There is a story about baseball player statistics becoming a huge deal in building teams that changed the way teams function still today. The story became a book and movie called “Moneyball”. Essentially the general manager and some scouts saw players based on non-traditional values or statistics and they built a team that ended performing really well. They didn’t pick players based on home runs, miles per hour of pitches, or other normal stats. They looked for things like how often someone got on base, which made a big difference without as much fanfare. No one would have believed it or guessed that this new style would change the almost 100-year-old player scouting system, but it did. Jesus scouted a little differently as well.
Jesus selected fishermen (long hours, probably smelly), political activists (yes those were a thing back then), and tax collectors (I can’t believe either), to be a team of disciple-makers that would change the way people connected with God. Jesus did not go after the people I would have picked first. He did pick however a group of men with who he would share life with, invest in, and grow. Jesus created space for them to come alongside him to learn how to rely on God for life. He created a seat at his table for them to come and be fed and in turn help others. He picked men who maybe at first glance looked like a motley crew of individuals, but would end up becoming a tight-knit family.
In a way, the church is kind of like that motley crew Jesus picked a couple of thousand years ago. Some of us are related, some of us work together, maybe we went to school together, we have a wide range of backgrounds and a lot of different skills and abilities. BUT we have Jesus, we are connected with him learning and growing to be the people he has called us to be. I think he is calling us to do the same. To call people to him and to create space for people to meet him during the normal everyday stuff we do. They might not be people we would think to pick, but I am sure God can do something amazing if we intentionally create room for his Spirit to work in the people around us. Here is the challenge: will you pray for God to bring you some people to disciple and will you create some space in your life for them? Maybe you are in need of someone to come along beside you, please let me know if we can help.
Pastor Jeremy Johnson
Family Pastor