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June 24, 2026

Note to the reader: For the sake of making a point, I am mixing up two sports, baseball and basketball. Years ago, kids did not have to pick one or the other.

I spent many summer afternoons picking teams to play baseball, football or basketball. We’d ride our bikes without helmets (shocking I know!), to a field about a mile or two away. We had no water bottles, protein bars, orange slices, sunscreen, adult supervision, matching shirts, watches, GPS trackers, backpacks, aluminum bats, batting gloves, hats, umpires, background music, head phones, ear buds, or cell phones. All of our parents would have been arrested for negligence, for sure. In fact, most of the time, we had to borrow each other’s gloves because not everyone had one. Two captains were appointed and they picked who would be on their team. Of course, the youngest kid was usually picked last, but he had a chance to prove himself.

Anyone paying attention to the NBA draft going on? It doesn’t feel like that. The two rounds of the draft will take about 8-9 hours. 8-9 hours?!? In the time it takes them to make one selection (5 minutes), my neighborhood buds would have picked two entire teams and would be well into the first game. But just because a guy gets drafted doesn’t mean that he will agree to contractual terms, or even make the team. There are plenty of stories of guys who were drafted on the professional level with a lot of hype, who were given a bathtub full of money, who never scored a point.

But that bathtub full of money is the goal, isn’t it? And the pressure or focus of that is real. Go to a little league game and each kid has his own walk-up music, personal trainer, and massage therapist. Ok, not everyone has a personal trainer or massage therapist, but just wait a couple of years. Pity the ump who is human and misses a call. Dealing with parents is a nightmare for the officials and for the coaches. Kids feel the pressure to pick their sport early on. Parents hire coaches, trainers, while kids go to camp after camp to pursue greatness (bathtub full of money).

I know a couple of kids from our church who have done well and I am genuinely thrilled for them. What I grieve is the loss of the love of the game from the group as a whole. I’m looking out my office window at a baseball field that has a backstop, benches, and grass that is mowed regularly. Other than a guy who comes around 4:30 PM to hit golf balls, it is never used by local kids on bikes who show up just to play for the love of the game. They are probably indoors on their phones or watching the NBA draft.

The professionalizing of the games has a way of taking away a love of it. That is true in other areas than sports. In fact, that is true about a church. In order to be organized and efficient, we can pursue “excellence” and forget that we are a church. We are a gathering of believers who exist to make much of Jesus by worshiping together, learning, growing, fellowshipping, and reaching others. Our audience is not on-line, but on the throne. Our approval is not determined by “likes” and “shares” but by the Lord of our church who sees our hearts. He knows the difference between a good reputation and losing our first love.

The success of a church is not determined by starting on time, ending on time, and staying in budget. It has a whole lot more to do with not losing our first love – Jesus!

Grace and peace,

Bob

Sunday’s Text: Luke 20:27-40