The “5-B’s Rubric of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking” of The Sports Outreach Movement – Part #4
This series of blogs describes and explains the “5-B’s” of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking of The Sports Outreach Movement.  It continues to explain the first “B” - Belonging

Overcoming the two “Dysconnects”
So far this series of blogs has identified two dysconnects and how to overcome the obstacles for connecting people to the church.  This blog will detail how local congregations can enhance their ability to connect people to their church.
 
Build an Excellent Sports Environment
The unchurched person is first attracted by, and feels comfortable within, a church’s sports program because they experience a sporting environment they recognize and understand, including high quality sports and fitness facilities and equipment which beckons them to participate.  They choose to participate because of the excellent sports programs and facilities; they remain involved because they are warmly loved and welcomed by current church members who play, coach and participate alongside them.  The two-fold key to attracting and maintaining unchurched people is excellence in the sporting venue and the warm reception of the people of administrating and participating in the venue.  Such environments are well received by those far from Christ.  Little do they know, they have begun their spiritual journey by “belonging.”

Build the Sports Outreach Around Church Members Leisure Pursuits
While excellence in the Sports Outreach is a pre-requisite for succeeding in overcoming the first “dysconnect,” the key for overcoming the second “dysconnect” is building the outreach around the leisure pursuits of the current church members.  It makes no sense to create a high quality Sports Outreach Ministry in a local church if it precludes church members from participating in the outreach, because to do so, eliminates the greatest outreach asset a local church has – its people.   This is based on the Level #1 Theological Truth that believes evangelistic-disciplemaking is best accomplished through the “incarnational” ministry of local church members.  Building a Sports Outreach around the leisure pursuits of a congregation’s members enables church members to invite their friends, co-workers and family members to participate in sports and recreational activities with them.  Such missional programming empowers church members to be personally involved in the evangelistic-disciplemaking process.

For example, a church filled with a “twenty-something” age group is much better served hosting ultimate Frisbee leagues and tournaments, whereas a church populated with senior adults would be advised to incorporate more “life-time” sports such as golf, bocce and bowling leagues, as well as recreational opportunities that would include travel clubs, adult fitness or craft classes, and ball room dances.  However, the church which consists primarily of Senior adults should realize they do need to address how they plan to attract the younger generations if they wish to ensure the future of the congregation.  The millennial church also has an obstacle.  As its members age, the congregation will need to adapt its outreach to include the changing leisure pursuits of its “maturing” members.

The good news is, a local congregation that creates sport, recreation and fitness opportunities which mirrors the leisure pursuits of its members will experience the greatest growth and most importantly, will have the greatest impact for the kingdom because it has matched its sports, recreation and fitness outreaches with the leisure pursuits of its members.

Summarizing the First “B” - Belonging
Belonging is the first and primary step needed to reach secularized, non-churched, non-believers for Jesus Christ.  By creating a safe and loving community within a sport and recreation environment, local churches enable and empower their members to reach people far from Christ.  It is within this community that the unchurched experience the gospel being lived out and in which they can warmly receive the verbal invitation to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Once the gospel has been lived out (proclaimed) and verbally presented (affirmed), non-believers are ready for the second “B” – believing.
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #3 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/

The “5-B’s Rubric of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking” of The Sports Outreach Movement
This series of blogs describes and explains the “5-B’s” of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking of The Sports Outreach Movement.  It will explain the first “B” - Belonging

Overcoming the two “Dysconnects”
So far this series of blogs has identified two dysconnects for connecting people to the church.  This blog will explain how to overcome these dysconnects.
 
Overcoming for sports-related, para-ministries
For sports-related, para-ministries, the key to overcoming both dysconnects, but especially the second, is an honest assessment of how difficult it is for a ministry to reorder itself in such a way as to be fully incorporated, and in full partnership with, local churches.  Rather than seeing the para-ministry’s current efforts as the ultimate end, such para-ministries will best serve the kingdom by re-envisioning their goal to be about empowering and enabling local church efforts with the ultimate goal of making dedicated disciples of Christ who are active members of a local church.  This is no small shift, nor is it done without extreme resolve.  (I have written in detail about a new model for para-ministries and sports chaplaincies in two different venues.  The first was a series of blogs [the series was featured in April of 2015 and can be found in the blog archives of CSRM at http://www.csrm.org/blog  and a specific blog in that series addressing the new proposed model can be found at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/is-sports-outreach-effective-7 ].  The second venue was in a chapter of the book entitled: Sports Chaplaincy: Trends, Issues and Debates, published by Farnham of Ashgate, England and edited by Drs. Andrew Parker, Nick Watson and John White).

