The new religion or is killing the old church

the new religion or is killing the old church

I was clicking around my LinkedIn account, minding my own business, when I ran into church consultant Barbara Stechert. She had started a juicy discussion by writing that organized children’s sports is either the new religion or is killing the old church. People were very emotional in their responses – she obviously struck a chord.

For me, the chord that was struck as I was eavesdropping on the conversation was the same one I wrote about in my article Change Your Questions, Change Your Church – the power in changing the questions we’re asking. In this case, instead of asking if Little League is killing the church, how about asking these two questions?

1. How do WE tap into the level of commitment that’s showing up in children’s sports?

Instead of competing with Little League by asking if they’re killing the church, let’s look instead at what sports has to offer. How can we borrow from or build on that? Church and sports are not on opposing teams, we’re on the same team with the same goals – building strong families and helping kids grow up right.

The history of leisure and recreation goes back a very long way

the history of leisure and recreation goes back a very long way

When you stop to think about it, humankind has always enjoyed some type of leisure and recreation, so the history of leisure and recreation goes back a very long way. The Romans had the Coliseum, where they watched chariot races and other entertainment. The Greeks had amphitheaters where they viewed drama and comedy, and of course they invented the Olympics, one of the greatest entertainment sport spectacles on earth. The list goes on. Even the Bible discusses singing, dancing, music, and other forms of acceptable recreation, so even the most ancient civilizations enjoyed entertainment and recreation of some sort.

The Middle Ages

Life for most people in the Middle Ages was dark and difficult. More emphasis was put on work, and there was little time for leisure. However, jousting tournaments, hunting tournaments, and the earliest forms of chess, checkers, and other games developed during this time. The people worked hard, the Church forbade many forms of entertainment, but there were still leisure pastimes to help develop the growing history of leisure and recreation.

Before the Lord places His Spirit

before the Lord places His Spirit

There’s a revelation I would like to share here, and it concerns the structure – the form, the container – the Body. We all know the Church is the Body of Christ. The body is an extremely important part, so the spirit and the soul; the power and the anointing; the glory and the character; the gifts and the fruit; the calling and the destiny, can function properly.

Have you noticed, that before the Lord places His Spirit, first He always makes the form that will contain Him. First is the form and then the content in it. We can see that everywhere throughout the Bible. I will give you just seven quick examples:

1. When the Lord began creating the Heavens and the Earth, the Bible says the Earth was without form and void (Genesis 1:2). It was a shapeless mass. Some Bible scholars say this was not the initial creation process, but rather a recreation one, after the Earth had become formless because of a certain disaster. Whatever the case might be, we can see that the Holy Spirit could not do anything, except move upon the waters and wait for God the Father to start speaking the word and bringing ORDER (form, structure) in this place. Then and only then the Spirit could fill every part of this new creation with Himself. Without the proper order and structure, He would still be moving upon the waters. There are waters of devastation in our life too, that have come because of a certain calamity, and the Spirit of God is waiting for God’s word to come forth in our life, bringing Divine order, form and structure.

Related posts

• Biblical Church Essentials – Part 3/4
• Dan Miller