I love soccer.

During this period of time, I’m a little ashamed to admit it… but I’m a Manchester United supporter.

I remember pre-pandemic, I would always see some guys get together to talk after church service. And they would be discussing soccer.

They would ask questions like: How did the game between Manchester United and Liverpool go? How did the game between Chelsea and Arsenal go?

Wouldn’t it be unthinkable if somebody asked such a question only for another to reply: “The game between Manchester United and Liverpool was good… because their jersey was very nice.”

Or if someone were to say, “Manchester was good! They had 70% possession as compared to Liverpool.”

Or “Manchester United was on fire! How so? Well, we had 20 free kicks, Liverpool only had two.”

Now, this is not rocket science. When someone asks the question of “how did the game go”, basically what they’re asking is what the score was.

How many times did Manchester United put the ball into the net? That is the question.

When Spanish football dominated the world a few years back with its beautiful style of passing, it was fun to watch.

In some games, it seemed impossible to win the ball back against their flawless passing. Ever since then, many football teams became obsessed with possession.

You control the ball, you control the game, right? Well, only if you know what to do with the ball.

Manchester United created their own brand of football possession – the only problem is that they forgot they needed to move forward and score.

As a result, they ranked bottom in all attacking categories despite having more possession than any other teams in the league.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with having ball possession. There’s nothing wrong with having a lot of free kicks.

But that is not the mission because the objective of the game of soccer is to put the piece of leather into the net!

And the team couldn’t win because they couldn’t score.

In church, we can do many things but if we forget about our objective, everything we do can be meaningless.

The mission is simple and clear. Jesus’ mission for us was to make disciples.

What does it mean to make disciples? To make disciples means to help those who are far from Jesus to come to a place where they’re able to name Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

To make disciples means to help those who are already in the Kingdom to grow to become more like Christ. And as a result, they will do what Christ did when He was on earth.

I know that times are not easy. Many of us have different kinds of challenges.

But even as we go about mitigating all these challenges, let’s keep focus.

Never, ever miss God’s vision.

Pandemic or otherwise, good times or bad times, now or in the past, God’s mission has not shifted.

This article is adapted from a sermon preached by Pastor Jeff Chong of Hope Singapore at LoveSingapore’s Summit 2022. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

In the year 2022, we are moving out of the Year of Pandemic into a Year of Publishing Peace (Isaiah 52:7). Thir.st will be telling story after story about the goodness of God, preaching the Gospel to the digital ends of the earth.

Will you join us to #PublishPeace? At least one time this year, share your testimony by posting it on your social media!