More and more churches are reporting to me they are having conflicts over the sports schedule and the churches schedule. This has been a growing problem since the 80s.

Just recently I received an email from a client I’m coaching asking my advice on what to do with just such a problem.  In this case it was with the youth ministry- secular sports were taking kids away from the churches scheduled meetings. Here is what I told him.

 Why not see this as a missional opportunity and train your youth to be ambassadors for Christ and participate in the sport rather than being at the youth group. Instead of fighting it, or bad mouthing the sport for conflicting with church, equip the youth to participate in the sports as an ambassador for Christ.  Let them know their church is behind them if they will practice their Christianity in a way that it brings people to Christ and the church.

I think we place too high a premium on church attendance.   Most of our people spend too much time a church and not enough time sharing their faith with their neighbor. We have led our people to believe that attending church is the mark of a Christian. But it’s not. The mark of a Christian is what we do in our everyday lives.  So help your youth minister see that their participation in the sport is more important than being at church. If he has too, let him count them in attendance when they are gone for sports or for practice. But also encourage him to equip them to represent the church while they are there and to know that you, the youth minister, and the church support them being missionaries to sports.

That’s the way I would handle it.