Ken Hemphill recalls his college football days and remembers the team was great in the huddle. It just didn’t perform when it came time to play. Hemphill used that as an analogy for the church as he presented the Layne Lectures at New Orleans Baptist Seminary, according to a Sept. 30, 2003, Baptist Press story.
“I’m convinced we’ve spent too much time rehearsing the huddle,” he said. “We’ve spent so much time rehearsing the huddle that we’ve forgotten that God has called us for a kingdom cause that is bigger than us. We brag about the size of our sanctuary; we talk about the attendance in Sunday School and worship on Sunday morning; but no one is begging to ask the questions: ‘Is it changing our community?’ ‘Is it impacting the kingdom of God?'”
Hemphill added: “Too many of us go to church on Sunday and say, ‘I did my kingdom work. We need to understand that, although that is kingdom work, it doesn’t stop there. It continues throughout the week in the carpool and at the kids’ soccer game. We will rub up against people who do not know the Lord. The question is, ‘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 the salt shaker. God may reveal to us that we need to have fewer church programs. Our people may be too busy at the church to do any ministry in the marketplace.”