Madison Christian Church

There are bumper stickers and plaques that deliver the message, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  After you sort out all those words, you realize this is a reminder that it is easy to get distracted.  It is easy for us to take our eye off the ball.  This is very possible in the church.

The Pittsburg Pirates are currently a pretty lousy baseball team.  This once proud Major League Baseball franchise has a beautiful stadium, PNC Park.  Their win-loss record is anything but beautiful.  The July 12 issue of Sports Illustrated contained an article about the Pirates.  The article quoted Father Bill Schwartz, a Roman Catholic priest who has been attending Pirates games since he was a kid.  This man is so devoted that he wears a Pirates shirt under his vestments and wears Pirates shoelaces on his shoes.  Instead of going on vacations, he leaves his parish in Beaver, Pennsylvania, and goes to games at PNC Park.  He has a rousing sermon about misspent dollars, bad personnel moves and the absence of starting pitching on the current team.  Then he said, "We're promoting bobbleheads and fireworks.  Why not just promote a better team?"  Apparently, the Pirates have taken their eye off the ball.  Perhaps they have forgotten their main thing?

The church runs the same risk as the Pittsburgh Pirates if we do not avoid distractions, stick to the knitting, and keep the main thing the main thing.  There are many worthy causes and plenty of people to promote different agendas.  We are about "reaching people for Christ and helping believers grow to be more like him."  The church is designed to do that.  The Lord provides his mighty power when we are committed to doing that.  Frankly, when we get distracted for any reason and get outside that mission, results plummet and fruit is hard to come by.