In 1992, Tim Keller wrote an article called Evangelism Through Networking. As I read the article, I couldn’t help but think that almost all of the principles applied to sports outreach.
Probably the most humbling part of the article was this statement:
“In a networking church (sports outreach ministry), you must be either a seeker, a bringer, or a cell leader (follow-up) or you are dead weight.”
Just to clarify some of those terms. By seeker, he means a non-believer. A bringer is someone who invites non-believers. And a cell leader is someone who intentionally reaches out to non-believers and disciples new believers. You could simplify this and say there are only two roles: Seekers and Evangelists.
I think, if we’re honest, we have a lot of dead weight in our sports ministries. If that’s true of your ministry, I hope you see that as an opportunity. Part of your role as a leader is to equip people and that may mean fixing the broken way they see the ministry. It may also mean that you need to outfit your people with the tools and training they need to fulfill their roles. Of course, this is hard work. It doesn’t happen overnight.
So, what are you doing to address the “dead weight” in your sports ministry?
