Effectiveness of Sports Outreach & the 4th Sports Outreach Continuum: Mega-event / Process Evangelism - Part #2

Is Sports Outreach Working?




Many within the Sports Outreach Movement are becoming increasingly concerned about what they believed to be a most effective strategy.  Simply stated, Sports Outreach has not delivered its promised results of accomplishing the Great Commission.  This series of blogs addresses the underlying reasons for the decline through the lens of the Sports Outreach Ministry Continuums of Tension.  Previous blogs articulated insights based on continuums 1-3.  This week’s focus is on…

 Sports Outreach Ministry 4th Continuum: Mega-event / Process-Relational Ministry

Mega-event ministry is defined by a series of words and phrases: a) large; b) “one-off” activities; c) relatively impersonal; d) media driven.  Large meaning the mega-event is designed to reach a large number of people.  “One-off” communicates the mega-event is a one week, one day or even a one hour event.  Impersonal connotes the use of audio, visual and/or written media that is offered for individuals to interact with on their own time.  Impersonal can also refer to an elite athlete or coach “proclaiming their faith” to a large gathering of people that they have little or no personal relationship with.  Media driven assumes the outreach is impersonal.

 Strengths of Mega-event Evangelistic Endeavors

There are three main strengths of the Mega-event strategy: a) large numbers; b) excitement; c) marketability. 

There is no denying mega-events draw the attention of many people and mass media blitzes (television, radio, print, social) reach large numbers of people, or at least have the possibility of reaching large groups of people.  However, I have personally witnessed and have heard from many other close friends the disappointment of seeing carefully crafted and expensive evangelistic magazines, brochures and tracts discarded in trash bins… or worse, just cast aside shortly after they were received. While spiritual results of these efforts won’t be fully known until heaven, we can be sure the thousands of trashed brochures had little if any positive impact and, if the visual reactions of countless recipients are any indication, the magazine or tract they received were actually resented and had a very negative impact!

A second concern about large numbers is becoming increasingly apparent.  Tim Tebow can still draw a crowd but the crowd he attracts today is far different than attended such mega-events 40-50 or even 10 years ago.  Whether it’s because secular media has painted Christians in such a negative light or so many “celebrity Christians” have brought such embarrassment to the name of Christ through their public and private scandals, the results are the same.  Only Christians care to hear the testimonies of high profile athletes and coaches.  More disturbing is the millennial generation’s skepticism about so called Christian athletes’ proclamations of faith.  The new generation actually wishes such “famous” athletes would stop “pontificating” and quietly live out their faith!

It is true that when a local church or sports-related para-ministry hosts a mega-event they create a “buzz” which enables a great marketing opportunity.  The positives of this should be appreciated and maximized, but the long term effectiveness of the event is minimal, if it is the full extent of the ministry’s evangelistic efforts. 

 Deficiencies of Mega-event Evangelistic Endeavors

There are also three main deficiencies within the Mega-event strategy: a) impersonal; b) lack of sustainable ministry; c) the afore mentioned cynicism, all of which will be discussed in next week’s blog.
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports written by Dr. Greg Linville are archived at: www.csrm.org and http://www.csrm.org/blog201112-2.html This blog is an excerpt from Dr. Linville's yet to be released book.  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