Written by Ken Cross
For 20 plus years CEDE SPORTS has been committed to coming alongside local churches to catalyze a vigorous and effective pursuit of their mission to use the tool of sports to reach their communities. One of the ways we accomplish this is by mentoring sports ministers.
In the process of mentoring, we often discuss best practices from other churches as well as the corollary mistakes that well meaning sports ministers make. This discussion also usually includes surveying them about their mistakes in ministry.
The response has been tremendous; evidently this question touched a nerve. In the following blogs, we will outline the “Top Ten Mistakes” we have found, arranged in ascending order from 11 to 1.
Mistake #11: Avoiding conflicts and difficult people, because deep down you think they might disappear if you ignore them, rather than apply the Gospel to the situation and lovingly confront, giving the individual an opportunity to repent and grow. This mistake includes with it the fear of looking into the mirror and confronting what might be something that you need to repent and grow from as well!
Mistake #10: Not enough prayer before rolling out the program, during the leagues, or after. Can we all agree with this one? How easy it is to simply do what we think is best, and not ask God or seek His favor.
Mistake #9: Ministries getting too comfortable with regular attendees and not aggressively seeking to reach the unreached. “We have our number, the church should be happy … but are we keeping the vision for the ministry in front of us?” We did not start this sports ministry to reach a limited number of lost people. (Also see mistake #10 again!)
The next Blog will cover Mistakes #8 – #5. Hope this has been helpful!