Thursday, June 9, 2011

Classic Sports Discourse, Revisited for the Church

I am currently working on a series of blog posts in the coming week or two using a framework often used in sports, but I am trying it with the life of the church. What is overrated? What is underrated? Sports people in radio and in the business attempt to stay away from overvalued athletes (unless you're the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox) and maximize undervalued athletes. The church should probably stay away from looking at people and ministries as commodities, yet it is important to understand the dynamics of public discourse and what receives our attention.

What do you think? When it comes to the life of the church: what is overrated? What is underrated?

Here are the examples I am currently addressing in my thoughts that will turn into blog posts in the series:

Overrated: Office space. Mission statements.
Underrated: Grace. Accountability.

I would not pin this framework on Jesus' thought processes and ministry. However, Jesus is doing something to this effect during the "blessings and woes" teaching in Luke 6. It's overrated to be full and rich. It's underrated to be excluded and hated because of an association with Jesus. It's underrated to be hungry and weeping. What do these statements mean? What does it say about human aspiration? What does it say about who we value as people? The underrated/overrated framework is a discussion piece about where we put our attention in public and congregational discourse.

If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, let me know. Or, if you have some input on possible topics, let me know! What do you think?

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