A MESSAGE FOR THE BENTON PANTHERS
Some may not know that I get to spend time with the Benton Panthers Football team. After they enjoyed a historic win in their first game of 2026, I wanted to share some thoughts with players, parents and community.
Bobby McCallister
9/8/20267 min read
A MESSAGE FOR THE BENTON FOOTBALL TEAM
Those who know me personally know that I am privileged to have had the opportunity for the last 27 years to hang out with the players and coaches of the Benton Panthers (Arkansas) football team. I am their statistics guy and try to encourage the players and the coaches when I can. Just a few years ago, I realized what an amazing opportunity I had been missing and began gathering the players together before games and saying a prayer. I make it clear to them that this is nothing that is required of them, and that no one should treat them differently if they do not engage in this, and that if someone does treat them in any uncomfortable way, they should let me know. It is also my practice to tell them that if they wish to ask me any questions about God or about faith, of any kind, that there is no question they cannot ask. I will never have all the answers, but we can have fun searching for them.
My college head coach at Central Arkansas, Harold Horton, was fond of reminding his players that we could learn life lessons on the football field that we could not really learn anywhere else in life. I do believe that is true, as in football, there is no possible way to be great without those around you. Friday night, August 28, 2026, the Benton players and coaches did something that many thought would never happen again: they slayed Goliath. After twenty years of frustration against cross-county rival, Bryant, the Panthers came from behind to win the game by one point as time in the game ran out. It was very possibly the best football game, and maybe the greatest comeback, against the greatest odds, that I have seen in my almost 62 years of life.
Bundled up in this night were great plays and great play calls. There was sacrifice for teammates while in pain and sickness. There was resiliency and positive attitude under less than ideal conditions. On top of all that, it was really hot in Central Arkansas on that August night on artificial turf. It was really amazing to watch these players and coaches show what was inside of them on the field of play. However, as proud of all of these people as I am, that is not the overwhelming thought in my mind as I write this.
This group of players seems to be a bit different. As I watch them from both afar and sometimes close up, they do some things that I have not seen in football teams in the past. It doesn’t have anything to do with sports, but rather it is an overt profession of faith in God. In no way am I saying that there have not been young men in the past who played football in Benton who shared their faith openly. The thing is that this group seems to be doing it as a whole. They wear shirts that proclaim the name of Jesus. They wear shirts and necklaces that bear the cross. They openly say the name Jesus and the name of God in public and in interviews. After last Friday’s game, I have no idea how many of them approached me, hugged my neck and said something along the lines of, “All glory to God!”
While all of this is exciting for all the great parents, preachers, teachers, and others who have spent time mentoring and sharing their faith with all these young men, it is a bit scary to me. These young men just accomplished something that has not happened in over 20 years in this community. On top of that the Bryant team that they beat had won 7 of the last 8 state championships at the highest level of high school football in Arkansas, and 26 games in a row. Benton does not have a game this week, and these players and coaches are going to spend the next, at least, two weeks, getting pats on the back and being told what a great feat they have accomplished. While all that is true, what comes next?
Mark 1:10-13 tells us that as soon as Jesus came up from the water after being baptized, the Spirit of God came down and told him that he was the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased. I would suggest that praise does not get any bigger than that. However, verses 12 and 13 then tell us that immediately after that, the Spirit drove him (don’t miss that the Spirit DROVE him) into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. How frightening is that when we are told that immediately after Jesus is publicly praised by the Father and the Spirit, that he goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan himself?
A lot of people know the rest of the story. Jesus was able to fend off the temptations brought by Satan because he remembered who he was, even when confronted with the one known as the accuser and the father of lies. Satan offered all the kingdoms of the world, and Jesus refuted his offer with scripture, staying faithful to his Father and to his mission. I wonder if Jesus was thinking of the third of the Ten Commandments as he was dealing with Satan: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Exodus 20:7.
Most of my life I understood the third commandment to be a prohibition against cursing and using God’s name within that language. However, several years ago, I learned that this short statute is so much deeper in meaning than just cursing. The meaning of this is more akin to a teenager’s father or mother telling them before they go out on a Saturday night not to forget that when they leave the house, they are representing not just themselves but their entire family. This is a lesson that I wish I had learned and taken more seriously in my own youth.
This lesson has been on my heart since I first heard that the Benton players were wearing shirts that said, “Jesus Won,” or bore a cross on them. I still have such vivid memories, and many regrets, about being a teenager, and later a young adult, and going to church every week, or making public that I claim to be a Christ follower, and then not looking like anything like someone who followed Jesus in how I treated others. One of my greatest fears in life is that I had a negative effect on someone because of how I outwardly portrayed my faith in my daily life, while openly claiming to be a Christian. Today, as a bit older person (just a little older!!!!), it drives me even more that how I treat others is going to be looked at as a testimony of what Christianity really is. The good news is that I truly believe that, in many of these young men’s lives, the Spirit of God is very real, and they walk out their faith in a way that just amazes me. Never forget though, that we all fail.
So what can we do to try to represent the name of God to the world? First and foremost, if you do not really know Jesus, do not try to represent him, and just leave the shirt or necklace in the drawer, and cover up the cross or Bible verse tattoo where no one can see it. In your life, and with how you treat others, you are in a very real sense sharing the Gospel. Paul made very clear how he felt about those who shared a different Gospel than the message shared by Jesus. In Galatians 1:8-9, he said that they were accursed. That is strong.
Galatians 5 tells us what this really looks like. We are told to “walk in the Spirit,” and in doing so we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16. When we walk in the Spirit, we go through every part of our day being mindful of our position as an ambassador for Jesus. It also takes into account actually trying to know the commands of God set forth in scripture so that we can bring them to the front of our mind, as did Jesus, when we are faced with temptation and hard times.
Galatians 5:19-21 describes the outcomes and action caused by living life by the flesh. Then Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the fruit of the Spirit. Even more pointedly, Jesus said that all the writings of the law and the prophets could be summed up in the commands to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. There are those that probably would not equate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control with football players or their coaches. However, the writings of Paul are full of sports analogies. In fact as a friend pointed out, the Harding FB program is built on Honor God and love each other.
In I Corinthians 9, we are told to finish the race with our eyes on the finish line and to get rid of all distractions and things that weigh us down. Also in that chapter, Paul says not to fight like someone flailing in the air, but to discipline yourself so as to succeed. In II Timothy 2, Paul tells his spiritual son, Timothy, that he should compete by the rules with integrity, while including this in verses about working extremely hard in achieving a goal. Finally, in Philippians 3, Paul talks about a runner who is straining toward the goal trying to win the race, comparing it to achieving spiritual maturity. Christians, not unlike athletes, are supposed to be the hardest workers, and the most diligent people in all things, so that the world wants to ask what is different about that person. Our faith in Christ is to bleed through every single part of our existence.
I learn so much from young people who I get the opportunity to be around. Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of listening to a sermon preached by 20 year old, Sawyer Bennett. In that sermon, he said something to the effect of, “everyone wants to call Jesus Lord of their life until it is actually time for him to be the Lord of their life.” In a group text I sent a message that simply said, “They have learned what [the effort] it takes to win big games. Will they learn or be satisfied?” If we are going to avoid taking the name of God in vain, then not only do we need to reflect the attributes of Galatians 5:22-23 when we wear our Jesus t-shirts, but all the time. If we are wearing the t-shirt, going to church, or any of the other apparently Christian things because others are doing it, or just to keep up appearance, maybe we should just keep our mouths shut and stand on the sidelines until we are ready to make that commitment. This is truly what it means to be All In!!