The NFL Draft is happening in Detroit today. Thousands of football fans have descended upon the city waiting to see what college football player is picked by their favorite professional team. The Chicago Bears with the first pick are predicted to choose a quarterback from the University of Southern California. Following the Bear’s choice, the Washington Commanders will have 10 minutes to make their choice. They will be “on the clock.” The Detroit Lions fans have to wait until the 29^th pick to be “on the clock” in the draft (unless they trade up to select a player earlier) to see who will be wearing Honolulu Blue and Silver in the fall. 

Teams have been examining their own shortcomings; evaluating talent; and trying to predict what type of player is needed to achieve their goal of winning the Super Bowl. They are all looking for the next superstar and those hidden gems in the later rounds. Some teams find them. Others don’t (for many, many years the Lions did not choose wisely, but those days are over! That noise you are hearing is all the Lions’ fans roaring their approval of the previous parenthetical sentence). 

All this draft talk got me thinking of who the church might pick if it had opportunity to draft church members. What skills and qualities are needed to be considered a #1 draft pick in the church? If one evaluated a church’s weaknesses would it be determine a better preacher is needed? The fastest soul winner?  A sound Bible student/teacher? A savvy tech team member with a good ear for sound? A pied-piper-like youth worker? The ultimate kitchen volunteer or the best multi-tasking nursery worker?

The church isn’t like a football team. It doesn’t need a superstar in one area. The church needs people willing to serve with little regard for recognition. People who discover their gifts, then use them for the glory of God (not their own glory). The church needs people who love like Jesus more than simply being able to run fast or throw a ball far.

The goal of any church is not being the sole team that wins at the season finale. Instead, the goal is to get as many souls into glory at eternity’s grand finale (Notice the word play: sole vs. souls). Unlike Detroit football fans, our celebration will not be for on-field accomplishment of the Lions, but rather we will glory at the on-earth accomplishment of the Lamb! (Notice the word play: Lions vs. The Lamb). All this to say, the church isn’t looking to draft a few players; it should welcome all people whether they can throw a football or not.

The draft strategy according to that old football coach, the Apostle Paul (Ok, Paul never played football. If he had played in the NFL he undoubtedly would have been on the New Orleans Saints) is this: God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them (2 Corinthians 5:19-20a The Message. Underlining mine). Let’s do that—tell everyone, men and women—what God is up to and be the best representatives of the King of Kings that we can possibly be!

Church, you are “on the clock.”