Playing for Pizza

I've just read 2 John Grisham books in the last 2 weeks - the second one, "Playing for Pizza," I finished yesterday.

It is a story about a failing American Football Quarterback, who rediscovers the joy of being in a real team, where he is accepted, respected, and as a result, produces his best.

You may not be into American Football (I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan, for what it's worth), but I must say that the book warmed the cockles of my heart. It is, like many books, a story of new life, new hope, a new start. Rick, the despised failure of a Quarterback, is hounded out of Cleveland, vilified in the press, and despised by the press after 1 poor performance costs them their shot at the Super Bowl. Via his agent, he finds himself in Parma, Italy, playing on a team of amateurs who play for the love of the game, for one another, and for the free post-game Pizza.

In this foreign culture, Rick finds a home.

We live in a broken world, people feel hounded, are vilified, and many have nowhere to turn. What if they looked to the church - your church or mine? Would they find love, acceptance, forgiveness - a home?

To many church is a foreign culture, the last place they might look particularly if they have personal, or fabled "memories" of church as a place of condemnation rather than forgiveness.

Wouldn't it be great if your church and mine was a place where people rediscover the joy of being in a real team, where they are accepted, respected, and as a result, produce their best.