Missional Sports???

So, some of you, if there is anyone out there, might remember the quandary I encountered this time a year ago: Soccer or softball.... Well, after weighing the pros and cons of both options, along with the many wonderful insights and suggestions from several of you, I decided to play church league softball as a way to get to know some of my new church family a little bit better. (And, more importantly for my own sanity, to let them get to know me as something other than the minister.)

Well, last year was a good experience. It was an important start to my slow transformation into a member of the family at Lake Orion CoC, a transition that is still taking place. (Why is it so hard for ministers to feel like they actually belong as members in a church family? I see others who are welcomed and embraced immediately? Oops, I digress.)

This year, I decided to boycott softball and hit the pitch to play soccer in the Lake Orion community. Last night was our first night to play. (I have a friend from LOCC who has been playing with the guys for a couple of years, so he helped show me the ropes and get me the inside track with a few of these guys.) It was a great night to play. It had rained most of the day, so play was slowed down some and people were not able to exploit their ball handling skills to their potential, which was good for me, since I haven't been on a field in almost three years. In many ways, we were able to ease into the start of our "season". Only twelve of us showed up: five Americans, three Germans, two Latin players (whether from Latin America or Europe, I am not sure), and two Asians. It was a brilliant mix, all were equal, there was no distinction (well, maybe in speech, but that didn't really matter, we all spoke "football-ese.")

This is the fifth year that many of these guys have been playing together on Tuesday nights. It was fun to see them reconnecting after the winter hiatus, to hear them telling stories about years past, checking up on one another's ankle sprains and pulled quads from the fall, and checking up on the new life of fatherhood for one of the players. In many ways, it was a church-like experience. These guys seemed to care about one another. After we were done playing, they were making plans to connect or reconnect during the next week, inviting one another out to eat and to parties, setting the plans for who will bring next Tuesday's beer, and checking to see what where some of the missing faithful were. It was brilliant.

I look forward to connecting with these guys and developing some friendships. I spend far too much time around Christians. This is a great chance to get to know some other folks (especially with the World Cup starting up next month!)