A Worship Lesson from ESPN? Really?

I love sports. Not all sports, but several of them. 

Still, I don’t camp out on ESPN. Every once in a while, when it just seems the thing to do, I’ll have it on for a bit. I like it. The guys and gals on the shows are good at what they do. And the production value is extraordinary.

Seriously, the technology that ESPN has developed has made sports so much more interesting. The whole 360 camera thing on a play in football for instance? Amazing!

But that’s not the lesson.

Perhaps the best story tellers on television are the folks at ESPN. The way they interview athletes and their families and their influencers is simply amazing. The camera work. The B roll is even stunning.  Our churches could learn something about how to share a powerful testimonies of life change from these folks.

But that’s not the lesson.

Ok… I’ll get to it.

Several months ago there was a commentator talking about the way a football team prepares for a game. Better still, how the best football coaches prepare the best football teams to win.

Ready?

"How do you prepare, how you practice… That’s how you perform, that’s how you play.”

I wish I could give credit. I apologize. I don’t remember which coach it was.

But if we worship leaders could get that… I mean REALLY get it… what would worship gatherings feel like? How would they be different?

If we prepared (spiritually and musically) like someone’s eternity might be affected by our words, our music, our leadership…

If we practiced (spiritually and musically) like someone’s story could be changed forever, that their family system of dysfunction could be broken because of our ministry…

Then that’s how we’d play on Sundays. 

And I’m convinced, in a way that’s quite literally infinitely more important than football, we’d get more wins.

What do you think? Did I stretch this too far?