A few years ago, as a simple ice breaker, I asked a group of middle schoolers to draft a football team from people in the Bible. Being a creative group, they actually came up with an entire football operation: team members, team administration, and even people you don’t want on the team. This was not only a fun exercise (feel free to copy it), but has served as a great analogy for how God drafts His team, or in Bible terms, “places the parts in the body.”
First, the “Bible draft” as created by middle schoolers:
Team Members:
| Quarterback: | Jesus (of course; he’s all-time QB) |
| Running Backs: | Jacob, he has good fakesPaul, he runs all over the place |
| Wide Receivers: | Andrew, James, John; they’re fisherman; they can catch anything |
| Offensive Line: | Esau, Samson, Goliath (who cares that he’s a Philistine, he’s big) |
| Defensive Line: | Joshua, he breaks through walls |
| Middle Linebacker: | Peter, he’s a rock |
| Field Goal Kickers: | Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego; they can take the heat |
Team/Game Operations:
| Owner: | God |
| Coach: | King Solomon, he’s so wise |
| Team Doctor: | Luke, the physician |
| Head Referee: | Moses, he knows all the rules |
| Ticket Taker: | Matthew, good with numbers as a tax guy |
Support Personnel:
| Water Boy: | John the Baptist |
| Cheerleaders: | Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene |
| Halftime Band: | Angels and David on his harp |
| Mascot: | Lion (of Judah) |
| Mascot Keeper: | Noah, but you need to have two mascots |
People you DON’T want on the team:
| Zacchaeus: | Too small |
| Judas: | He may score for the other team |
| Jonah: | He’d get eaten up by the competition |
| Adam: | He doesn’t have a uniform; insists on playing naked |
| Pilate: | Too influenced by the other team |
| Thief on the cross: | Had a chance, and he blew it |
The Analogy:
In one of the most detailed chapters about the workings of the body of Christ, we see God actively involved in drafting His team.
1 Corinthians 12:18-19
18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
To push the analogy a little further into youth ministry, God, as owner and general manager, has picked the team with youth leaders as the coach. As youth pastors and youth workers, our assignment is to accept the “team” we have been given and to nurture each team member’s giftedness so that each member is contributing to the team out of his or her giftedness. It is a sacred assignment, and, it’s a sacred team.
Whether you are a football fan or not, you will be inundated with headlines and stories about the NFL draft these next few days. Let each headline be a prompt for you to think about and pray for the team that you “coach.”
Click here to download a shareable image file of the Bible “operation” in this post.
