One Saturday afternoon, my son and I had just returned from church visitation. A football game had just begun as we walked in the door. Not knowing much about sports, I heard the sports announcers mention “home team advantage.” I just figured it has to do with familiarity of the turf, lighting and such. However, my son said, “Dad, it’s mostly about cheering fans.” I decided to look it up, and sure enough, this is what I discovered.
“Home teams win over 50% of sporting contests. The sociologicalappeal of this is the assumption that home advantages are partlythe result of the support fans provide, with the collectiveinspiring teams to performances above normal achievements”. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol. 27, No. 4 “A hometown crowd can really be a 12th man on the soccer field.” HighWire Press AAAS The Wikipedia sites other reasons as well. “The crowds can make so much noise that the opposing team cannot clearly call signals or communicate call changes.” Likewise, the devil can be hindered in the presence of the rejoicing saints.
The Apostle Paul, in Hebrews 12, pictures Olympic contenders who are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, or “home team fans.” What an encouragement fellow saints can be to us. If you attend the less popular Sunday night and Wednesday night prayer meetings, I think you understand exactly what coaches and teams know about attending fans. They stir the hearts of the players, and confuse the opponents.
It is encouraging when God’s people assemble and sing the hymns of faith, pray together, and encourage one another in the faith. Some churches do not have enough folks in attendance to fill two rows of pews. The Bible says Christians should never forsake the assembling of themselves together… (Heb. 10:25).
Imagine a service held in your honor and appreciation, but only a few friends show up. The devil knows all about “home team advantage,” do you? Christ is worthy of our public worship and services. Someone once said, “It is not CHURCH, if ‘UR’ not in it.” We are in the race of faith, true contenders, and God calls for a great company of witnesses to encourage us on. Pastor Horst