Go
October 1, 2009 (Thursday)
A favorite illustration for preachers is the ball game, be it baseball, basketball, football, or something else. Almost every preacher has at least one great story about sports he loves to share. In so doing, he cites parallels between sports and religion.
One mistake that many church members make is thinking of themselves as fans and spectators. Some seem to go so far as to think of themselves as experts on the game who go to games just to see how well the team is doing. Like the sports writers after the games, they have a lot to say about how the game was played, or, applying the illustration, how the preacher is doing or how the church service went.
Members of churches are not in the grandstand; they are on the field. They are the team, whether they realize it or not. Perhaps if more Christians thought of themselves as players in the game, there would be less discontent in the churches.
Go, team! Go! (..into all the world…)