Today I was listening to a sports podcast (The BS Report by Bill Simmons) when the guest (Mike Lombardi) said a truism about sports that’s applicable to ministry as well: A wise sports team thinks about who they have to beat to move on in the playoffs.
In basketball, for example, that means that if you’re an up and coming team (such as the OKC Thunder) that knows you’ll have to beat a team with a strong interior post game (like the Lakers or Spurs), you better get a post defender who can excel (hello, Kendick Perkins).
Here’s how it applies to a church setting: What competition are our ministries positioned to “beat”?
– Clubs or social co-operative organizations?
– The Devil?
– Alienation from God?
– The flesh?
– Biblical ignorance?
– Loneliness?
– Self-centeredness?
Complimentary questions are:
– How many opponents can you plan for?
– Which opponents are you most concerned with beating?
– What’s the scorecard that tells you who you are beating?
– Which “wins” do we have to earn and which are already won by Christ?
Bob Wriedt 