Playing on God's team
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Have you ever coached kids’ sports-or maybe has your parents coach your team? Right now I am coaching two of my kids’ soccer teams-youngest-Isaiah and oldest-Nate. It’s really a great experience. It’s fun watching the kids develop their skills and you get the opportunity to be an influence in their lives-and their parents as you talk to them and get to know them. In fact, if you want to get serious about reaching people for Christ, I encourage you to get involved in your kids’ activities. It’s fun for you AND gives you opportunity to meet other people and look for opportunities to talk to them about Christ or simply invite them to church.
It’s been interesting over the past several weeks to watch the differences between the two soccer teams I am coaching. On Isaiah’s team I have a bunch of pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten kids. They haven’t had a whole lot of experience with the game and right now we are mainly focusing on the basics. Get the ball moving with your feet…don’t use your hands. Get the ball in THAT net…we want them to get going in the right direction…We do talk about the rules of the game and how to play different positions, but we go easy on the kids and really focus on the basics.
On the flip side is Nate’s team made up of fifth through 9th graders. These guys have all played for at least a couple of years, and they are all much bigger and stronger than my younger team. These guys have got the basics down. While they always need to remember those basic skills, they are pretty much internalized now. But, of course, that’s not all there is to being an effective and successful soccer player. They’ve got plenty of things to learn beyond the basics if they are going to be great as a team. There’s better ball control…learning to stop it-with all parts of their bodies-control it and then kick it where they want it to go. There’s always room for improvement there. We are have referees who call penalties…the kids are held accountable to the rules…should know by this age that the rules are there for their safety and to make the game enjoyable for everyone.
The biggest thing for them to learn now, though, is teamwork. Learning that the game it not about a person scoring a goal, but about a team of people working together to score goals and prevent the other team from scoring.
We talk a lot about positions. With the younger team, I’m trying them out all over the place on the field…they don’t always stay in position, and we really don’t know where they play best yet. With the older kids, though, they are ready to really focus on certain positions on the field. Some are natural goalies. Others are good at running and maneuvering the ball down the field to score. Still others are good at blocking and taking the ball away from the other team…defending the goal. You can see that it’s time for these kids to really focus on getting good at their particular role on the team.
In addition to position, we talk about communication…talking to help one another see what else is going on in the game…we talk about backing one another up and thinking about strategies…making them think about more than just where the ball is and how can we get it to the net…you’ve got to see what your teammates are doing and what the other team is doing in order to decide what action you should take for the good of the team.
As a result of all this you would see two very different kinds of soccer games going on if you were to come out and watch (which you could do if you are interested, BTW-M/T-6:30, Th-7:30, St. Paul’s Lutheran).
With the younger team you see a bunch of kids on the field working hard on the basics. Just about everyone is after the ball…there is usually a tangle of kids surrounding the ball. Sometimes we have to remind them to turn around and go the right direction. Sometimes we have to remind them to keep their hands down and not catch the ball. Just keep focused on the basics…the ball goes that way…there it is, go get it…don’t just sit down on the grass. And sometimes we need reminders to stay on the field…we need you on the team…They are doing great though…and you can see that as long as you remember that they are learning the basics and we don’t expect them to get it all right just yet…They are all having fun and are learning to move the ball down the field and getting a taste of some of the more advanced concepts like position and ball control…
Then you watch to older kids..after just two weeks I saw them starting to respond and work as a team. It’s a beautiful sight to see how these kids who were once the pre-K/K level are now grasping the more advanced concepts. It’s amazing to watch the ball moved down the field through a series of passes and get kicked into the goal. It’s the whole team working together as it really is meant to be. As in all team sports, soccer works best when it is played as it was designed…when you actually play as a team. There are certain rules and concepts you need to understand and obey if you are going to do well. Otherwise you just make it difficult for yourselves and the rest of the team.
If we can understand the game of soccer and how a child begins with the basics and advances from there to understand how the game is really meant to be played if you want to excel, we can also understand our own relationship with God.
A couple of weeks ago I compared God’s response to our desire for forgiveness to a restaurant owner who goes out to starving people an offers them a meal that they don’t have to pay for because someone else has already paid the price. That is the basics of Christianity in a nutshell. If there is anything we can understand for sure it is that Jesus is God incarnate…God humbling himself and becoming man to live among us and experience the life we live…the temptations and sufferings along with the joys and victories. Jesus came to offer his life for us…pay the penalty for all of our sins so that we can be forgiven…washed clean of our past…if we would turn to Him and accept the gift of His sacrifice.
This is the basics. If you take a look at our True North team, we expect to have a much broader range of skills and experience than on my soccer teams. There may be people here for whom the basics is most important right now. You need to really focus on understanding the concepts of who Jesus is and what He’s done for you..and what that means for your life. That’s great, and we all need to allow for that..allow one another to really focus on those basic ideas…and of course we all need to remember those basics and keep them as a foundation for everything else we might learn and do.
