I would highly encourage you to read this article from Jeremy Writebol at gospelcentereddiscipleship.com. The whole article is an answer to the question of: Why sports ministry? Below is an excerpt:
- Inhabit sporting spaces and places – We must be present in the lives of those being discipled by sports. We will never gain traction to earn respect and speak the gospel into the lives of those we never inhabit space and place with. Frequent a sports bar. Coach kids sports leagues. Be present in the lives and rhythms of a sporting community. I coached an under-nine soccer team and was able to get to know the parents. I didn’t know anything about soccer really. I just wanted to have fun with these kids and get to know their parents. As the season passed, I was able to develop these relationships and see them become a platform for sharing the gospel.
- Invest in those consumed by the sporting-life – I speak of investment on several fronts here. Being involved in the life of another for the sake of the gospel will cost you something. However your investment will demonstrate the seriousness of the gospel. Buy tickets and go to games with lost friends. Spend time with them on their turf watching sports. Sign up to play in the city sports leagues. Wichita Parks and Recreation, for instance, offers all sorts of adult sports opportunities from basketball and volleyball to a wiffleball league. Even if you are not a very good athlete, the goal is to be investing in the lives of others. Humble yourself and go as a missionary into these cultures. The key here is high relational contact. Be in their world.
- Be attentive to their lives beyond sports – It’s nearly impossible to share the gospel with someone while you are watching the Super Bowl. But the relational traction that you have developed with someone else while inhabiting and investing in them will lead to other opportunities beyond the game to share Jesus. Look for these areas. Don’t merely associate with lost people around sports. Listen to their stories, discover their life rhythms, include them in your everyday life. Invite them into your story, and more importantly invite them, as your lives connect, into the story of Jesus. Show them a better identity, a more glorious one to worship, a more faithful community and a greater and more valuable mission for life.
- Be patient, take your time – This is by no means an overnight process or event. It takes patience and endurance. It was two years before a friend that I was investing in through the tools of the sporting-life opened the door for me to talk about Christ with him. We can’t give up after a few weeks or the end of the season. Disciple-making is a long-term, low-key, intentional activity. Stick with it. Continue to inhabit their lives. Continue to invest in them. Pray for them and the opportunity to share the gospel all the while living out the implications of the gospel before them. Let your urgency be in prayer and before God and your endurance be toward your lost friends.
