That Night When the Bears Taught Me About Real Faith

today, my second sermon for beside baptist was inspired by something that happened yesterday. I shut off the TV at halftime last night. January 10th, 2026, I’ll never forget this date. The Chicago Bears were getting demolished, and I couldn't take it anymore. I was done, frustrated, angry, ready to write off the whole game and the number 1 draft pick. I actually considered throwing away all my Bears Paraphernalia, no lie.

I mean, ya boy was on one. at the beginning of the season, I said I was riding with the Bears this year. For real, for real. I said it with my whole chest. I didn’t buy a Caleb jersey, but I was in it for the long haul. Yet the moment adversity hit, the second things looked bad, my belief evaporated. I bailed. I turned off the game, stormed out of the room, screaming at Caleb Williams, and came back and watched a few episodes of “The Big C” with my wife while she disappointingly nodded at me.

Fast forward this morning, I woke up, picked up my phone, scrolled down, and saw they actually won. Damn. I’m not gonna lie, I was shocked. And honestly, I regret missing one of the most heroic comebacks in NFL history. Wow, I realized I'd become exactly what I said I wouldn't be, a fair-weather fan, a hypocrite who talks loyalty but practices convenience.

And honestly? It's the same pattern I've been running in my faith walk these past few years. I make the commitment. I say I'm all in. I declare my belief with conviction. But then life happens. Things don't unfold the way I expect them to. The outcomes I'm praying for don't materialize on my timeline. Suddenly, I'm Audi 5000, gone, checked out, doubting everything I said I believed.

I've been treating my faith like I treated that Bears game: believing only when things look good, jumping ship the moment circumstances get uncomfortable or unclear. But that's not really belief at all, is it?

Real belief isn't just showing up when everything's going according to plan. It's not faith if it only exists when the scoreboard looks favorable. True belief means staying put during the uncomfortable halftimes of life, trusting the outcome even when you can't see how things could possibly turn around. If I'm gonna believe, in my team, in my faith, in anything, I've got to actually believe. Not just when it's easy or convenient or visible. But when it's hard. When it looks like a loss. When every rational part of me wants to turn it off and walk away.

That Bears game was a mirror, showing me what I've been doing in the areas of my life that matter most. And I think I’m done being that person who only believes when belief feels safe. From now on, I'm staying for the whole game. It’s time to truly “Bear Down.”