Tim Briggs wrote this blog a little over two years ago. The thoughts still apply today – maybe even more so.
I continued to be challenged by Ed Stetzer’s list of 5 Things the Church Needs to Face in the Next 10 Years. When I think of #4 on the list, sports ministry particularly comes to mind:
4. Evangelism in the age of the Nones.
We are now increasingly facing what I have called a post-seeker context. This does not mean that seekers no longer exist. The Spirit is always at work in the hearts of people. But churches that once focused their energies and efforts toward targeting seekers are finding it more difficult to appeal to a constituency with little to no religious memory. Churches will have to find new ways to lead their people to reach out to their neighbors– not just attractional evangelism, but incarnational evangelism as well– being, doing, and telling good news where we live and work.
This begs the question, is your sports ministry ready for the challenge of the post-seeker context? Almost every local church sports ministry that we know of operates with an attractional model of ministry. In other words, they have facilities that they invite and “attract” non-believing and unchurched people to. In a post-seeker context though, non-believers will be hesitant to come to your church/facility for sports.
To meet this challenge, church sports ministries are going to have to think about and embrace an incarnational/missional approach to ministry and not just an attractional one. Rather than thinking “either/or” – attractional or missional – why not think “both/and” – both attractional and missional” to reach different people in the community?
To be provoked and learn more about this topic, see the following posts:
A Better Way for Sports Ministry?
Releasing People in Your Sports Ministry
The Problem With Having Sports Facilities at Your Church
An Organic Approach to Sports Ministry
Tim Keller, the Missional Church, & Sports Ministry
7 Ways to Share Your Life Through Sports
If you are interested in dialoging about this missional/incarnational approach to sports ministry, email me at bschindler@csosports.org.