Overcoming for the local church
For a local church, the difficulty lies in re-envisioning its Sports Outreach activities to be: a) excellent in all things athletic and, perhaps even more radical; b) to be aligned with the leisure pursuits of the church’s members rather than by “what’s always been done,” or by “what has worked elsewhere.”
Regardless, both the para-ministry world and the local church world need to reorder their way of thinking (theological / philosophical) so as to create the most strategically-relevant and efficiently-effective model (methodological) possible.

Intentional Reordering of the Sports Outreach Community’s Methodology
The intentional reordering of a methodology is not only vital to the success of a ministry and/or a congregation’s evangelistic-disciplemaking efforts but also to the expansion and enhancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ!

Summary of overcoming the two Dysconnects
Belonging, the first “B,” is vital to the overall evangelistic-disciplemaking success of sports ministries because it is the “vehicle” which can transport an unchurched person along the entire spiritual journey needed to become a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ.   However, two adjustments must be adopted for most churches.  The first adjustment assumes a local congregation is committed to provide a vibrant and excellent sporting environment in which the unchurched person encounters a warm and welcoming community of current church members.  The second has to do with building the Sports Outreach around the leisure pursuits of the current members of the congregation.  These will be the topic of the next blog.
 
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #3 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/

The “5-B’s Rubric of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking” of The Sports Outreach Movement – Part #2
This series of blogs describes and explains the “5-B’s” of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking of The Sports Outreach Movement.  It will explain the first “B” - Belonging

Belonging is the term used to articulate the first step in a person’s journey to become a “dedicated disciple” of Jesus Christ.  It may seem counter-intuitive or to be out of order; especially for those committed to a theology that requires belief, baptism, behavior change and/or church membership as prerequisites to belonging to the church community.  Yet, it takes but a brief reflection to understand belonging rightfully ushers the unchurched person into a community from which the gospel is “caught more than taught,” and thus, belonging leads to, and is often the pre-requisite for, belief, baptism, behavior change and church membership.  
Belonging is a vital first step for many reasons but before those can be explored, it must be recognized there are two major chasms, or obstacles, to connecting those far from Christ to a belonging sports community in a local congregation, and ultimately to Christ

Describing and Defining the Two “Dysconnects”
While sport, recreation and fitness ministries offer a most strategic and relevant tool for outreach, local congregations must find ways to bridge two substantial chasms separating the unchurched from becoming involved in congregational life, and ultimately from becoming dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ.  These are termed: “dysconnects.” Misspelling is intentional because they reflect the dysfunction most Christians and Christian ministry experience as they strive to reach an increasingly secular world.

The First “Dysconnect” – From the Street to the Gym
The first “dysconnect” reflects the growing problem most local church sports ministries have in connecting secular people to their Sports Outreach Ministries.  There are two relevant reasons for this recent “dysconnect.”  Certainly the increasing secularization of society in general and the resultant discrimination and bigotry towards Christians has started to poison the hearts and minds of many towards anything to do with the church, however, a theological and philosophical shift in thinking by local church sports ministry leaders is a bigger concern.  Many local church sports programs have implemented non-competitive models.  This is based on a faulty theology that believes competition is innately and intrinsically evil.   This includes such specifics as not keeping score, stats and/or league standings.  In addition, many sports-related, para-ministries have created programmatic resources such as non-competitive leagues, camps, clinics and services which they provide to churches.  The end result is problematic for any church wanting to reach those far from Christ.  Non-competitive sports leagues lack the necessary strategic relevance and “staying power” to attract and/or keep large segments of the unchurched community.  Thus the first chasm, or “dysconnect,” results in churches that are less able to attract the truly unchurched person to their gyms and/or keep them involved over a long period of time.

