Church and The World Cup: Competition
The Church Lives and Does Ministry in a Competitive Environment
Even as I watch the World Cup with 25 million other U.S. soccer enthusiasts, taking delight in what many are describing as one of the most thrilling World Cup’s in years, I continue to wonder why soccer has taken so long to grab a permanent place in the hearts of American sports fans. I mean, around the globe soccer – or, more accurately football – is the world’s favorite sport. But even though soccer has been played here for a century – the U.S. actually finished third in the first World Cup in 1930 – it’s struggled for decades to secure the kind of attention and viewing that it enjoys around the world.
There are any number of reasons for this, I know, but one of the more obvious is simply that in the United States soccer has a lot more competition. Football (the American kind), baseball, basketball, hockey – of the pro and collegiate varieties – each of these also competes for the time, attention, and money of American spectators. It is, in other words, a crowded and competitive market.
All of which makes me think about the church. (I know, I know, not necessarily a natural connect, but this is just how my brain works!). I mean, any number of us has sat around bemoaning the decline in attendance and influence that has plagued the church in recent decades. We scratch our heads, wonder about the causes, preach sermons about commitment and the rest. But I wonder if one of the more obvious reasons the church in the U.S. is in decline is simply because of the amount of competition we face.
Think about it. Each and every Sunday morning, there are so many other things to do: catch up on work, take a walk with family, meet some friends for coffee, read the newspaper, have a leisurely breakfast out or at home, watch some of the World Cup, or simply worship prone in the cathedral of St. Serta a little longer than usual. There are so many other things we can do and each and every one of these possibilities competes for our time and attention.
This analysis, of course, isn’t all that profound and perhaps not novel. But I think what struck me this past week is that while it seems perfectly natural to see soccer in a competitive environment, we’re not used to thinking about our situation as a similarly competitive one. Or at least we don’t feel like we should have to compete with all these other things. Church is church, after all, it’s what your supposed to do on a Sunday morning. And so I think that secretly many of us resent the fact that we have to compete for the allegiance of an emerging generation (and, truth be told, most of their parents). They should just come to church!
But they’re not.
So here’s my question. What would we do differently if we gave up our sense of entitlement to the time and attention of our people and saw ourselves instead as operating in a competitive market? Because, quite frankly, we don’t do much different than church leaders have done for the past century or more. Maybe we have screens, but our preaching is still pretty much the same. Maybe we added a drum set, but our fundamental convictions about worship go unchallenged.
Any sport, institution, or company that was that lackadaisical about it’s performance in a competitive market would likely go under. But we plod along, resenting the fact that we even need to think about such things.
So back to my question: if we imagined that the emerging generation is making conscious decisions among a variety of options for how to spend their Sunday mornings (and life in general) – has to, in fact, make conscious decisions because of the manifold obligations and opportunities in front of them – what would we do differently to attract their attention and invite their engagement?
I’ll come back to this in another post or two about what I’m learning about Church from the World Cup, but for now, just one note. Competitive doesn’t mean disparaging. If FIFA ran commercials trouncing the NFL and disparaging those who root for its teams, most of us would quickly switch to another channel, turned off by the highhandedness and arrogance of the critic. Which leads me to doubt the value of one strategy sometimes employed by church leaders – putting down all those other options and making their people feel guilty for engaging them.
Absent that, though, what would we do? I’m curious what you think.
I appreciate your reflection on this David. I have also put some thought into your last paragraph through a number of conversations over my few years in pastoral ministry. I hear many bemoan the family who goes to watch their child play baseball on Sunday morning…or go to a volleyball tournament. I think it does come across like an attack ad for one sport to another…and leaves a bad taste in your mouth about what it means to be church. I have this idea that we should have worship “teams” as part of the congregation. We are working on matching youth with mentors as they grow…folks who can follow their growth, ask about their interests, and be one the child knows cares for them and is there for them beyond their nuclear family…that the body of Christ is there for them in a real way. So..what if a child has a baseball game on Sunday. So what. Is not the church called to go? What would it look like if a worship “team” didn’t attend church in the traditional Sunday morning way…but instead showed up at the game…and made a loud and noisy offering to God as they supported the child. That’s the church I hope we can be. That’s the church I would want to hear in the background as stepped up to the plate…on the field…in life. Thanks for the reflection and the space to dialogue. Harold
At the Festival in May you mentioned a Bonhoeffer quote something about describing an Apple so that someone would want to take a bite. Can we describe following Jesus with that tangible delight and delishous flavor that people want to come for more? Not sure I could do that regularly. But what if once in awhile the worship is so yummy we want more?
David – sharing your joy of the beautiful game (and quaking in anticipation as the Germany/USA game draws near), your post led to an insight I’d like to share.
