1. I love baseball- always have. I liked playing it when I was younger, I like watching it now. But now, baseball games also have malls for shopping, play places and swimming pools for kids & adults, musical guests and bands to perform before, during, and after the game, millions of dollars worth of big screens with everything from cartoons to music videos and movie clips, all kinds of restaurants and food/beverage choices, girls in skimpy outfits to clean the bases and/or dance, give-away contests, door prizes, and fireworks to top it all off! Why? Because not everyone likes baseball, and owners want to provide something for everyone. It’s a marketing scheme to attract more people, and get more money from them while they are there. Fine…. Unless we begin to think of the Church in the same kinds of ways, because Rangers Ballpark, Arlington TX The Church is not for Everyone.

2. Please hear me out before charging heresy or religious elitism… “The Gospel” is for everyone, Rom.1:16-17. The promise made to Abraham in Gen.12:3 to bless all families of the earth through his Seed (Jesus Christ) is made available to everyone- Jew, Greek, slave, free man, male and female through the gospel, Gal.3:26-29. It took a couple of visions and a miracle, but Peter and Cornelius eventually came to understand “that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him” and “every one who believes in Him has received forgiveness of sins.” Acts 10:34,35,43

3. But… “The Church” is made up of those who: Have accepted and obeyed the gospel, Acts 2:41; Are dedicating their lives to understanding and obeying the gospel, Acts 2:42,46-47; Are transforming and conforming their lives to the gospel, Heb.12:1-2; and Therefore, are interested in pleasing God rather than men, Eph.5:10 > Acts 5:29. To return to the original comparison, baseball owners want to have everyone- whether they love baseball or not; God wants those who love and are willing to obey the gospel, Matt.13:44 > John 14:23.

4. So how is this distinction made between “everyone” and “those who love and obey the gospel” made if: We “specialize” the church by making it what some group wants it to be- like a “Cowboy” church, a “Biker” church, or an “insert category choice” church? This doesn’t find those who love and want to obey the gospel- it finds those who want to practice a hobby and call it “church,” 2Tim.4:3-4. We make the church “fun” to attract those seeking recreation with plays, dramatic presentations, concerts, gymnasiums and ball teams, etc.? This doesn’t find those who love and want to obey the gospel- it finds those who want to be entertained and call it “church,” Jas.4:3-4.

5. So how is this distinction made between “everyone” and “those who love and obey the gospel” made if: We decide to run the church like a business and employ principles of operation conducive to “growing it” along those lines? There are multiple problems with this mindset and method: 1) the Bible is always “right”- not the customer, Rom.3:4; 2) therefore, we can’t adapt the “product” to the customer, we must convert the customer to the “product,” Rom.1:16,23; 3) we’re trying to make converts, not money, Acts 17:29. This doesn’t find those who love and want to obey the gospel- it finds those who “suppose that godliness is a means of gain” 1Tim.6:5.

6. So how is this distinction made between “everyone” and “those who love and obey the gospel” made if: We make the church into a “one stop shop” to meet all our needs for day care, school/secular education, medical care, mental health, senior care, etc? This doesn’t find those who love and want to obey the gospel- it finds those who either don’t know or have forgotten that the church is supposed to be “the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” 1Tim.3:15

7. On the other hand, if the church is comprised of “those who love and obey the gospel” it: Will obviously place a premium on the pure “milk” (1Pet.2:2) and “meat” (Heb.5:14) of the gospel, knowing that new converts and mature Christians are dependant on them. Will not only expect sound teaching from God’s word, but will demand it, and settle for nothing less, 2Tim.4:2. Will, as those walking in love, “rejoice with the truth” (1Cor.13:6) and in obedience to it, Col.2:5.

8. Now, what about you? Do you: Love and appreciate the gospel because you know it is given by God to enable us to have eternal life? – Or do you wish we could change or alter it to make it more appealing now to you and to others? Like David (Psalm 119), have an insatiable appetite for God’s word? – Or is one sermon’s worth a week enough/too much for you? Since the church is founded upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, the kind of church you want, and the kind of church we are or become, is dependent on how we view and feel about the gospel. – So, do you love “baseball,” or just go to the game for all the other stuff?