The Second “Dysconnect” – From the Gym to the Sanctuary
The second “dysconnect” has a much longer history, and has beset The Church for centuries.  Both local church sports ministries and sport-related, para-ministries have always struggled to move people from their sports outreach activities to full participation in the overall activities of a local congregation, and thus their ultimate goal of making dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ goes unfulfilled.  This second “dysconnect,” as well as the first, can be greatly overcome by fully understanding and embracing the utter importance of the first “B.”  The answer for the para-ministry community and the local church community is however, much simpler to understand in concept than it is to implement in reality.
The next blog will outline strategies for overcoming these dysconnects.
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #3 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/

The “5-B’s Rubric of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking” of The Sports Outreach Movement

This series of blogs will describe and explain the “5-B’s” of Evangelistic-Disciplemaking of The Sports Outreach Movement.  This series is a Level #2 Philosophical Principle of the “3-Tier Paradigm” and serves to succinctly chart a step-by-step Biblically-based philosophical progression of The Evangelistic-disciplemaking Concept from which Level #3 Methodological Models can emerge.  Each of the five steps starts with a word that begins with the letter: “B.”  It is conceptualized from within, and built out of, the 5th of “7 Sports Outreach Continuums of Tension” – Celtic–Roman as outlined and further explained in the book from which this excerpt is taken.

The “5-B’s” in concept, are not unique to the Sports Outreach Movement but to the author’s knowledge, this is the first place they have been categorized and aligned as such.  While almost embarrassingly simple in concept, the “5-B’s Rubric” is ingeniously helpful to all Sports Outreach Movement leaders who are attempting to comprehend and implement the evangelistic-disciplemaking concept in their Sports Outreach Ministry.  This series has two sections and a number of subsections that include:
 

1. The description and explanation of, the “5-B’s Rubric” of Sports Outreach
   
2. The relevance of the “5-B’s Rubric” of Sports Outreach
   

 

1. The Description and explanation of the “5-B’s Rubric” of Sports Outreach
   

The “5-B’s Rubric” of Sports Outreach is a helpful shorthand way to encapsulate the evangelistic-disciplemaking concept and is designed to help the leaders of the Sports Outreach Movement conceptualize, implement and evaluate whether or not they are actually succeeding in making “dedicated-disciples” rather than the typical “days-decision” experienced by most attempting evangelism.  Each “B” represents a clear step in the evangelistic-disciplemaking process.  Each identifies a necessary step in the spiritual journey of secularized, non-churched, non-believers as they become “dedicated disciples” of Jesus Christ.  Each “B” will be stated and then described.     The “5-B’s” are:

• Belonging
  
• Believing
  
• Baptizing
  
• Behaving
  
• Becoming
  

 
The next blog will begin the first step in the journey by explaining the first “B” - Belonging
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #3 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog

Decision for a Day, or Dedicated Disciple

While local church Sports Outreach Ministries and sports-oriented, para-ministries believe they strongly agree on the vital importance of evangelism, they may not realize the other group often applies a different meaning to the term evangelism.  To many within the para-ministry world, it is defined as a “decision for the day.”  Conversely, the way most of The Church world perceives the end goal of evangelism can best be described by the term: “dedicated disciple.”  Thus, it follows, if the end goal of “a decision for a day” evangelism is to have someone raise a hand, fill out a form, say a prayer, or go forward at a meeting, then a ministry’s philosophy and all subsequent methodologies will be conceived and implemented to have these “decisions for a day” occur.  However, if the end goal is to “go and make disciples,” both the philosophies and methodologies will be significantly different.  The efforts to establish life-long, dedicated disciples entail a longer view and different approach.

For example, if a particular congregation and/or denomination believe the end of their efforts are to have participants in their sports and rec activities pray a prayer to receive Christ then the thrust of their endeavors go into creating opportunities for that.  By contrast, if churches and denominations believe the end goal is baptism, church membership, attendance at church services, financial contributions to the church and/or participation in a bible study or disciple group, then they will organize their ministries towards those ends.  The reality is, most churches tend to tip towards either evangelism (the initial efforts to reach those far from Christ) or towards discipleship (developing disciples to full spiritual maturity).  Churches stress only one end of the continuum to the overall detriment of all involved.  It is to this concern and for this reason; CSRM chooses to use the term evangelistic-disciplemaking.  The reason it does so will be explored over the next number of blogs….

The next blog will continue the discussion on evangelistic-disciplemaking and its relevance to Local Church Sport, Rec & Fitness Ministry
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This blog is an excerpt from chapter #2 of Dr. Linville's yet to be released book – Sports Ministry Fundamentals.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:

Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. w. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and other local church Sports, Rec & Fitness Ministers are archived at: http://www.csrm.org/blog/archives/05-2016