As a fan of the NFL I enjoy the draft. I don’t watch every minute of it but I do enjoy watching the research, evaluation, interviews and strategy unfold. New players are put through rigorous physical and emotional testing in order to see if they are in fact fit to participate and lead these important organizations. Then the draft comes and all of the research and gut level feelings are melded together and college kids are made millionaires.
The NFL is a great product because of the talent. These men can do things that others can’t. And we, the consumer/fan, love it.
So I think of the most important franchises in the NFL (starting with the New England Patriots) and what they are doing to improve, I can’t help but think about the church.
Remember, it is the church that is made up of the “not many wise, not many noble, not many mighty” according to the flesh (1 Cor. 1.26). We are not a group of people who possess all of the skills, power, and stuff that is esteemed by men and this world. What’s more, in ourselves there is nothing to be commended! In fact, God uses this fact as an occasion to boast in his infinite and unfailing power! (1 Cor. 1.27-29)
At the end of the day, the church is not made up of natural powerhouses and phenoms. Instead it is made up of varied demonstrations of divine power, grace, and love that serve to magnify God’s glory while extinguishing human pride.
The church is the most important organization on the planet. It is the church that is the exclusive means of glorifying God through Christ Jesus. It is the church that is the guardian of the gospel. It is the church where lives are changed as people meet Jesus. It is the church that Jesus died for. And all of this is informed by the fact that the church is nothing in and of itself, but is gloriously unique because of who Jesus is and what he has done in and through his church made up of men and women who are weak according to the flesh. O’ the wisdom of God.