January 26, 2009 - Way To Go Coach T!

Recently I was told by Coach Torzewski (InBounds coach in Indianapolis) about an exchange he had with a referee at a game he was coaching. Prior to sharing this testimony let me give a bit of background.

Many years ago I stepped away from basketball for a while, in spite of how much I love it. Basically I just felt that I was not mature enough for my testimony to honor God while playing. (Unfortunately we live in a culture that for some reason separates sports from the commands of Scripture for believers to be holy, to not complain and grumble, to be self-controlled, etc. I wrote about these problems early on during the InBounds devotion outreach as I reminded us that God doesn’t give a reprieve from holiness in order to play a game.)

Over the years I have tried to simply refine my philosophies for Christians in sport. It boils down to this simple God-honoring formula: Players play; Coaches coach; Fans cheer; Refs ref!
As Coach T took a position this year as a middle school boys coach I reminded him of these truths/goals. Coach T went into this with a desire to reach the young men who play for him and their families. By following this principle he also found he is being a witness to the referees.

This past weekend a ref told Coach that he had called his first game of the year and has been requesting to get Coach T’s games since. He shared that it was because Coach T doesn’t give the refs grief and focuses on coaching his boys. WAY TO GO COACH T!
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4)

It goes with another philosophy I gave coaches in my programs: Make sure you would feel comfortable witnessing to the refs after the game!
How about you? Would you feel comfy witnessing to your co-workers? Boss? Waitress? The fan in the stands next to you? I think you get the picture.

The gospel is a very distinct powerful message of the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. Yet our attitudes/lifestyles/etc do play a part in qualifying us to be listened to (or disqualifying us from being listened to).