The thing that makes Brazilian futbol (or soccer) the best in the world is that it something that people do every day, every where, in a variety of ways: 3v3, hall ball, futsal, pickup games, juggling, passing… players in Brazil grow up with a ball on their foot. Futbal is part of their cultural fabric. It is part of everyday life.
When we compare futbol (soccer) to church, our natural American tendency is to consider soccer as an event (90 minutes while two teams of 11 players battle in front of an audience). So, too, dominant American culture envisions church as an event… where a team of professionals orchestrate an elaborate 60 minute pageant for an audience. Both are events.
Yet, perhaps a way forward for the church is to embrace the notion that church can be, and possibly should be, something that happens all the time, in every location, in a variety of ways… from spontaneous pickup church to the World Cup of churchiness (would the Festival of Homiletics qualify?).
This has become one of the primary foci of my work at Lydia’s Place… how can the church be present not only in the traditional sense, but in everyday life?
Thanks for today’s post
I think that is part of the struggle, right there, Paul. We ascribe “following Jesus” with “Sunday morning worship” and so often we can either feel, or at least give the impression that they are both interchangeable and immutable facts of the life of faith.
Worship is the only place to follow Jesus. Christ is only available on Sundays.
While gross examples or even exaggerations, these are the messages, unintended or not, that my generation has heard while growing up.
The struggle we’ve begun to see is as Harold points out- how do we ourselves realize that church is people in community together in Christ-like ways and that following Christ may mean not always simply Sunday morning or worship, but worshiping outside of normal spaces and times and in ways that may look like meals and other parts of our lives.
It is within those broader categories that I’ve found my millenials able to see the truer understanding of Christ-like community. In ways that integrate the expression of living faith in the normal parts of our lives in ways that enrich, challenge, and alter the ways we go about doing many of the day to day things.
I think if we could help people realize that the delicious apple that is faith is available outside of a singular worship context (or that worship is a part of that delicious apple), we might get further into the conversation.
Just my two cents on where I am at with my disaffected, institutionally-wary brothers and sisters.
Where are the parents on Sunday mornings? Depends. On a recent Sunday morning, as I was preparing to go to church, I received a phone call from one of the ‘swim team moms’ from our YMCA youth swim team. I had opened up my email account and let it be known that I had registered both my children for an intense summer swim camp experience and she called to express her delight. She was at the gym (not at church) finishing up her work-out and SHE reached out to me. I had not really spoken at length with this mother in the past. Over the course of the next 45 minutes, we both shared of the struggles of parenting special needs children. Neither of us knew the other was parenting a ‘special child.’ We spoke of the unique situation this creates for siblings. She shared advice on the upcoming camp and I listened. Her child is more severely challenged in this world and I’ve never met him.Back and forth went the conversation. Afterwards, i bowed my head and gave thanks. Later that morning, in church no less, the first thing out of my mouth was to share with a friend how I felt…I had just experienced a moment of grace – a moment where I was trusted with sacred information and allowed to offer comfort. I have no idea where or when my friend worships. I only hope she experienced a moment of peace in our conversation. I didn’t expect all of that. In sum, I went out to a local eatery to enjoy the US against Portugal game. Bumped into two families I know. Both are members of my church. Crazy. You might have something here… there just may be some kind of connection between soccer and faith! Enjoyed your post very much!
Maybe the problem, David, is that too many churches have done exactly as you suggest – they try to compete with youth sports, the beach, etc, on the basis of entertainment value. Church will never be as entertaining as the diversions the world offers, and I think we are doomed to failure if that’s how we intend to compete. Worship can be faithful and entertaining, but it is never oriented primarily to being entertainment. If pastors are confusing those categories, it is to be expected that our members are doing so too.
Can someone have an encounter with Christ outside if Sunday worship? Of course. In fact, I am counting in it! But gathering around Word and Sacrament is the most reliable way to have that encounter, and it trains our hearts to see Christ in all the places we journey and in all the people we see all throughout the week.
This pastor has no trouble advocating worship above everything else. I know we won’t be able to out-entertain the competition. But I still believe that an hour’s worth of worship has much more power to heal and transform than any worldly diversion, and can (and should) impact and give meaning to the other 167 hours of our week. For me, Word and Sacrament remains the core of what we do and who we are.
Just want to say Amen to your comments, Scott Schul.
Cpmparing church to soccer. I think David Beckham coming to California had something to do with the popularity of soccer in the US – ( did the church of Scientology become more popular after Tom Cruise gave his testimony?)
And so, may I suggest that we position “Chippendale” dancers at the doors of the church to help women with their children, cardoors, etc. Get the women coming and then the men will come.
Or – get Chip and Dale to teach SS – and the church to look like the Magic Kingdom.
Sidenote – the uniform for soccer is cheaper than the one for hockey or football – and “church clothes” are always more expensive than my Sunday comfort clothes.