So those of you who know me, know that I love baseball. I love the game, everything about it. I played growing up and was able to play at a pretty high level until an injury just wouldn't allow my body to do the things I needed it to do. I love watching baseball, I love coaching baseball, I love seeing kids learn the game of baseball. I love baseball.
Now, admittedly...I have followed two teams for most of my adult life. I was born & raised in Indiana, my dad was a Cardinals fan & that is what I became. I've always been a Cardinals fan. I like the way their organization goes about its business. They develop talent through their system and bring them up. But when I was growing up there was this guy named Bo Jackson, I'm sure you've heard of him, but I loved watching him play. Football or baseball, I just loved watching the guy. He was smooth, yet intense at the same time. But when he played for the Royals I became a Royals fan as well. Have been since. So when I moved to Kansas in 2013, I didn't mind following the Royals, I'd always kept tabs on them, even in the years there wasn't much to follow. HOWEVER, I will say this...my family moved to Kansas in the middle of the 2013 baseball season. 2 of the 3 years we have lived in Kansas, the Royals have played in the World Series & won this year. You are welcome. I'm glad we were able to bring some luck. But I digress.
Yesterday as I was driving to an appointment I was listening to sports radio, which I often do, and a topic came up that intrigued me. They were talking about the World Series celebration in downtown KC this week and how many people were there, over 800,000 if I remember right. That's nuts! But the conversation revolved around how many were just 'bandwagon fans' and not true fans. I got me to thinking a bit, and caused some questions.
1. Who cares? Who cares if people are bandwagon fans? The players don't care...because they get to play in front of more people, and become bigger names. The front office doesn't care because it increases their revenue & productivity. The organization does not care...because bandwagon fans are gained by performing at a mediocre level. Bandwagon fans are created by people who follow success. What's wrong with that? Shouldn't a 'TRUE' fan be happy that their team is performing & producing at such a high level that others are starting to follow?
2. Who gets to define what a 'true fan' really is? The radio conversation I was listening to was so confusing to me, because they couldn't even define the terms they were using. What is a 'bandwagon' fan and what is a 'true' fan? Is a 'true' fan the one who is a season ticket holder? If that's the case, frankly there aren't many true fans because not many of us can afford that. Who gets to define that?
3. Does this happen in more areas of life than just sports? Think about it...really all we are talking about here is the perception in which we look at people & the groups we put them in. If one doesn't live up to certain expectations established by someone else, they are deemed less than. We have created a tiered system with levels of status based on how 'genuine' or 'bandwagon' we are.
Listen, over half of my life has been spent in church work. I've seen the greatness and complete joy of working with and for churches, and I have seen the ugly and the pain and the heartache that it also causes. I'm not naive when it comes to the church. I am a firm believer that one of the main reasons people ARE NOT going to churches in communities all around the country has absolutely nothing to do with God, and more to do with the fact that they have met too many 'church people'. These 'church people' have created a segregated perception of church. You're either a 'true follower' or you're a 'bandwagon' follow. But who gets to define that? I certainly don't. Dare I say, you don't have that right either?
I people that people have a natural tendency to follow what they see producing results. This is a simple, yet sustaining business philosophy; the better you make your product, the more people will want it. The more people want it, the higher appeal. The higher your appeal, the larger the responsibility to continue improving. People follow results.
I am very blessed to serve and lead a church that God has blessed with results. When I look at numbers & data (and yes, I'm a numbers guy), I look for eternally significant numbers, like decisions & baptisms. In 3 years we have had over 140 decisions made & over 70 baptisms. Not bad for a church in a town of 1,500 people. God has been good to us. But we have also seen people come to us because they see us producing results. They see people growing, being equipped, being sent out for ministry. They see our people invested in the lives of others in our community. They see the way we are focusing on our values and living them out. People are attracted to that. Just like people are attracted to the Royals. Just like people are attracted to Jesus.
I'm reminded of a story in the Mark 2, where Jesus was teaching and there was a massive crowd gathered, so much so that it was overflowing. But there was a group of friends who were desperately trying to get a man who needed to be healed to Jesus, but they could not get through the crowd. They were so committed to getting to Jesus that they crawled on the roof, created a hole, and lowered their friend down to Jesus to be healed. Great story right...maybe. But what bothers me about the story is that this crowd who was gathered listening to Jesus teach were not aware at all of the person who desperately needed to get to Jesus. They didn't get out of the way and help him get to Jesus. Instead, this group of men had to create their own way by digging a hole in the roof.
Are there times when we get in the way? Where we are so worried & caught up about separating ourselves from 'bandwagon' fans that we lose awareness that they still need Jesus? We are so caught up in protecting our tradition, or our church culture, or our image that we isolate the very people we are called to impact? Have we become the crowd gathered, listening intently to Jesus, yet not getting out of the way to help people get to him?
So let me ask you this? Who are the true followers of Jesus? Are they the ones gathered & listening, but not getting out of the way or helping others get to him? OR...maybe, just maybe the true followers are the ones that do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus, even if it means creating their own path because they just know they need to be with Jesus. Which is the 'true' and which is the 'bandwagon'?
For the record, I don't care if you're a bandwagon Royals fan. Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride. I love their values-driven approach to building their club. They value things like character & chemistry & family & development. I respect that so much, and frankly I think we, the church, could learn an awful lot from them. Congratulations to the Royals for taking the crown & to all you 'true' fans...maybe you should welcome people in instead of pushing them away...your team is producing results, enjoy the growth, stop getting in the way.
Until next time...Love God, Love People, Period.
J
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