Monday, July 24, 2017

July 24, 2017 - Sure Way To Ruin Team Chemistry


This past week I read an autobiography by Tamika Catchings. That gal is not only a great basketball player, but also has had an incredibly interesting life. The book shares a lot about her victories, but also about her struggles/defeats… and how they have strengthened her.

 

One story that stood out to me took place her first practice of her freshman year at the University of Tennessee; she was playing for legendary coach Pat Summitt. Tamika talks about a defensive drill in which she started out doing it her “usual way.” Coach Summitt blew here whistle and let her know how defense was played at UT; and apparently this happened a few times in the course of the drill… each time with Coach getting a bit more perturbed; at one point yelling, “Catch! How many times do I have t tell you?”

 

One telling paragraph says this… “I was getting frustrated. What I was doing was giving me a good chance of stealing the ball. I was being aggressive on defense, doing what I knew to be successful for years in high school. Pat was forcing me to do it another way I thought was not going to be nearly successful.”

 

Eventually Catchings mouthed off to Coach Summitt and realized she had crossed the line. Coach even asked her if she was going to be coachable? Summitt said, “You need to stop being stubborn and start thinking about the team.”

 

(Quotes taken from “Catch A Star” by Tamika Catchings; pages 104-106)

 

So why am I sharing so much of this story? Because the cool ending is that Tamika Catchings has been a 5-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and attributes it to what she learned from Coach Summitt; and there is an incredible life lesson here…

 

As a coach, a teacher, a pastor, and a dad I spend a lot of time sharing advice, and at times giving direction. What I have found is that the greatest danger to a team, a church, or a family is found in how we respond to leadership, ultimately how we respond to God’s Word.

 

Judges 17:6 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

 

I have often written about my favorite two words in Scripture (“But God…”) and the hope they bring…. Now for my least favorite two words to hear in life (especially from my kids), “But I…” Those two words destroy the chemistry of the team! Those two words remove the authority of the coach! Those two words are the most selfish, destructive words on the planet!

 

My fear today is that even in the church we are living as if we have no king. It is time to take inventory of our lives to see if we are allowing for the absolute authority of Scripture… this will then spill over to submission to earthly authority… resulting in us being coachable… resulting in us not always looking out for our own desires but looking to others (see Philippians 2:3.)

 

Simply put: if we let the King be King, our lives will experience great team-chemistry!

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