October 19, 2009 - Choose Right

As a coach one of the main things you try to teach players is to make good choices on the floor. In fact there are many talented/skilled players that never amount to great players simply due to lack of decision making ability.

There are a couple of things that lead to good decision making ability. The first is simply getting a lot of playing time. A player can never get a feel for the game if he isn’t in games.

The second thing is coaching that doesn’t just talk about the positives but also points out and corrects the negatives. Yes I said there has to be some negative. I know that is not popular in today’s “lets not even keep score” culture. Yet correction is needed for growth.

That leads us to the lack of maturity in the church. We live in a “don’t judge me” and “I have liberty” culture. Yet the Scriptures over and over warn about this.

Much of our problem lies in the fact that we are not actively involved in “the game.” Too many Christians are not serving God in their daily lives. And by serving Him I mean more than just trying to live clean. I mean actually striving to make a difference through evangelism and service. There is simply not enough “playing time” to develop maturity.

There is also a big absence of correction from both our pulpits and also in our personal relationships within the church. In 2 Timothy we are warned of a time when the church will “turn away” from truth. Throughout that letter we see the commands to “correct” those in opposition. It goes as far as to tell us to “turn away” from some people. (I think that shows an element of judging lifestyles.)

I know this is will not be a popular devotion. Yet we are told this in Proverbs 27:6

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

Proverbs 20 says the following in verse 11:

“Even a child is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.”

Verse 12 goes on to say:

“The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made them both.”

The Lord has given us eyes and ears to learn for our own lives; and to help “coach” our brothers and sisters. The goal is to be mature – making good choices.

Choose Right!