“Bad News Bears” on Sanctification and the Church

Is your church or are you playing like the Bad New Bears? You remember that 80’s movie of the baseball team that just couldn’t do anything right on the field. They had convinced themselves that that was all they could do so they played to their expectations. They played in the same old jerseys, they played with no practice, they didn’t have anyone to mentor them on the game. They really didn’t want anyone to. They seemed to be happy with their mediocrity, content to living up to their name the bad news bears. Maybe your team should think about practicing to improve and stop thinking that their name allows them to continue playing with mediocracy with one error after another. I honestly don’t believe any person in their right mind wants to sign on to a team that has that mindset. It is however a mindset that can develop and take hold of a team of a church without practice, without coaching, with out something to swing for.

The same philosophy plays out in progressive sanctification all the time in the church. People want to think we dont’ need to practice, we don’t need to read the play book. Just get a name, put a star up to the pulpit, get a stadium built on the water and everyone will come. That way people can keep sitting in their seats not doing anything.  That’s not exactly the way you build a winning team and that certainly isn’t what progressive sanctification is. Progressive sanctification implies that there is good works and practice involved. Some churches think they have heavy hitters when they don’t. Our spiritual life can be reflected in baseball & softball and any sport as far as that goes.

As a coach and a pastor I want us to get up to bat & play offense and have a blast. I want to stop having a team playing defense standing out in the field with knots in our stomach waiting for Satan to attack. To get there we have to work in the batting cage and adjust our roster. We have to find the team who will practice and follow the coaches.  If the churchin America  keeps playing like it is, we will become an irreligious country by 2022 because of our passivity. We will become an irreligious Nation because leaders can’t get the church to see beyond their narrow ecclesiology. If we keep playing defense like this we’ll keep seeing 1,700 pastors resign each month and another 1,300 pastors let go each month. We’ll continue to watch 3,500 people leave church every day. Those are real statistics from 2008. That is the reality we face unless we do something great big for God to break apart our calcified hearts, minds and spirits.

If we think we can keep playing the game the same way expecting a different outcome we are simply keeping Satan at bat sending balls over our heads. Every team team understands one truth. If you keep loosing, your hope & attitude begins to take a toll and a team develops that would rather boast about being losers than being great. That is not humility, that’s Satan on his way to a world series win. If you want to redirect your team and coach them to a win, you will have to be ready to teach and love on everyone until they get it until you get your turn at bat. It may take time, time that based on statistics we don’t seem to have. It’s time based on the probability that more people will continue to loose their souls to Hell the longer  the church keeps playing defense. This is where I have to trust in my God and do my best for my team, for where they are and where I am. We had 30 runs batted in last month seeing 30 people accept Christ. We need 3o mentors. The 7th inning stretch needs called! It’s time for the top of the 8th with bases loaded the bride is taking the field. Everyone has left their seats emptying out to fill the batting cage. One hit after the next we’ll win this series.