Involvement is an important part of church growth. I’m not just talking about your local church but I am talking about the Lord’s church as a whole. Isn’t it sad that when you attend services on Sunday morning that you have a large number of people who attend, then, on Sunday night, that number is sometimes cut in half, if not more? Also, when there are events, there are always a lower amount of people that attend. There is not even close to 100% participation for most events.
I oftentimes compare things to sports. It is no secret that I am a sports fan. Recently I heard this example and it fits perfectly with the way many congregations are today.
Let’s talk football for a couple of seconds. What is one thing that happens before each play? Whether on offense or defense, this happens most of the time unless they are in a hurry. Each team gets in a huddle. They get in a huddle to learn about what play they are about to do. They’ve practiced the plays in practice so they know how to effectively carry out the play that is called in the huddle. Then, they break the huddle and head straight to the line of scrimmage to begin the attack.
Attending worship is the same process as the huddle during a football game. We attend services so we can learn more about Christ. Bible classes and Bible studies are often set up to help us learn more about how we can effectively carry out God’s plan and bring people to Christ. We attend worship and then when services are over…. What do we do??
What would happen if the football team was in a huddle and then they get ready to break out of the huddle and 8 of the 11 players went and ran to sit on the bench? How successful would they be at completing their play if they only had 3 players on the field working hard to win? They would end up getting beat pretty badly.
It is the exact same thing with the church family. There are Sunday mornings where you will have 300 people attend worship. When services are over there are a large number of people who will leave the building and not think about doing anything for Christ again that week. They run and sit on the bench. Very few people are actually going out and spreading the Word of God. How successful do you think we are when we don’t make an effort to carry out God’s commands?
It is not hard to notice that the world is quickly going downhill. The devil’s army is winning. We can blame the world but the reason is that so many Christians have sat the bench and many have even thrown in the towel. If people would get out and do more work for the Lord, the world may start making a turn in the opposite direction.
Are you one that sits the bench between Sundays? If you are, I encourage you to make an effort to change.
God is Good…
30 Second Thoughts 