I recently came across the following quote:
“A gospel which is only about the moment of conversion but does not extend to every moment of life in Christ is too small. A gospel that gets your sins forgiven but offers no power for transformation is too small. A gospel that isolates one of the benefits of union with Christ and ignores all the others is too small. A gospel that must be measured by your own moral conduct, social conscience, or religious experience is too small. A gospel that rearranges the components of your life but does not put you personally in the presence of God is too small.” Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God
For those of you in sports ministry, if your gospel is too small, then your sports ministry is too! A sports ministry that is too small would be one that:
– Is focused just on running good programs
– Is focused just on sharing the gospel with the participants
– Doesn’t see the need for the redemption of sports as well as people
– Doesn’t cast a vision for the greatness of God and his glory in sports
So what do you do if your gospel is too small?
First of all, ask God to enlarge your view of the gospel.
Secondly, do a word study on gospel and see what you learn.
Third, expose yourself to others who have a larger view of the gospel. Read books, blogs (like The Gospel Coalition) even take a class on The Gospel like our Gospel-Centered Sports Ministry Class.
Fourth, take your larger view of the gospel and start looking for ways to live that out in your sports ministry – in the further redemption of people and the realm of sports.
If you would like some help in thinking through these ideas, contact us. This is what we are called by God to do!
