{"id":815798,"date":"2023-11-07T05:00:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=815798"},"modified":"2024-05-27T21:10:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T02:10:27","slug":"the-cincinnati-bengals-and-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-cincinnati-bengals-and-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Bengals . . . and Discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"

I realize this post is an unusual one for me, but I trust it makes sense at the end. I started writing this post on a plane going from Atlanta to Cincinnati to speak in a church meeting Sunday and Monday. As a native of Cincinnati and a life-long fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, I was excited to see Bengals fans all around me as they made their way to the city for Sunday night\u2019s football game between the Bengals and the Buffalo Bills. It seemed like everyone on this flight was a Bengals fan.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I know? By the clothes they were wearing and the conversations they were having. Black and orange jerseys and jackets abounded\u2014particularly #9, the number for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. I also cannot remember how many people I saw wearing Bengals caps. Seems Bengals fans really want people to know their team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, even the most inattentive ear could not have missed so many ongoing conversations about the game to come. The conversation was somewhat natural for fans who remember the almost-tragic collapse of Buffalo Bills player, Damar Hamlin, in last year\u2019s game at this time. At the same time, though, the conversations were more about a surging Bengals team led by a healthy Joe Burrow. Seems Bengals fans also really like to talk about their team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the risk of overapplying these images in my mind, I couldn\u2019t help but think about some applications to my life and my church:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n