Why Sports Ministry?

The church is called to be a dynamic organism that is sent into the world to be a witness for Jesus Christ, and thereby glorify God. In partnership with God, the church carries out her redemptive work by equipping, mobilizing and sending out saints to proclaim the Good News. Because of this critical call on the church, this dynamic body of believers must be strategic . . . must be expedient . . . must be prudent in carrying out that call.

With that in mind, the church would be wise to understand the phenomenon of sports and recreation since it has such a pivotal and pervasive place in our society - and the societies of the world. Seventy-five percent of Americans watch, read about, or participate in sports once a week, and ninety-eight percent do so once a month. If that is where the people are, if that is what the people are doing, it seems prudent for the church to determine how best to utilize that cultural interest for the sake of declaring Christ.

Why Sports Ministry? Because sports and recreation offer the church unique tools to accomplish the following tasks:

• A means of forming friendships and building relationships
• A means of promoting "body life" (internal church fellowship)
• Facilitates life-style and proclamational evangelism
• Creates a bridge to the lost in the community . . . even to the resistant
• A means of helping someone grow in his or her faith . . . a tool for discipleship within the sporting environment
• A door of service for those who are not involved in ministry to the body
• A means of "closing the back door" through small group discipleship and accountability
• A ministry servant to the other ministries of the church (Children, Youth, Adult, Singles, Seniors, etc.)
• A ministry that contributes to leadership training
• A means of building "stepping stones" from the field/gym to the worship center

Sports is culturally relevant and, therefore, a strategic way to introduce people to the church and to the person of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if I am interested in sports; the key is to recognize that lost people are interested and that is where they congregate. Where would Jesus be?