Every now and then @Southbrook we get people who I would refer to as, “Walk On’s.”
What is a “walk on?” Well, in sports (such as professional football) most of the players come from the NFL draft—but not all. Some were highly regarded in college but for whatever reason they didn’t place in the draft—so when “tryouts” begin for the teams in preseason—they ‘walk on’ and try to prove themselves at that time. It’s an uphill battle, but occasionally they make the team.
The walk on’s we see in evangelicalism are slightly different. They usually don’t come with an impressive resume of sacrificial service to Jesus at such and such church. In fact, they usually don’t stay long enough at any given church to make much of an impact. Instead they move from church to church to church—verbally handing out their resume and waiting expectantly for leadership to see their hidden potential and “fast-track” them to a senior position (It’s not uncommon for that position to be that of the senior pastor). Can you imagine this taking place in the NFL? Say, John Doe shows up at the training camp for he New England Patriots and informs the team owner that Tom Brady will have to be benched now that John Doe is in the house! Whoop! Whoop! Naturally the owner would ask what gives John the idea that they (the Patriots) would ever do that—to which John replies, “I consider myself a more superior QB. Seriously, each week I watch the Patriots play and I guarantee I wouldn’t throw the interceptions Tom Brady does. I would also throw for an average of 500 yards a game—I can just “feel” it! I’m a natural—potentially the best QB of all time.”
After the owner picked himself off the floor from rolling around in total hysterics at the delusional lunatic in front of him—he’d most likely call security and have the ‘undiscovered Joe Montana’ thrown out on his ear (or whatever part of his anatomy that hits the pavement first). Truth is, this poor crazy soul would never even make it to the owner’s office. Walk-ons have to go through a process, show’m what they’ve got, beat out other candidates, vi for the same position, and slowly work their way up. Their highly elevated ‘opinion’ of themselves counts for nothing.
At Southbrook church I’ve seen dozens of walk-ons come and go over the years and the pattern’s always the same—all talk, little or no action. These folks seem to have completely missed what Jesus said in Matthew 20:16,
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last”
Christ follower? You want to do great things for God? You believe He’s calling you to lead a massive movement that will change the world?
Start with faithful obedience in the little things. And make sure that your heart is completely devoted to Jesus Christ—God loves that! 2 Chronicles 16:9 says,
“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
Sanctification is a process—a marathon. There are no “Walk Ons.”