Several weeks ago I was officiating a men’s league hockey game in Carmel, IN. It’s about 10:30 at night and we’re into the third period of the second game I’m doing as an official when a player clears the puck from his defensive zone making it a potential “icing” call. But, the defenseman from the non-offending team is rather lazy skating to the puck and my partner waves off the icing call. Here we go!
Now, a player disagreeing with my partner’s decision to ‘wave off’ the icing call starts screaming all sorts of crap and screams specifically, “We pay you guys to make the calls so make the damn calls!” He obviously was not pleased with us. So, at the next stoppage of play, the player who had screamed at us for not following through with the icing call, a bearded rather heavy-set guy, skates to his bench ‘glaring at me’ all the way.
Now, I could have probably called an “Unsportsmanlike conduct” on him for the inappropriate language he used earlier, putting his butt in the penalty box, but instead, I decided to drop a “Jesus Bomb” on him! Since my partner was handling the actual faceoff, I would be positioned in front of the players’ bench and I calmly explained to this guy who had just read us the
riot act why we called off the icing (your defenseman did not “make a serious effort” to retrieve the puck before it crossed the goal line). Then in a half-hearted way of apologizing, he looks at me and says, “Okay, Okay, I get it” still shaking his head. And that’s when I decided it was time to drop a “Jesus bomb” on him.
So, I said “Hey!” to get his attention, and as he looked at me and we made eye contact once again, I said, “No problem. I still love ya, and you know what? Jesus loves ya, too!” It was perfect. It totally disarmed him and he couldn’t help but laugh a little as did all of his teammates on the bench. As I skated away I looked back at him and gave him a “thumbs up” with my right hand and he signaled back to me with a “thumbs up.” And that, was that.
After the game as the players went through their handshake line, every player on that guy’s team came and shook my hand telling me they loved me telling him that “Jesus loved him” even though a couple of his teammates told me he is a bit of a jerk. And I told them, “Well, guess what? Jesus loves jerks, too! He loves each and every one of us!”
And so, without even realizing it, I gave myself a bit of a “life lesson” and I’ve decided to start dropping “Jesus bombs” wherever I go. So, for clarification, what is a “Jesus bomb?”
A “Jesus bomb”, by my simplest definition, is any time we decide to “Share the Love of Christ” with anyone, but even better, when we drop it in an unexpected moment on an unsuspecting person. This person may be a close friend, it may be a child, an adolescent or an adult and yes, it may even be a total stranger. But, it is our chance to share the love of Christ and explain that our actions, whatever they may be, are with good intent and driven by the love of ‘Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.’ It is our chance to bring the living presence of Jesus Christ ‘into that moment’ with
another person, and to explain to them that they, too, are a loved child of God and that Jesus loves them.
So, for me telling a grown man in the middle of an adult, recreational, men’s hockey game that he was a loved child of God was me dropping an intentional “Jesus bomb” on him. Did he expect it? Absolutely not! Was he offended by it? I don’t think so but that’s something only he could answer. But, in a strange way, I saw it as me giving him “a gift” that he may or may not have been aware of. Yes, he, too, was a loved child of God.
And where did I get this idea for what I now call the “Jesus bomb?” Really, it is part of the mission where I attend church and have attended for the last 20+ years. Simply put, our Mission is to Share the Love of Christ. And, if I could add to that Mission Statement, I would add, Wherever We Are, Wherever We Go. And so, I am now dropping ‘Jesus bombs’ to do this one thing – To Share the Love of Christ Wherever I Am, Wherever I Go.
And here is the beauty in dropping what I now have dubbed as a “Jesus bomb.” For one, it costs me absolutely nothing! It is a simple choice I get to make. Second, I can choose to do it anywhere, any time and with anyone I cross paths with. And last, whenever I do choose to drop a Jesus bomb, it reminds me that my true purpose in life is to be the very best version of myself, of who God wants me to be.
So, be brave! Be bold! Do you believe Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? Do you believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God and that he was crucified on the cross and died for our sins, only to be resurrected on the third day? Then start dropping “Jesus bombs’ and Share the Love of Christ Wherever YOU Are, Wherever YOU Go. Because that, my friend, is what Jesus Christ would want YOU to do!
