to criticize this tradition as being somehow too unspiritual to warrant the support of the church.
I’m glad for this because even though I am not as big of a football fan as many men and women I know, I believe there is great spiritual value in men gathering together on a regular basis—and if the occasion for such gatherings is to watch football, that’s fine by me.
We have a great capacity to help one another in life, but we’re far less able to give and less inclined to receive, let alone seek, help outside of the context of relationships. So in an effort to help the men in this church get to know each other better, we gather to watch football (and also to eat unhealthy food, but it’s okay because we balance it all out with lots of Diet Coke.)
And we promise you, there are no ice-breaker games or breaking up into small groups to talk about our feelings at half-time.
Since we began Monday Night Football, I personally have been in the homes of over fifteen different families in the church—many of them more than once. And I wasn’t alone. Lots of guys come out and it is always a fun time.
If you haven’t checked this out before, pick up a bag of chips and/or a 2 liter and come to the next one. Come by yourself. Bring a friend. Make it a father-son thing. There’s no age limit and you’re free to root for whichever team you like.
See you there.
Pastor Russ
