(Rewritten from “Accountability”)
A couple weeks ago I was in a training when I received a call from David. I stepped out of the training and called him back because, although David and I meet most every Friday morning, he rarely calls me during the week. When I called him back, the conversation went something like this:
“Hey Coach, remember the game my sophomore year when I was ineligible and was sitting at the end of the bench in my street clothes? Instantly my mind went back 8 years to that night. I said, “Yes David, I remember it very well.”
David went on. “I remember at one point in the 4th quarter of the game, you looked down at the end of the bench and you gave me that look and said, ‘I need you David.”
It was amazing to me how the memory of that night flooded back into my mind with such detail. But David had a point to this story and he was getting there. He said, “Coach, I feel like God is saying that to me right now…I feel like he’s saying, ‘David, I need you.” See, David loves the Lord, but he’s been wrestling with fully embracing who he is in God’s eyes…he’s in the process of discovering lies he’s carried about his identity for years.
We continued talking about the details of that game because it had become a metaphor for a current life event David was feeling called into. On this particular night, David had not taken care of business in the classroom, so he was ineligible for the weekend games. Instead of being out on the court in his uniform, he was on the sidelines in street clothes.
During the 4th quarter stretch of the game we were talking about, our guys on the floor needed a spark, they needed a playmaker who could get us a defensive stop and provide some much needed help on the offensive end, and that was the moment I thought, “I need David out there.” As I looked down toward the end of the bench, David’s eyes met mine, and he got “the look”, and the message that his decisions impacted not just him, but his team.
Real Life; Real Consequences
As we moved back to the current day, I listened to David speak from his heart about why this memory came to him so strongly. I sat just outside my training with eyes tearing up as this memory wasn’t just speaking to David, it was speaking to me about accountability to those around me. See, I had been wrestling with writing about accountability in my blog, and it was like God dropped this illustration right in my lap and said, “There! Now go write.”
We live in a day and age when church culture can toss around terms like “grace” and “love” so easily, and although they are a pivotal part of our faith, and something I depend on every day from my loving Father, David’s phone call and the memory being brought back from years ago led me to consider several things. My love for David was unquestioned, but the reality was that he was an athlete and a leader on our team, and his choices led to him being in street clothes on the bench when he should have been in uniform out on the floor battling with his teammates. David’s story brought to light the reality of terms like “accountability” and “consequences” that I believe are also a part of our faith-story.
There’s an accountability we have to come to grips with here:
- A) God is who He says He is.
- B) We are who God says we are.
- C) The illustration God chose to use in describing His Church was “The Body” with all of its working parts depending on each other to do what they were created to do;
- D) there is a real consequence when we make ourselves “ineligible”.
What exactly do I mean by that word, “ineligible”?
- God’s love for us? Unwavering!
- His mercy and grace? Always present every moment of every day!
- Salvation? Finished completely at the Cross!
So what do I mean then by “ineligible”? I mean this: by our own doing, we place ourselves in street clothes on the bench instead of wearing the Armor of God and impacting the outcomes of events around us. We make ourselves ineligible, God made us fully eligible through Jesus, but when we continue to hold on to lies about our identity, we remain on the bench…in street clothes.
By God’s design, He set this whole Creation up to be in partnership with us. This is his plan, not my idea. For better or for worse He chose to bring His Kingdom through us…The Body of Christ. We each play a vital part in the function of the Body.
We are accountable to our teammates (our brothers and sisters). When we continue coming into agreement with the “Accuser of the Brethren”, our agreements have consequences that not only impact our self, they impact The Body in a negative manner. We fail to step up and step in to the callings God created us to step into. We minimize the importance of our contributions needed by the team…by The Body. When we come into agreement with what God’s word says about who God is, and who He says we are, our agreements have consequences that impact this world and push the Kingdom forward…to Christ alone be the glory!
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Before I wrap this story up, I would do an injustice to my friend David if I didn’t share the rest of the phone call, because God spoke to him through another memory as well.
David said, “Coach, remember the game when I was dribbling up the sideline by our bench and I pulled up right in front of you for a 3-pointer and you yelled ‘No!’ because you wanted us to slow it down and run the offense.” Hmmmmmm…..yeah, I remembered that as well. I remembered that ball went through the basket, David looked at me as he ran back down the court, and I just sat down on the bench.
David went on to finish his story by saying, “Do you remember in the timeout shortly afterwards you said to me, “David, why did you take that shot?”
I said, “Yeah…”
He said, “I remembered I answered, ‘Because I could Coach’, and that was all that was said. You didn’t say anything else.”
U-huh…I remembered….
David compared the two memories and summed up that he took that shot because he was prepared. He’d put in the time practicing, working on his jump shot, improving his game, but, but but…..he also put his time into the classroom and his studies. And when the time came, he was in uniform, in the game, and in position to take the shot.
Back to current life: David’s heart’s desire is to be dressed in the armor, in the game, prepared for the moment he’s in, and ready to take the shot when God passes him the ball. Take it David…Take that shot! I won’t yell at you this time.
I just couldn’t finish this story with you having the image of a kid sitting in street clothes on the bench, because that’s not his identity…he’s a player, and he’s in the game.
So, what about you and me? Do we even want to be in the game when things are going down around us? Will we play with the confidence required to be effective? Will we come into agreement with what God thinks about us? It doesn’t matter what others think of us, only what God thinks. You and I belong on the court, but will we practice, will we be prepared, and will we put ourselves in the game for that moment when God wants to pass us the ball and tells us to take the shot?
Okay that’s the story. Long, but hopefully entertaining with a point.