We all need to know, however, that there is more to man’s relationship with God than just those basics. I think this is the essence of a verse that Willie shared last week when he talked about baptism: 1John 2:1-3
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
(1Jn 2:1-3 NIV)
As we internalize those basics of faith, we need to move on and realize that while Jesus has paid the price for our sins...past, present and future, there are standards God has established that we should learn to live by, and that living by those standards is how we show God our live for Him.
We need to understand, however, that it isn’t just about “following the rules”…it’s about loving god and understanding how He created us and how we best interact with Him. we need to understand that God has reasons for establishing His standards for right and wrong..they are the best thing for us.
Just as a soccer team needs to understand what it means to work as a team and how the importance of the rules of the game, we need to understand that God designed us to live a certain way in order to live safe, do well and get along with others the best…in order to have the most blessed life possible, we need to live according to God’s standards.
A few weeks ago our Wednesday night bible study was working through a study about the Bible and we read through some verses that really highlighted for me that these ancient Hebrew writers got it. They weren’t just servants of God…they were lovers of God and His ways…that’s what we need to become as we continue to move beyond the basics.
Listen to what some of these Bible writers had to say:
I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
(Psa 119:102-105 NIV)
God’s laws and words are sweeter than honey…This psalm writer craved God’s ways…he knew that they are a light to our paths in life
I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
(Psa 119:44-48 NIV)
God’s laws bring freedom to our lives..freedom from all the ways we limit ourselves and our team-the people around us-when we try to follow our own ways. We need to learn to delight in God’s commands and meditate upon and internalize God’s ways and His words.
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
(Psa 119:97-100 NIV)
We will do best in life when we are careful to live as God wants us to live…and seek…no CRAVE…His wisdom instead of our own.
As we all move to build upon understanding the basics of being a follower of Jesus Christ and becoming a lover of God’s ways, there are really three aspects of our understanding of god that we need to address.
The first and often easiest is our intellectual understanding of God. This begins with reading the Bible and trusting it to be God’s Word for our lives. You need to read the Bible in order to learn what God has told us about himself there. In here you will find things you are uncomfortable with…it will raise questions and doubts. We need to talk to one another about those things and gain a better understanding of them. Who is Jesus really? Why did He say the things He did? Does God really want me to stop living the way I am living now? Is there really anything wrong with it?
This is why we stress the importance of being part of a small group/bible study group...to bring up these questions and doubts. This is why I encourage you to talk to me…or find someone else here who you know might have experience with the issues you are struggling to understand. Ask you questions…they are all important and valid questions.
It’s not enough, though, to gain intellectual knowledge of God. We may know what is right and wrong, but still not like it. You may have been taught all your life to live by certain rules because that’s what God wants, but still resist or revolt against them. We also need to overcome emotional blockades to loving God’s ways. Maybe you’ve had some rough experiences in your life…maybe some negative church experiences. Maybe you’ve faced some difficult circumstances and you’ve found yourself thinking , “I can’t believe God would want this for my life.” Maybe you’ve gained some comfort or satisfaction in life and have a hard time believing that God would want you to do something different or new in order to gain even more satisfaction from Him. I could provide you will all the intellectual reasons why God would want…and need…to place certain standards for your life, and you could still feel it would be too painful to let go and follow Him…
…part of the answer to addressing our emotional resistance to God is again…sharing with others. Develop relationships with others in the church where you can share your deepest pains. When you do that, you will find others who have dealt with the same issues, and you will also find people gathering around you to offer the most powerful thing we can offer…our prayers…God alone knows all you’ve been through and can guide you through the healing process…So share your pain and allow us to pray for you.
There is one final obstacle we need to overcome to really become lover’s of God’s ways, and this is often the most difficult. We can know God’s word and even WANT to live lives obedient to Him, but still find ourselves falling into old traps and habits.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
(Rom 7:15 NIV)
We need our WILL to desire God’s ways. We need to just decide to follow God no matter what…and we need to keep trying however many times we fail and keep training ourselves to live as God wants us to live.
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
(1Co 9:26-27 NIV)
Training our will to follow God takes time and patience and ongoing training. It takes commitment to being involved in a church. Even more than that it takes commitment to really seeking God and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life.
Next time you see some kids out on a soccer field…or playing any sport, really, let it be a reminder of your own spiritual development.
Remember that we all need to begin with the basics and keep that as our foundation. Remember that we need to also build on that foundation as we mature.
Keep seeking to answer your intellectual questions about God
Keep praying to overcome emotional obstacles to really desiring God’s ways
Keep training your will to submit to the Holy Spirit
God told Joshua as he was taking on leadership of the Hebrew people after Moses passed away…Joshua 1:8 says:
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
(Jos 1:8 NIV)
May we all continue to train ourselves day in and day out to crave God’s Word and His ways…when we do we will enjoy the prosperity and success He had intended for us to experience as our love for Him continues to grow.