If you’re a football fan or maybe even a fanatic... then you know all about the no-huddle offense. You can see it every Sunday afternoon and evening, Monday evening and all day Saturday, as NFL and top College teams deploy this strategy against their opponents.
The no-huddle offense is part of a strategy known as the hurry-up offense, which also includes the "two-minute drill." Here’s what happens... a team using a hurry-up offense seeks to save time on the game clock by reducing the elapsed time per play. When operating in the no-huddle, the offense typically lines up in a predetermined formation at the line of scrimmage, with a predetermined play in mind. The quarterback will usually call an audible, altering the play based on a perceived weakness in the defense's response to the formation shifts at the line of scrimmage. Teams use this methodology to confuse the defense and will often remain in a pre-snap state for several seconds as the clock runs down, providing a stream of actual and counterfeit play changes, all intended to thwart the defense. Real cool strategies.
I think this “no huddle” hurry-up offense as an analogy, can be a framework for analyzing the work of the Church. Let me explain what I mean. If you’ve played the game of football in high school or college then you know what happens in the huddle. Running and passing plays are called. Defensive weaknesses are pointed out and exploited in the play calling. It’s also a chance to catch your breath and chill for a few seconds.
Some teams are actually “better in the huddle” than they are lined up to execute their plays... that’s why there’s always a winner and a loser at the end of the game. Great uniforms... great huddle... great band at halftime... but poor play on the field.
Churches and believers spend way too much time in “huddle mentality.” The huddle... can be likened to our church building and facilities, our worship assembly processes, our programming, our fellowship activities... everything that comprises “the works of the church” as we perceive them.
We've spent so much time rehearsing the huddle, that we've forgotten, or at the very least marginalized the important mission Jesus commanded us to undertake. God has called us for Kingdom proclamation, to “go into all the world” spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). It’s a field of play with a scrimmage line much bigger than the relative safety of our huddles.
We brag about the size of our sanctuaries and whether we’re growing towards mega-church status. We talk about the attendance in Sunday School and Worship on Sunday morning... but no one seems to be asking the important questions... “Is what we’ve doing here, changing our community?” ‘Is it impacting the kingdom of God?' Are we outreach focused or inward focused on ourselves, on the comfort and safety of the huddle?’”
Look around the playing field God has laid before us... don’t you think too many of us go to church on Sunday and say at the end of services... “I did my Kingdom work for another week, see ya next Sunday.”
We need to understand that, although Worship is part of our Kingdom work, it doesn't end there. In fact like the game of football, the “huddle” is the smallest part of what happens on the field of play. Football is all about the game, the plays called, the points scored and who wins and who loses. The huddle never gets mentioned in the final analysis of a game.
A very small part of our Kingdom service happens in the huddle. The real game is played throughout the week – in the carpool, at the kids' football game, at your place of work... everywhere and in everything you do, you are a player on God’s team sent forth to harvest souls for His Kingdom.
The field of play is everywhere. The huddle, our churches, are where we prepare, encourage, support and edify one another to execute God’s game plan on His field of play... the world. What will we do when we encounter people who do not know the Lord? The question must be... “Will we be available to God for Him to position us in places to reach our neighbors for Him?” We need to get the salt out of our salt shakers.
Maybe it’s time to reevaluate the reasons why so many churches are concerned about declining programming, waning attendance and the growing disinterest and apathy among members. Maybe, just maybe, God is trying to tell us that we need fewer church programs and more players in the game on the line of scrimmage.
Maybe its time to stop making "huddling up" our prime focus of Kingdom work, and break for the line of scrimmage, where we can call the plays that win souls to our Great Coach, Jesus.
