I’m not a huge baseball fan.  It may be because I was never a big baseball player, and by big I mean I was never any good at it.  I couldn’t see the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand and so I could never hit it.  In fact, here are two interesting facts about my short-lived Little League career:

1. My batting average for the season was .000 but my sister’s was .600.  She made the All-Stars.  I didn’t.

2. I got on base one time the entire season, not because I was walked, but because I was so desperate to get on base that I leaned into a pitch so it would hit me.

Obviously, I was terrible, and that doesn’t help me when it comes to trying to like the sport.  That, and the season is about 140 games too long and the games move at a snail’s pace.  Like I said, I’m not a huge baseball fan.

But I do enjoy the Home Run Derby.  I’m intrigued by the competition of it, the flashes of the cameras with every swing of the bat, and the power of the long ball.  Something about the crack of the bat and the quick rise of the ball into orbit captivates me, and I find myself dreaming of doing the same thing.  It’s a long way from throwing yourself in front of a Little League pitcher’s 50 mph fastball, that’s for sure.  Trust me, no one was taking pictures of that at bat!

But when it comes to ministry – especially mine right now as the lead pastor of a church plant – I’m re-evaluating where exactly the long ball fits into the whole ministry scheme.  It’s easy to feel like we should build on the long ball as a foundation.  After all, it’s exciting and makes our church stand out among the other couple of hundred churches in our area.  It creates a buzz, too, and I think that’s the whole principle behind what’s become known as the “launch large” model for church plants.  I mean, who doesn’t like buzz, right?  Like I wrote earlier, no one was taking pictures of me at bat during my one season of baseball (except my mom, and I think she did it from behind a tree with a large telephoto lens so no one would know I was her kid), and not only that, but very few pictures get snapped of singles or walks.

But putting aside the excitement of it all, let’s ask the simple question: is building on the long ball sustainable, or even practical?  Without trying to sound like a total stat nerd (after all, there can only be one Matthew Berry, right?), take a look at the stats so far in this season for the winner of this year’s Home Run Derby (hang with me, I’m going somewhere!).  To date, Prince Fielder has gone to the plate 326 times and he’s hit 15 home runs.  That’s a home run 4.6% of the time, or once about every 20 at bats.  In ministry terms, that means that every 5 months you and I would preach a sermon or hold a service that could be described as “hitting it out of the park.”  But most of us are swinging for the fences every Sunday, and while the motivation is applaudable, the method is beginning to feel very suspect to me.  I just don’t know if swinging for the fences each week is ultimately what will set us up for long term success in the churches and ministries we lead.

Consider this (to continue with the baseball stats): Fielder has 15 long balls this year, but he has FOUR TIMES AS MANY RBI (that’s runs batted in for you baseball newbies) as he does home runs.  Why is that?  It’s because the long ball is individual-driven but the long haul (singles, walks, getting on base in order to be brought around to score) is team-driven.  If everyone was swinging for the fences and getting out, there wouldn’t be anyone on base for Fielder to bring home.

Practically speaking, it just makes more sense to be consistent in the daily things.  The things that aren’t as flashy but last longer and set us up for long term success.  Stuff like prayer, growing in the Scriptures, and nurturing relationships with others who are in for the long haul with us.  It doesn’t mean we’ll never hit a home run (because you probably will) or that we shouldn’t snap a picture when those incredible moments happen (they set up stones as altars when long balls were hit in the Bible so they wouldn’t forget ’em).  It just means that to expect them every week creates unnecessary  pressure for everyone involved to outdo whatever happened the week before, and even worse than that, it opens us up to becoming dissatisfied with the “everyday” moments with Jesus, and the long haul is full of those.

Love the long ball, yes.  But live the long haul and you’ll enjoy the home run moments for what they really are: moments in time that motivate us to be faithful in the majority of times that may not.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you’ve probably noticed this little phrase quite a bit lately.

{{{{{ HOLD EVERYTHING!!! }}}}}
If you don’t follow me, what are you waiting on??  Get on over to to Twitter and add me and then go be my friend on Facebook!

