How often do coaches hear players say to them, “Coach, I’m a gamer!”
I've heard it before and usually reply: “Greatness is trained and made in an empty stadium; it’s only revealed in a full stadium.”
What these “gamers” are trying to say is, “Don’t worry, Coach. I may not be a good practice player, but on game day, when the lights and the TV comes on and fans fill the stands, I’ll rise to the occasion and tap into all of my great potential.” In all my years of coaching, I’ve learned that players seldom rise to the occasion. Why? They almost always fall back on their training in the empty stadiums!
The same can be said for coaches. If we don't put in the time to prepare and game plan before the game, when the lights come on, things usually don't go in our favor.
Back in Jeremiah’s day, God called him to be a “coach,” a “mentor” for Judah. In today’s sports world, you might compare Jeremiah to a team chaplain or coach—a Christian who is called to lead his team with Bible studies or discipleship of some form. It could be an FCA staff member, local pastor or business leader. Whomever and whatever, if God has called you to that role, what a privilege from the Lord!
Jeremiah received that call from God. But, as it always does in a world of opposition to God, the call came with a price. God told Jeremiah that, as a mentor and prophet to Judah, he would face tremendous opposition. But it wouldn’t come from pagans or foreigners; instead, it would come from his own people.
In this privileged call from God, Jeremiah would have to mentor despite internal rebellion. At times, he would literally be alone in his quest to serve God, but if he courageously remained faithful in this “empty stadium,” he would prevail.
Jeremiah served five powerful kings during his “coaching career” in Judah. The first, the young Josiah, was a dedicated follower of God who listened and grew in his faith under Jeremiah’s mentorship. But the next four kings—Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah—refused to follow God and failed at becoming kings for God’s advancement.
Let’s face it. As coaches, teachers, leaders and mentors, we’ll face plenty of followers who are in rebellion against God and us. Even Jesus’ disciples all abandoned Him at the most crucial hour. Does this mean Jesus was a bad mentor? Of course not!
Greatness isn’t rising to the occasion, but rather falling back on your training. It’s those spiritual repetitions in the empty stadium, where it’s just you and the Lord running wind sprints until you’re exhausted, face down and screaming, with the only sound being the echo of your own voice. Jeremiah and Jesus both heard that echo. And if you’re a coach who desires to follow Jesus with everything you’ve got, you’ve heard that echo and you’ll hear it again.
Here’s a quick word of encouragement for coaches and mentors who desire for God’s greatness to permeate across this planet through the athletes He has entrusted to us. From Psalm 144:1 (ESV), “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle...”
Also, from 1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV), “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
Let’s allow God to control all of our crazy circumstances and use them to exemplify His greatness through us. It’s not our job to save anyone; God saves. But it is our job as coaches to keep dusting off the dirty scoreboard of life to make clear what the score is, what is right and wrong, what God is for and what He’s against.
Jeremiah was a great coach by God’s standard—successful in that which is right before God. That’s the call of our lives as mentors, and it will be revealed in a full stadium someday, if not on earth, in heaven for sure!
–This article appears in the March/April 2015 issue of FCA Magazine. To view the issue in its entirety digitally, click here: March/April 2015 FCA Mag Digital
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