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Coaches come with all types of personalities; some tend to yell more than others, while some favor a more laid-back approach. No matter their coaching technique, all have the same desire for attentive athletes.
Listening is vital in sports. If you don't listen, you don't learn. If you don't learn, you will never improve. The same is true in our walk with God. But how do you listen to a God whom few have ever heard speak?
Due to Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints began the 2005 NFL season with more on their minds than winning football games. Katrina caused devastation not only in the lives of many Saints fans, players and families, but also to the whole city of New Orleans. In the season opener, kicker John Carney hit a 47-yard field goal with three seconds left to give the saints a 23-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers. “You don’t want to attach too much importance to it, you know, because it’s still just a football game,” Carney said. “But, sure, there was a sense that we were playing for more than ourselves today."
Why do we place so much emphasis on the role we have on a team? For example, a non-starter might think, I’m not on the field . . . I’m not good enough. On the other hand, starters might carry an I’m better than you attitude. We must evaluate our attitudes. Does our attitude bring a smile to God’s face? On a team, each person’s talents add to the whole. Who, by themselves, could take on a whole team and win?
The world’s definition of excellence is just based on performance. As soon as you’re not performing, no one in the media wants to talk to you anymore, and it’s easy to get down on yourself. It’s all wrapped up in performance. It’s like building your house on the sand. It’s very changing and fleeting, and eventually it’s going to be gone because no one is always on top of his or her game. When you find your identity in Christ and in what He’s done for you, it’s the unchanging, sturdy rock that you can always stand on. You can have a much healthier perspective on yourself and in life in general and in where your hope lies. When I’m not performing well, I lose my hope. I lose my joy. I get down. I get depressed.
How encouraging it is to find someone firm in his or her faith in the world of sport. It is obvious that some people are drifting spiritually. Many athletes are looking for a new gimmick to improve their performance, so they try Jesus the way they may try a lucky charm or a new color of shoes. Often a superstitious faith comes with feigned or half-hearted devotion to God. These people do not want to obey their creator; they prefer to have a “genie in a bottle” that will obey them. When convenient, they may go to church or read their Bibles, but they are often drifting with the current. Sometimes the drifters get anchored to God—sometimes they flounder and fade away. An eccentric friend who often talks in Christian jargon asked a colleague of mine, “When did you wake up?”
Even as the words float off the end of my tongue, I realize I blew it. This kind of situation usually involves my saying negative words to teammates or others. It’s easy for me to become the cut-down king. It doesn’t take much—maybe just calling someone a name. Other teammates usually laugh, but those reckless words cut. They pierce like a sword and cause damage. Playing the cut-down game means going with the flow. I realize now that I want to play the BUG.
I’ve been in the Major Leagues for more than 10 years with the Baltimore Orioles. Looking back I can think of specific guys who were crucial to my development and maturity as a person and a baseball player. Now, as a veteran, I feel that it’s my role to share what I’ve learned from my experiences in the same way guys did with me when I was younger.
Young people today are commonly confused by discipline, seeing it as punishment rather than a virtue needed to train effectively. The will or discipline of a competitor can be seen in how he/she perseveres through tough times.
In the parable of the talents, the ruler blessed three of his servants with different talents, and they were to do something with them. One buried his and didn’t do anything with it and the ruler came back and basically said, “Wicked man. You didn’t do what you were supposed to do.” Of the other two—one multiplied his talent a little bit and the other maximized his to the fullest. That’s where I feel like I sit.
When five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe retired from competitive swimming at the age of 24 he said, “breaking records wasn’t as inspiring as it should have been.” As a teenager, Thorpe splashed into the swimming scene and swam to 13 world records from 1999 to 2002, becoming an international star after dominating at the Sydney Olympics.
Even with all the success, he realized the medals, titles, records, and accomplishments did not last long. The fans went home. The cameras were turned off. And Ian was left with an empty feeling that success cannot fill. The external stuff fades quickly. It is never enough.
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