Based on the number of participants across age and ability groups, gender and varied activities, there can be little doubt that the greatest potential for evangelism and discipleship in the 21st century is sports and recreation ministry.

The cultural imperative expressed by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 9 - for the sake of the gospel - was that he was willing to be Jew or Greek (those under the law and those without the law). In addition to the cultural imperative, Scripture gives credence to the issues of wisdom and expediency expressed by Paul in Ephesians 5 where, because of the evilness of the day (certainly greater today than then), the Christian was to exercise wisdom and make the most of the time he had. Jesus' warning to work while it was day, because night was coming when no man could work (John 9) speaks to the issue of immanency and the need for the Christian to be prudent to work effectively while he was able to do so.

Relevancy, wisdom, expedience and immanency are issues that call the church (individually and corporately) to hold fast to the mission of making Christ known (evangelism) and to building up the believer (discipleship) as well as discovering and using the most effective means of accomplishing this biblically mandated mission (Matt 28:19,20; Mark 16:15).

Today, more than 90% of Americans are engaged on a weekly basis in some aspect of playing, observing or being occupied by sports and recreation (including fitness). If Jesus were alive today and physically walking the earth, where would He be, and what would He be doing? In 1999, a study indicated that Americans spend nearly $250 billion on sports and recreation. That happened to have been greater than the combined revenue of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler corporations. Americans love their cars, but, obviously, they love sports and recreation more.

This is not just a U.S. phenomenon. The countries of the world are equally or even more sports fanatical. This year, the Indonesian government passed an edict that television stations had to shut down two hours a day to conserve energy. The only exception was if a soccer match was being broadcast from Europe. In 2005 and 2006, there were two Palestinian Arabs playing on the Israeli national soccer team. Hated enemies willing to be on the same team (imagine a Palestinian Arab wearing the Star of David on his uniform or Israeli's cheering for the Arab players). The reason, of course, was Israel was willing to overlook the player's nationality or even their animosity in order to win an international soccer match. The Director of Soccer for Israel said, "What ambassadors and treaties have not done, soccer can do to bring about co-existence between Arab and Jew."

Understanding the cultural impact and, therefore, the platform to do Kingdom work is really just the first step. While the venue and activity can draw the people, that is only the beginning of ministry. A missional vision - intentional evangelism and discipleship - must be built into the activity and maintained as the sports and recreation ministry develops. For the sake of the gospel, the sports and recreation activity must be leveraged. The formula is People + Program + Proclamation = Potential Impact. To do less is to capitulate to a cultural phenomenon with no eternal value.

When the church understands the profound cultural impact that sports and recreation has, the church must commit to the principle of keeping the main things the main things. Too many churches have formed the ubiquitous church softball or basketball team and called that "sports ministry." In reality, it is a gathering of the "frozen chosen" or the "holy huddle." Others have been more expansive in creating outreach programs, events or leagues and they have started well, but eventually gave way to pragmatism and turned into "activity" rather than maintain a ministry focus that segues from the sports activity to the gospel or to a more vibrant Christian life.

There are a variety of reasons why some pastors and church leaders have chosen to eschew sports and recreation ministry. Some of the objections center on the issue of whether sports is sinful or, less objectionable, a frivolous and non-spiritual activity. By the way, a sport is merely a game. Games are neutral - neither good nor bad; how they are played is what determines sinfulness. However, like any activity, there is the potential for sinful behavior. Some of the objections are from a more pragmatic nature, in that most church leaders tend to be non-sporty people and most pastors never learned about sports ministry in their seminary. This often leads to indifference and or to thinking that sports is not a spiritual activity or one that can be used for spiritual purposes.

There are answers to these objections, and church leadership needs to investigate for the sake of developing a strategic ministry that can reach the masses, reach the unreached and resistant, reach cross-culturally and, at the same time, can retain visitors and members, mobilize people into ministry, and give the church a lifestyle evangelistic tool that will enhance community outreach.

For sports and recreation ministry genuinely to have an evangelistic and discipleship impact, a clear vision and mission for the ministry must be declared. It must not be a "separated ministry" (usually by location), but must be intricately articulated with other church programs. The sports and recreation ministry must have a biblically based mission statement that is consistent with the church mission statement that promotes unity and common purpose. Within that context, the sports ministry must create an opportunity for intentional and creative evangelism and discipleship for the purpose of glorifying God by building His church (numerically and spiritually). Clear goals must be established, indicating that any sports and recreation activity must contribute to some basic objectives. Church Sports International has created an acrostic (FEDA) to help churches develop these goals. In other words, the sports team, activity, event, league or whatever is being used to create:

F = Fellowship and Friendship (Fellowship between believers and Friendship with the unsaved and/or unchurched)

E = Evangelism (Because the unsaved and unchurched have been invited to be a part, there is an opportunity to share Jesus Christ. The is a significant advantage to this sort of evangelism, as the believer gets to live out his/her faith in order to create credibility, so that when the message is shared, there is authenticity in the message. The biggest mistake churches make is that they create sports and recreation programs for the body and not the community, at large. All sports and recreation events need to be inclusive, not exclusive, and should be administered with intentional evangelism in mind.)

D = Discipleship (Since all believers are "in process," concern ought to be given to help the believer grow in his/her faith. In addition, if the church is faithful to share the gospel, God will accomplish His saving work, and these new believers need to be grounded in their faith.)

A = Assimilation (Having impacted the life of the unbeliever/unchurched, these people need to be - progressively - drawn to the worship center. If someone has made a profession of faith, one of the first things that needs to happen is to help them understand the place of the church in their spiritual journey toward Christlikeness. The new believer needs to be grafted into the body of Christ and the yet-to-be a new believer needs to discover the vibrant life and worship of Christ's family.)

It is imperative that the mission and goals that are consistent with the Great Commission (Matt 28:19, 20) and the Great Commandment (Matt 22:37, 38) are intricately woven into the fabric of any sports and recreation ministry. To fail to do this will lead any sports ministry merely to become sports activity.

Rodger Oswald is the founder and executive director of Church Sports International, www.churchsports.org.