The irony of it all makes the end of the story seem like a punch line. Adam Smith, the young man who spearheaded efforts to put Bibles into the hands of classmates at Clements High School in Athens, Alabama – the president of Clements’ Fellowship of Christian Athletes Huddle, for crying out loud! – doesn’t even own a Bible.

But even without a copy of the Bible in his grasp, Smith knows firsthand the power of God’s Word. And he wanted to make sure that other students at Clements felt it, too, because he sees his classmates’ desire to experience something bigger than themselves.

“Everybody has a yearning for God’s love,” Smith said. “Everybody knows deep in their heart there’s something more than just everyday life. There has to be something else. Hopefully they will find it in those Bibles.”

Those Bibles.

Those Bibles that Smith worked with members of Seven Mile Post Road Church and North Alabama FCA staff member Jake Stone to acquire. Those Bibles that Smith made sure were in the hands of students who wanted to read about God’s love. Those Bibles that could change the lives of the students who read them.

Smith gave away those Bibles because he saw a high school campus where they could make an impact.

“I haven’t encountered anyone else in my area with a more raw desire to reach his campus for Christ,” Stone said. “It’s been incredible to see him put the Gospel into action.

“When students and teachers see a student that could easily take hold of many other temptations brought on by being a respected athlete, but instead takes hold of Jesus and His message, it can radically change a campus, and even an entire community,” Stone said.

Smith said the idea to give away Bibles at school came from a charity that collects and distributes Bibles to schools in Russia.

“It’s making a big impact in Russia,” Smith said. “So I thought, ‘If giving Bibles to schools in Russia will help them, giving Bibles to Clements will help us.’ Most of the kids have never had their own personal, really nice Bible.”

Stone helped Smith order 45 Bibles, and Seven Mile Post Road Church paid for them. After the last Bible had been distributed, Smith was approached by one of Clements’ assistant football coaches.

“He asked if I had another one that he could have,” Smith said. “I didn’t have any more, but I felt like I needed to make sure he had a Bible.

“I went out to my truck and grabbed my own ‘God’s Game Plan’ Bible and I gave that to him.”

Stone said that Smith’s actions weren’t just about a kid helping out a coach. It was about being a living example of God’s Word.

“The Bible is clear that even the young can impact the old,” Stone said. “We should never put limitation on the Holy Spirit’s ability to move through someone as young as Adam to change the lives of people twice his age. I can’t help but think that Adam’s servanthood is being noticed by everyone, young and old.”

But Smith’s selflessness did lead to that one irony: the guy who handed out all those Bibles doesn’t even have one of his own.

‘That’s what I want my life to be about.’

One of Clements’ football team’s captains throughout the 2012 season, Smith has realized that sharing God’s Word is the most important thing he can do.

“That’s what I want my life to be about,” Smith said. “For about a year now, I’ve wanted to become a youth minister. Giving away those Bibles made me feel good and feel like I could actually do that. Through FCA I’ve become better at public speaking. I’m just doing what God’s putting in front of me to do.”

Smith spoke of a desire to attend Samford University and pursue an education in youth ministry, but acknowledged that the high price of attending the Birmingham-based institution is likely out of his reach. But, that’s not his only plan.

“One of the things I also thought I could do to help is go to Calhoun Community College and get a degree in nursing, and then transfer to UAH (University of Alabama-Huntsville) and become a nurse,” Smith said. “And, possibly, if my church would let me, work in the youth ministry there.”

For now, though, Smith’s primary focus is on sharing God’s love on his current campus. He has plans for his school’s FCA Huddle to lead a clothes drive, and also to raise money to give to some of the less fortunate students at Clements.

Adam’s influence…and those who influence him

While the scoreboard didn’t often show a win for Clements during the 2012 football season – the Colts won a single game – Smith was learning valuable lessons that would help him earn victories on his campus in other ways.

“As the season went on, I learned that football wasn’t the most important thing, but it was just a way to show your love for God,” he said.

That attitude earned Smith admirers, including a middle school student who passes out water to the players on the sidelines. The young man would show up to games wearing Smith’s No. 52.

“It makes me feel humbled to know that somebody would look up to me enough to do that,” Smith said. “I’m all right at football, but I’m not the best, and for somebody to look up to me is pretty humbling.”

He then laughed.   “I hope he looks up to me for some reason other than football, because I’m really not that good at it.”

What Smith is getting good at doing is sharing his faith. He recently gave his testimony at a community-wide worship event at his church.

“In front of hundreds of church family, physical family and community, Adam shared how tough it is to remain faithful to God while experiencing teen peer pressure,” Smith’s mother, Kelley, said. “He witnessed that the support of parents, coaches, extended family and church family is what makes it possible to stand up for Christ, even when others do not.

“As his mom, it was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Kelley Smith said.

Adam seems to be just as proud of his parents as they are of him. In the same way Adam is an example to a young man handing out water, his parents are an example of the kind of prayerful person that Adam aspires to be.

“Prayer is a big part of my parents’ life,” Smith said. “My parents went through a rough patch in their marriage a few years ago and they put God in front of themselves and each other, and once they did that, their love for each other exploded. If they could do that, that’s why I should do it. They make me want to be better and want to seek God more, because if they can do it, I can, too.”

Smith isn’t short on role models, though. When he leaves his house and arrives at school, another one is waiting for him.

“Our head football coach, Michael Brown, is a strong Christian man,” Smith said. “He’s very Godly. He always tries to do the right thing and he always tries to do his best. Even with a down season, he’s always trying to get us to look to God instead of others or alcohol and that kind of stuff. He’s a very good man. He’s one of the people I respect the most.”

A servant's impact

Stone believes that Brown’s positive influence and Smith’s desire to heed his coach’s advice is refreshing.

“It does something to a person’s spirit to see a young man say no to everything the world has to offer and yes to the proclamation of the Gospel,” Stone said. “This is one act that believer and non-believer alike can be impacted through.”

Making an impact on his campus won’t always be easy for Smith. There will be opposition, whether it comes from other people or his own schedule. He is a senior, after all. But Stone is very aware of the legacy that Smith could leave at Clements.

“This is my hope and my prayer:  that Adam will keep pushing on regardless of opposition,” Stone said,  “and that his selfless representation of Christ will open the eyes of fellow athletes and coaches alike to the loving and saving power of Jesus. I simply cannot wait to see the Lord continue to move through His servant on the campus of Clements High School.”

Originally appeared on FCA.org in 2012