As we begin this journey down the path of church planting, my wife has some concerns – as well she should. However men, you know how we sometimes tend to minimize what we perceive minor concerns with comments such as, “Oh God will take care of that, don’t you worry honey!” or “If God wants it to be, it will be!” :-)
This past Sunday was the 1st day of the NFL Season; so.., as I watched in anguish as my beloved Philadelphia Eagles gave a game away because of Special Teams and a lack of attention to detail; it got me to thinking about the ramifications of this idea/concept with respect to Church Planting.
Who are my Special Teams? What punt could cost me the game or even worse turn someone away from a life with Jesus? Who are the role players, who we “MAY” forget are many times the most significant part of the team?
Which brings me back to my wife’s concerns - One of her major concerns is service related volunteers or should I say the community of believers that choose to hang with us in the future. Her concern is a lack of service participation and commitment. Anyone who has been in and around the church for any length of time, you know how difficult this part of the game truly can be. It can sometimes ruin the greatest game plan in the world.
It is my prayer that from the very start, we create collectively an Ethos of being on mission and service-mindedness. To me everyone is a Special Team Player!
- If you have a staff, are they any more significant than the volunteers? No!
- Are the details involved around their area of service any less significant than what happens on the day of your big group gathering – No!
The Ethos of the Team/of our community from the very beginning should be, that no matter how small/minute or large your input or service – it is all special and significant to the overall game (although, this is no game!). We are all on the same Special Team and the mission is important for each and every member of the team/community; but more importantly the people we are trying to reach. I use the Eagles/Green Bay game as an example, for if those players had understood that their role was no less important than the coaching staff, the offense, or the defense – maybe the outcome would have been different? One Body - One Team!
I do not go into this adventure blindly, and I pray it will be fun and rewarding; but I know there will be tough times and fumbles and mistakes. Just like the Eagles on last Sunday, you can prepare and get ready; but it is nothing like the real game. The speed of the actual game is much faster and the consequences are much more measurable and have greater consequences.
Please pray for our future Special Team and our attention to detail. Amen.
This past Sunday was the 1st day of the NFL Season; so.., as I watched in anguish as my beloved Philadelphia Eagles gave a game away because of Special Teams and a lack of attention to detail; it got me to thinking about the ramifications of this idea/concept with respect to Church Planting.
Who are my Special Teams? What punt could cost me the game or even worse turn someone away from a life with Jesus? Who are the role players, who we “MAY” forget are many times the most significant part of the team?
Which brings me back to my wife’s concerns - One of her major concerns is service related volunteers or should I say the community of believers that choose to hang with us in the future. Her concern is a lack of service participation and commitment. Anyone who has been in and around the church for any length of time, you know how difficult this part of the game truly can be. It can sometimes ruin the greatest game plan in the world.
It is my prayer that from the very start, we create collectively an Ethos of being on mission and service-mindedness. To me everyone is a Special Team Player!
- If you have a staff, are they any more significant than the volunteers? No!
- Are the details involved around their area of service any less significant than what happens on the day of your big group gathering – No!
The Ethos of the Team/of our community from the very beginning should be, that no matter how small/minute or large your input or service – it is all special and significant to the overall game (although, this is no game!). We are all on the same Special Team and the mission is important for each and every member of the team/community; but more importantly the people we are trying to reach. I use the Eagles/Green Bay game as an example, for if those players had understood that their role was no less important than the coaching staff, the offense, or the defense – maybe the outcome would have been different? One Body - One Team!
I do not go into this adventure blindly, and I pray it will be fun and rewarding; but I know there will be tough times and fumbles and mistakes. Just like the Eagles on last Sunday, you can prepare and get ready; but it is nothing like the real game. The speed of the actual game is much faster and the consequences are much more measurable and have greater consequences.
Please pray for our future Special Team and our attention to detail. Amen.
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2 comments:
Rich,
Mike Anglin here. met you last night (9/27) at Karl Kuhl's talk. The name of my former co-worker who moved to the Allentown area is
Kat (for Katherine) Fixx.
She is working at the nuclear power plant near Allentown. I imagine that there are not too many nuc plants there. That's all I know.
Maybe you will meet up with her one day.
God Bless you and your efforts.
Mike
Gal. 6:9
As I look at this entry I am thinking to myself, " wow, what an analogy." I sit here and hope that people step up and can play a major or minor role in this team because every little bit helps. Then I realized I am from the Lehigh Valley and how I can play a major role on this team. It does not matter where you are from because we are a team, but how great would it be to win in your home town and show your fans how much you have tried to make them proud. Well there is no better time than now to step it up and become a part of this team and make our coach proud.
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