I love sports! Whether it's playing or watching them, I just love sports. Even though I love all sports, there is something about team sports that appeals to me more. Don't get me wrong, tennis is a great sport and so is golf, however, there is something special about a group of athletes coming together for a common goal. Think about it for a minute... how exciting is it to watch an alley-oop dunk or a 6-4-3 double play? How mesmerizing is it to watch precision passing occur in order to execute the perfect play? Team sports is exciting to watch! It is incredible to see what happens when a group of athletes rise up together with a single purpose in mind. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!
With all that said, might I suggest that the ultimate team sport of all is the church. The church is made up of a group of people all working towards a common goal... To Make Disciples. It is important for everyone to remember that we are all on the same team and all play an integral part. And just like in sports, when one player falls down on the job, the whole team suffers. What part are you playing on your team? Are you sitting on the bench watching the game go by? Perhaps your wearing yourself out trying to make up for your teammates lack of effort? You might think that you've learned everything that you need to know and have stopped paying attention to the coach. The point is simply this: if you have made Jesus Lord of your life, than you are part of the greatest team sport ever, and we need you to get in the game.
I saw a great example of this play out before my eyes this past week. During one of our services, we had a couple of stay-at-home moms visit for the first time. Before they could walk out the door to head to their cars, they had already been talked to by several of our ladies in the service. Not only that, they were invited to join a life group the next week. The crazy thing is that the team effort did not stop there. The next morning, they were contacted by a pastor to see how they liked everything, and were immediately connected to the woman's ministry who had already taken the initiative to invite them to a woman's bible study that Tuesday.
You know the greatest thing about this story? It all happened naturally. No one had to force anyone to talk to these ladies. Inviting them to a life group was not a "have to," but a "want to." In fact, the women's ministry was already on top of things before a pastor could even say anything. How does something like that happen? It's called teamwork, and it's the most effective way to work towards the goal of making disciples.
What role are you playing on the team? Might I suggest that you jump in the game and help out. The team desperately need your help as we continue to move towards the goal of making disciples. Trust me when I say, it's always more exciting to play the game than to sit and watch it go by.
