April 26, 2021 - DON’T PASS TO SOMEONE THAT ISN’T LOOKING!

Many moons ago my buddy Bill had a band he called “God’s Little Sheriff”; basically he was playing off the idea of so many Christian adults/leaders that we were around in the church that seemed more concerned with regulating our behavior than where our hearts were… people that told us God loved us, with scowls on their faces. When I trusted Christ as my savior, it was following a clear presentation of what God had done for me! I truly believed that God showed His love to me by sending Jesus to die in my place (See Romans 5:8)… I believed (and still do) He was (is) on my side! 

Yet quickly after hearing and responding to the Gospel, the churches/leaders I was involved with over the rest of my youth seemed to turn… I didn’t always get the feeling that they were “on my side.” I definitely did not look forward to hearing from most of them… they seemed to just want to pound on us about the stuff we were “doing wrong” and their version of what to “do right” seemed to just be “don’t do wrong!”

As I have gotten older, I realize that in their minds they were simply trying to steer us right… they wanted us to avoid the bad consequences of bad choices. Yet, I don’t remember many encouragers in my youth. (And to be honest, I am sure there were many times I simply didn’t want to listen.)

Yes, it is true that we are told in Scripture to hold each other accountable. Hebrews 10 tells us to “consider one another” (vs 24)… to keep each other in our sites. It also tells us “to exhort one another” (vs 25).

Yet, we are “to consider one another IN ORDER to stir up love and good works…” And we are to “exhort” which means to encourage… or to call to one’s side. The picture here is of being teammates that want each other to “play the game well.”

Let me put it into our typical sports analogies… I’m not encouraging to my teammates if all I tell them is what they shouldn’t do… I never cheer, “Don’t double dribble! Don’t travel! Don’t make bad passes! Don’t miss shots! I want to stir up and encourage the right stuff, not just the avoidance of the wrong stuff…

If your teammate doesn’t know you are on his side, he won’t be looking for a “pass” from you! Have you ever thrown something to someone that wasn’t looking and accidently hit them with it? Even though it may be something good and needed, it still initially makes the person that got hit upset. Correction and encouragement come across much better when we are looking to our teammates for it, when we know we are on each other’s side! This is TEAMWORK!

I struggled with leaders when I was young because, even when they were trying to look out for my best, their demeanors didn’t make me feel like they were on my side/team… and the bottom line:

BOTTOM LINE: DON’T PASS TO SOMEONE THAT ISN’T LOOKING!

April 19, 2021 - I Don't Travel... Double Dribble... Make Bad Passes... Take Bad Shots (at least not often)

I was doing an evaluation today of a young basketball player that I am starting to train. I went into it not knowing anything about his skill set or athleticism, just that he loves basketball… playing it and watching it. 

When I had some preliminary discussions with the player, he admitted that he wasn’t the biggest, strongest, fastest, or even most skilled at his middle school. I proceeded to explain one of my mantras… that “fundamentals are the anchor that holds in storms!” In other words, if one has a strong fundamental set, he can still compete against physically superior competition.

As I observed him warming up / shooting around, I noticed something that is true of the vast majority of young players I deal with… he never worked on anything with his off hand. He is a “righty” and did not do more than an occasional dribble with his left hand. I explained to him that as a coach I would simply tell my player to guard him on his right side and thus eliminate his ability to make a difference in the game… this kid that loves the game would simply be a bystander.

As we began working on some basic skills, I was incredibly surprised! I expected to see a player whose off-hand motor skills were awkward and would need a lot of work to train; instead I found a kid that could dribble, pass, and shoot with his left hand… just in a slower fashion than with his right…

Basically, I explained to him that if he had a desire to be a good player he had no excuse to not work on his weak hand… and that he was lying to himself if he claims he wants to be good and ignores what I shared with him. (I must admit I was excited to know that our future training was starting from a good spot!)

This reminded me of some truth I share often, especially when training (discipling) middle school and high school students… I remind them that at their age, I really don’t need to spend of lot of time on the “thou shalt nots” of life… they are old enough to know that. Yet somehow when the church thinks of training the impression that is often given is that one is spiritual if he avoids the bad stuff. But that is only a part of the truth…

James 4:17 says, “therefore, to him who KNOWS to DO GOOD and DOES NOT DO it, to him it is SIN.”

Did you see that? We tend to always think of “sin” as the bad nasties… sins of commission; here James reminds us that ignoring the good is a sin of omission.

The word for “KNOWS” is the idea of a person who is aware or perceives something with his eyes… one that recognizes an opportunity to do “GOOD”…

“GOOD” has the idea of something that is excellent or surpassing or something that is better! It is doing the right thing because it’s the right thing!

When we are aware of opportunities to do good… to get better… it is “SIN”… it is missing the mark!!!

Bottom line is if I ask a player if he or she is good, I don’t expect an answer like, “Yes, I don’t travel or double dribble or make bad passes or take bad shots…” I don’t get a list of what they are NOT DOING, I hear what they are GOOD at DOING!

Get good at doing good!!! Let’s have an active faith!