“Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News of the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His field.” - Matthew 9:35-38 NLT
By Pastor Kris Freeman
Lead Pastor, Revolution Church
I watch them, working diligently. Many of them are tired, sore, sleepy and ready to turn in a long day. Yet they work, they finish, they prepare, all this after they play.
I am not talking about churches or ministry workers, I am talking about high school baseball players. But while standing in front of the dugout at White House High School’s baseball field, God gave me a tremendous vision for a working church and the verse above immediately spoke to me though the Holy Spirit.
See, it was several years ago that our home field was awarded the National Field of the Year, a nationwide award by the NABF for high school baseball. But this is not a field that is pampered, babied or restricted. It’s played on, sometimes almost year-round, by high school, middle school, junior varsity, and summer tournament teams. Not until this year did I pay as close attention to why the field is kept in such spectacular shape.
I moved back to White House to plant a church, and have spent the last seven months working very closely with White House High School. Coach Mark Mills gave me a blessing, an opportunity to be an assistant coach for the Blue Devils and it was my first time to coach baseball since 1998, when I gave it up for ministry.
Every day, we either practice or play on that field. But at the beginning and the close of each practice, there is an army of players and coaches who work hard to put the field in excellent shape. Rakes, hoses, mowers, four wheelers and drags, brooms, trash cans , water jugs, spray paint, chalk, bases, turf tools, sod cutters, dirt, clay, sand, field mix, rolling cages, screens, buckets, bases -- like a toolbox emptied, all become the pieces of the puzzle.
And then we play. And people come. By unwritten rule, opposing teams admire how spectacular the field looks before each game. But amazingly, after the game is done, the work is often repeated, when these same players have just given their all between the lines for the game.
I have begun to wonder if churches across America have become so enamored with their “field” that all they do is play on it. But the work necessary to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ come alive is being ignored for the gratification of satisfaction.
I am not satisfied with the status quo. I am not willing to sit back and hope that a church pops up on the corner and people just come. It takes work, effort, determination and many times those church volunteers are weary from their day and still give of themselves to make it the very best.
Do what we do with excellence, for nothing is more worthy than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But when people are presented with a life-changing message that turns their lives around, I hope they are not enamored with our field, but they notice our work.
Volunteers like an army swarming through the ministries of the church. Long hours, hard days, but enjoying every moment together because it’s like a family. Some rake the dirt, others pull the weeds, some drag the ground and many sweep and clean-up. There are leaders and followers, workers and servants, all waiting for that moment.
That moment we play...that moment when we worship.
Gathering together in God’s house for a time of celebration, to hear from the Holy Spirit and proclaim truth. To be a team, fighting for purpose and picking one another up. One struggles, another excels and both stand side-by-side for the same cause.
And when it’s over; we continue our worship...when we work.
See, as a church plant, you might say we don’t have a “field.” We are using a school building, and we will set up and tear down every week. So our field is our community. Where unchurched, dechurched and hurting, searching people live. They are our friends, our family and strangers to us all important to the kingdom of God.
Are we willing to come early and stay late? Are we willing to give the extra time and effort it takes to reach them? Are we willing to serve them without judgment, reach them without fail, go to them and work the field so that worship becomes a time of life-changing celebration? Are we willing to do what Jesus would do and eat the table of sinners without sin; talk to the left-out, the let-go, the lost and looking and the little and the last?
I am reminded that in the movie Field of Dreams, the fictional voice spoke and said “if you build it, they will come.”
Taking a look at scripture, I am compelled that if we work it, we can play.
“Go quickly into the streets and the alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. After the servant had done this, he reported, there is still room for more. So his master said, Go out in the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.” - Luke 14:21-23
I’m going to get the rake. Don’t just sit in the bleachers and wait for the game to start.
LIVE, LOVE, SERVE
Pastor Kris Freeman
Revolution Church
Launching Sept. 12, 2010
Would you like to know more about becoming a part of the Revolution Team? Email Pastor Kris!
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