Eye On The Ball

For the past 5 years I've been an assistant softball coach for my daughter's softball teams. I started when my oldest daughter was 6 years old. One of the first things you teach a young girl about softball is to Keep Her Eye On The Ball. It doesn't matter if they are up to bat or in the field. This is the key to not only softball but most sports. You watch the ball into your glove, you watch the ball out of the pitcher's hand and all the way to the bat. If you take you eye off the ball, you're going to miss it with the bat, drop it out of your glove or not catch it at all.

As the Worship & Administrative Pastor for a local church, I see so many times when people take their eye off the ball and forget why we do what we do. Rather than focus on bring people to a place where they can connect with God and then help them take steps in their spiritual journey, we focus on our preferences or pleasing the already convinced.

I've spent many hours over the past 2 weeks in meeting after meeting answering questions and justifying our methodology so that the "already convinced" are happy. When what we really need to be doing is determining how to get more people in the doors so that they can come face to face with Jesus. That's the goal. That's the "ball." It's so easy to take our eyes off the ball and put them on ourselves.

What would our world be like if churches everywhere gave up their ideas, thoughts and preferences for the sake of exposing Jesus to their communities in their culture?