Ok, now that we got that stuff out of the way, let’s get back to what I was saying.  I’ve had that phrase stuck in my mind so much lately, and about a month ago I really felt strongly that God was speaking that word over many of us at The Gathering.  When I shared the word that God calls us to stay faithful over the long haul and that He is with us every step of the way on the long haul, I was amazed (but I shouldn’t have been) at how many that word resonated with.

Seems most of us can relate to good things not always happening overnight.  Listening to The Dip by Seth Godin during my run this morning reminded me even more that in order to be the very best at something, we’ve got to stick in it when we go through the valley.

Remember this week what we learned in the last part of our NO MATTER WHAT series: when you’re blindsided by life and circumstances, do what Jehoshaphat did in 2 Chronicles 20: TAKE UP A POSITION of seeking God and then WATCH HIM FIGHT THE FIGHT for you.  I promise that in the end, He will give you vision (a plan of action) and victory!

Lots of love to the Gathered!

Paul

7 things that you need to know:

1.  Before we even get into the topic at hand, let me just say how much fun this past Sunday was at The Gathering!  It’s not often that I get to tell so many fun stories and relate them to so many powerful truths in so many great passages ALL IN ONE MESSAGE!  If you missed it, want to watch it again, or simply what to share it with others who need to be encouraged about overcoming fear in their lives, head on over to the NO MATTER WHAT page on the site and click the share button.

2.  Thank you to Phil Baucom for SCARING THE SNOT OUT OF ME by changing the wallpaper on my MacBook Pro desktop to a seemingly harmful picture of a mouse.  May you dream often in the weeks to come of whatever scares you the most.

3.  A second shout out to Jay Phillips for being so quick about offering to take me to a stable where I can get over my fear of horses.  I’m sure I’ll be going there soon, MOST LIKELY AT GUNPOINT, and there will more than likely be video of it.  Yippee. Don’t I sound thrilled?

4.  One more sarcastic note of appreciation to Richard Kimmer for offering to take me rock climbing on a cliff somewhere nowhere near the ground in order to CONQUER MY FEAR OF HEIGHTS.  With men like these around me, I’m certain to a) overcome fear, or b) go be with Jesus at which point I will have overcome fear forever.

5.  In case you haven’t figured this out yet, WE BELIEVE IN LEARNING AND LIVING THE BIBLE.  That’s usually a good thing, unless you publicly share with everyone things you’re afraid of.  Then it kind of bites you in the butt.

6.  I’m super-pumped about our FELLOWSHIP OF THE ORANGE SHIRTS this Sunday at 4:00 pm!  If you have an orange shirt (which means you serve on one of our many iOS Ministry teams), you’re invited to Nehemiah and Renee Parah’s house for a covered-dish supper and pool party.  WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS!!  You can get more information on the website.

And finally,

7.  In case you didn’t notice on the faces of all the smiling students at church, IT’S SUMMERTIME!!  For many of us, that means vacations, lazy days, and the occasional sunburn in the shape of a backwards number 7.  But what it can’t mean is a SPIRITUAL SUMMER SLUMP!  Christianity is first and foremost ABOUT JESUS, and since He’s Lord 365 days a year (and 366 days every leap year), we need to be in relationship with Him each day!  At The Gathering, we’re committed to giving you the tools you need in order to STAY STRONG during the dog days of summer.  Here are some of them:

1. PERSONAL GROWTH GUIDES:  While some of the Community Groups will meet during the summer, we’re leaving the frequency of the get-togethers up to each individual CG.  Instead of taking a break from diving deeper into the teachings each Sunday, we’ll still be preparing a revised study guide that you can use individually or as a family during the summer weeks.  They’re easy to use and easy to find.  You’ll locate them each week on the current series page on the website labeled PERSONAL GROWTH GUIDE.
2. ONLINE GIVING:  If you’re going to miss and you still want to give, now you can do it while you’re in your jammies on vacation!  Simply head to the GIVE tab on the website and choose the option that works best for you.
3. INVITE CARDS:  Honestly, the best way to stay active during the summer is to be active about your faith and about our church.  In order to help you with that, we’ve got tons and tons of cards that you can pick up each week to give away to people around town.  Even if you’re out of town on vacation, give a card away and invite them to check us out on the web.  You never know how a message online could make all the difference in a person’s life!

Great things are happening at The G and I am so thankful to lead each of us.  There’s no doubt that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!

I LOVE MY CHURCH!