Us vs. Them: Football Rivalries, Faith Communities, and Jesus’ Warning in Luke 17
Football Is Life in the Midwest
I live in the rural Midwest. To say “Football is life” is a major understatement.
Folks tend to think Texas is the only place where “Friday Night Lights” is lived out every fall. Clearly, though, they’ve never traveled through the Midwest during August, September, October, or November to see the cult-like chaos that is football season.
Rivalries abound—at both the high school and the college level.
Forget about the NFL.
No one cares about the NFL around here, but they definitely live and breathe high school and college football.
Our high school actually sells season tickets to its football games—just like colleges do. This is real life.
From a young age in our communities, an “us” and “them” mindset is modeled from adults, coaches, teachers, and many parents. This is great for inspiring athletes, encouraging student sections, and building school spirit within specific school communities.
What it’s not great for is building relationships and community outside of the district.
That “us” and “them” mindset meant for Friday night football games seeps into every facet of the rivalry, causing each side to see the “other” side as less than.
I remember being in high school and having a friend who was dating someone from our rival high school. This was a sin worse than blasphemy. She couldn’t even bring him to dances because people were so horrible to him.
This might seem like a small-town mentality, and I would agree with you. What is scary, though, is that this small-town mentality is seeping into all the cracks and crevices in our world. We see it every day in politics, and, if we’re honest, we see it weekly in our faith communities.
An “Us and Them” Church
When I was growing up, my church was very much an “us” and “them” church in every way. From their theology to who was allowed to serve in what role, there was very much a delineation between “us” and “them.”
Throughout my adolescence, there were a handful of Bible lessons and scriptures used to both perpetuate this mindset and keep us in line.
One of those cherry-picked passages was Luke 17:1–4.
Luke 17:1–4 in Different Translations
The Passion Translation (TPT):
One day Jesus taught his disciples: “Betrayals are inevitable, but great devastation will come to the one guilty of betraying others. It would be better for him to have a heavy boulder tied around his neck and be hurled into the deepest sea than to face the punishment of betraying one of my dear ones! So be alert to your brother’s condition, and if you see him going the wrong direction, cry out and correct him. If there is true repentance on his part, forgive him. No matter how many times in one day your brother sins against you and says, ‘I’m sorry; I am changing; forgive me,’ you need to forgive him each and every time.”
The Amplified Bible (AMP):
Jesus said to His disciples, “Stumbling blocks [temptations and traps set to lure one to sin] are sure to come, but woe (judgment is coming) to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble [in sin and lose faith]. Pay attention and always be on guard [looking out for one another]! If your brother sins and disregards God’s precepts, solemnly warn him; and if he repents and changes, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him [that is, give up resentment and consider the offense recalled and annulled].”
The Passion Translation comes from both the original Greek transcript as well as an Aramaic transcript of the New Testament. This is why The Passion Translation reads a bit differently than the other translations. Whether we call them temptations, betrayals, or stumbling blocks, the heart of this remains the same: Jesus issues a clear warning against them.
What We Were Taught About “Stumbling Blocks”
In this teaching, Jesus is talking to his disciples about their relationships with other people. He tells them that betrayals (TPT) and temptations (AMP) are unavoidable. They are going to happen to each of us. He goes on to warn them about being the source of the betrayal or the temptation.
Growing up, this was always referred to as being a “stumbling block.”
We were consistently reminded that Jesus warned against being a stumbling block to others—leading them astray, tempting them to sin, etc.
This passage was used as a warning so we wouldn’t drink, cuss, dress provocatively, watch rated R movies, or do other “dumb” things.
Those were the things everyone cared about in my church growing up—the “big” sins.
What Was Never Talked About
Do you know what was never talked about in relation to Jesus’ teaching here?
Betrayals of trust by leadership
Teaching of manmade theology as gospel truth
Sowing seeds of hate and division
Failing to love others as ourselves
What Jesus warns about in this teaching isn’t just the morality of drinking or cussing. The things Jesus warns about are often more subtle and more widely accepted, but far more damaging. Interestingly, in many circles and communities, it’s like those sins were whited out of the scriptures.
Examples of Modern Stumbling Blocks
For so many of us, this has become so commonplace that we might struggle to wrap our heads around how these things are occurring in our world and how they are counter to Jesus’ teaching. Let me give you a few examples:
When leaders cover up abuse to protect an institution, they not only betray the vulnerable—they tempt others to believe silence is safer than truth.
When gossip gets disguised as prayer, trust is betrayed, community fractures, and people stumble into suspicion and fear.
When grace is preached from the pulpit but favoritism rules in the pews, disciples learn that appearances matter more than the gospel.
When spiritual authority is used to control rather than to serve, faith gets distorted, and people are tempted to confuse fear with obedience.
When generosity is exploited, the gospel looks like manipulation instead of gift, leaving people cynical about giving and distrustful of the church.
When churches silence questions or shame doubt, discipleship becomes performance, and many are tempted to walk away entirely.
When nationalism gets confused with Christianity, the kingdom of God gets obscured, and faith is reduced to partisan identity.
When prosperity is sold as the gospel, hope for the suffering is stolen, and people are led to believe their worth depends on wealth.
When fear of hell overshadows hope in God’s kingdom, people are kept small instead of set free, tempted to follow God out of terror instead of love.
When women, the poor, or the marginalized are excluded, we deny the table Jesus built and tempt others to believe God’s welcome isn’t for them.
When doctrinal purity is valued above compassion, we stumble into pride and teach others that being right matters more than being Christlike.
When the church ignores the cries of the hungry, imprisoned, and sick, it betrays its Lord and tempts the world to see the gospel as hollow.
When people are treated like projects instead of image-bearers, love gets reduced to strategy, and relationships become transactions.
When pain and grief are glossed over with platitudes, we betray those who most need presence, tempting them to hide their wounds instead of seeking healing.
When forgiveness is preached but withheld, the gospel loses credibility, and people learn that God’s mercy is conditional.
When the church remains silent in the face of injustice, it becomes a stumbling block to the watching world, tempting many to believe God doesn’t care.
Clearing the Table
Not enough people are talking about those stumbling blocks, temptations, or betrayals.
For many of us, these very things are the reason we’ve found ourselves marginalized, misunderstood, and labeled as misfits in faith communities.
They’re the reason we’ve stepped back from the table or aren’t sure we still belong at the table.
Like everything in life, we have a choice. My hope and prayer for all of us is that we start clearing the table of all of these stumbling blocks, betrayals, and temptations—and start setting new tables, bigger tables, tables where there are seats for both “us” and “them.”
Choosing Change
I used to ignore what was happening in the world and just accept what was happening in my church. It felt safe and comfortable because it’s what I had always known. Just like we accept bitter rivalries that dehumanize our opponents as “just the way it is,” I accepted what was happening in these bigger communities as “just the way it is.”
Now, though, I don’t see how this mindset and lack of action honors Christ or His teachings. What it does, though, is make me complicit in the things Jesus warned about in His teachings here.
I don’t want to do that any longer.
For those of you who are desperate for change, for eliminating “us” and “them” language, and who just want to build bigger tables, I see you. And I’m here for it.
While small-town football rivals might seem like “fun” on a Friday night, when the same “us” and “them” mindset overtakes people of faith, we have lost sight of the very foundation of the kingdom of God. Jesus calls us to bigger tables—where opponents are neighbors and rivals are friends.
Reflection Questions
Where have I seen “us vs. them” mindsets in my own faith community?
Which of the “stumbling blocks” in this list resonates most with my story
What would it look like to clear space and set a bigger table in my context?
