Last night, Chris Young pitched a gem, shutting out the Tigers for 8 full innings. Only problem is the Ranger offense couldn't get going, bring shut out themselves by Nate Robertson. Coco was summoned by Buck to relieve Young in the 9th and surrendered 2 runs. Last night's 2-0 loss is difficult to swallow. Chris Young's start, on the heels of Ryan Drese and The Gambler mastering the Indians over the weekend, offers great hope to all Ranger fans.
This year, the big issue with the Rangers isn't pitching. The offense has been too inconsistent.
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My love for baseball compels me to offer this question: Has the church been too guilty of taking a "Field of Dreams" approach to church? You know, the "build it and they will come" mentality.
Churches market ministry. They market correspondence courses. They market their youth ministry. They market their worship program. They build expensive edifices and market their campus. And the message of their marketing: "Come."
What's wrong with that strategy?
Last I looked, Jesus charged us not with inviting others to "come" but by directing us to "go" to them!
The difference in the two approaches - in the "come" and the "go" approach - is the toll it exacts on the disciple of Christ. To shout from a distance "come" requires little to no effort. To build relationships with others, to "go", requires much more time, energy and sacrifice.
Leonard Sweet says, "In the modern era, people came to church and asked, 'Who is God?' But today, if people come to church at all, they ask, 'Who are God's people? How does Christianity cash out in community and in practice?'" That means the best revelation of church to the world is the not the corporate assembly ("come"); it is the way we go about justice, mercy and humility to the least of these in our communities and neighborhoods ("go").
The heart of the matter is this: Will we stay at arm's length, lobbing softballs to the outsider, inviting them "Come" since we've built it? Or will we roll up our sleeves and "Go" to the strange and estranged in our communities and partner with God to make disciples of them?
One is so easy...the other so difficult. One is so simple...the other so demanding. One is so wrong...the other so right!
