Soccer and The Gospel...

I coach soccer for the Northeast Polk County Soccer League. I have the privilege of being my youngest son's coach. My oldest son is also on a team, but they have a much better coach. I am so proud of my two boys. They work so hard to play well, run hard, and impress me with their every move. I played soccer in High School and I love the sport. I am extremely overweight and can hardly keep up with the little kids, but no matter how out of breath I am, it's fun! The best part of last weekend is that my youngest son Kobe scored his first goal. It happened so fast that he didn't even realize what had happened. My older son Eli, is doing a great job too. I got to watch his game after my game was over and I saw him hustle and out play most of the other team. Who knows, maybe we have future professional soccer players in the making? Either way, I love my boys and am having so much fun...and a side note...well, coaching has been the best thing I have done so far in this church planting thing. It has created a collision point for me in the community. I wear the coaches uniform every Saturday and it gives me instant relationship with several families. I have been praying each week about how God might use me to plant the gospel in the lives of those people I meet every week.

So last Saturday as I was coaching my "grasshoppers" (ages 4-6) how to kick, pass, and shoot the soccer ball when it dawned on me! Church Planting is very similar. As a church planting team we have to master the basics of church before we can move on to the fancy footwork that we are always so rushed to do. I watch kids each Saturday try to balance the ball with their feet and do as many tricks as possible, but all that doesn't matter if they can't pass it to one another and score goals. In the end, the only result that matters is if their team made more goals than the other team. In church planting we as a team must master the skills that fundamentally get us goals or wins. So what is a win? A win in church planting is when we see someone who doesn't know Jesus, become transformed by His love and begin growing in their desire to treasure Christ more and more. It's not just about reaching one person, but as many people as possible. When this happens on a regular basis than we are doing the real work of church planting which is really planting the gospel. So what do we do when we feel the urge to have fun and do the fancy footwork with the soccer ball...well, there is nothing wrong with a little fun and even I like to keep the ball in the air with my feet, but eventually the ball has to come to the ground and a goal has to be made if we are going to win the game! I have realized that even with my team, which is comprised of an amazing group of people, we need a coach to blow the whistle every once in a while and remind us of what the purpose is. I know that right now our team is like my grasshoppers. The ball still feels kind of awkward. Scoring goals seems impossible. Paying attention to what's going on in the other soccer fields sometimes seems more appealing than what's going on in our own game. But, in the end...the more we practice and stay focused on the fundamentals, the easier it will become. We will begin to graduate from the grasshoppers to the juniors and seniors level of competition, and soon we will be scoring goals and taking names...

Matthew 16:18
"...and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it."

"Lord, at this stage of the game...help us as a team to focus on the fundamentals first. Give us the courage to trust you and know that one day we will get to a place where we will be scoring goal after goal. Give us the faith to watch you work in our lives and in our community."