Church & Football

I went into McDonald's for breakfast at 7:50am and caught the last 60 seconds of the US-Portugal match. What a game! What a goal! Ronaldo's cross met with a bullet header to level the game in the dying seconds. What can the church learn from football? If the church allows the Holy Spirit to move in her midst, things can get excited. There could be last minute surprises, surprise conversions, people coming forward to confess their sins and turn to Christ with genuine repentance, godly sorrow turned to joy of salvation. Why do we not see that happening in most churches today? Too much of man's control, set liturgy, human manipulation and the Spirit is driven out for The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty there is freedom and the Lord who is the Spirit will work to transform lives into Christ's image from one degree of glory to another.. (2 Cor 3:17ff). What else can we learn from football? They put out the best players and they play as a team with star players shining and scoring goals. In the church?
Many leaders fear newcomers, those who are more gifted than them and they do all they can to hinder God's work so that status quo remains and their positions safe. Why so little of good preaching? They left their star players on the bench. Imagine Suarez asked to play only once a month. And yesterday despite the strife and chaos that seek to snuff out my enthusiasm for preaching, by the grace of God I preached one of my best sermons in 6 years. Imagine that was the last sermon preached in the midst of moving house, preached in the midst of uncertainty, betrayal and attacks from "Christian" brothers. But God's Word must be heard and the 50 or so Tamil congregation heard it as if the oracles of God. What can the church learn from football? Imagine Munrihno asked to work under Moyise. Imagine Sir Alex Ferguson accepting an assistant coach position in a mid-tier team. Yet often churches stick to their traditions and employ people who are mediocre and lack-lustre, no wonder churches are in the doldrums, not shining and as Jesus says, if salt loses its saltiness it is good for nothing except to be cast out and trampled upon by men.