Baby Steps into the Light

One of the more popular games for kids to play is ‘Hide and Seek’. You don’t need any equipment like traditional sports and you really don't need many other kids in order to play. One of the best, and scariest, times to play is when it is dark outside. The number of places to hide increases significantly when it is dark and the ‘seeker’ is limited in their ability to find you. My favorite experience playing ‘Hide and Seek’ was when I was at a retreat with a group of teens and we were staying in a decent sized lodge. With the windows completely covered and with it being nighttime outside, the inside of the lodge was completely dark. My trick as a seeker was to be extremely quiet and listen for someone breathing or make fart noises and see if anyone laughed. My guess is that many of you have some fun and funny experiences playing this game as well. I also imagine that many of you, like myself, have also experienced the not so funny version of this game.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"—Genesis 3:8-9

The game that we play, even as adults, is nothing new. Our instinctive response when we’ve done something wrong is to hide. Whether we, ourselves, are hiding or we are just hiding the evidence of what we’ve done, there is a natural tendency to hide. And just like our childhood game, the best place to hide is in the dark. We keep the doors and windows to our lives closed in order that we may have an element of secrecy to our inner workings. The least little crack in our exterior can be pierced by light in a way that makes us vulnerable and so we are vigilant in our efforts to keep things in the dark.

Chances are, if you were a part of a youth group in the 90’s you are pretty familiar with the DC Talk song I’m going to mention. While "Jesus Freak" was the favorite of many of my peers, I was attracted to "In the Light". I went from "I wanna be like Mike" as a basketball junkee to "I wanna be in the light" as a follower of Christ. In 1995, when this song was released, I had been trying to figure out this Christianity thing for about 2 ½ years and this song spoke to the inner desire of my heart to be more like Christ. In order to be more like him, I needed light to be shed on my life in a way that revealed everything I had been hiding. The things in the darkness were not like him in the least. Almost 20 years later this song still resonates with me for a couple reasons. First, I still desire to be more like Christ. Second, I still have to deal with darkness.

According to Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, to be 99% known is to be unknown. The 1% of our lives that is in darkness, the 1% that is hiding, is what makes all the difference in our lives. I would imagine that many of us are hiding much more than 1% of our lives from the view of others and whatever that percentage is for you, it’s time to drag it into the light. Here’s why:

That 1% or more is keeping you from the realization that you are truly loved. There’s a reason why people hide things from others. It’s the sense that they wouldn’t love me if they knew what I’ve been through. They wouldn’t love me if they knew what I’ve done. They wouldn’t love me if they knew the 1% I'm hiding. And so, people go through life 99% known with the heavy burden of thinking that they wouldn’t be loved if they were 100% known. The options get boiled down to being unknown and loved or known and unloved. The possibility of being fully known and fully loved seems unrealistic but that’s exactly what we see in scripture. 

But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? –Galatians 4:9

Even when we were living in darkness, in hiding, God knew everything about us. In our own silly and childlike way, we thought we could hide from God. Like Adam and Eve hiding in the bushes, we think that God really doesn’t know where we are. The message of the cross is that God knows us and God loves us. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.—Romans 5:8

Our sin is not hidden from his sight and yet it did not keep Him from loving us. Paul’s appeal to the Galatian church is that it would not instinctively go back into slavery, into hiding. Their lives had been brought out into the light where they can be free, so why would they want to enter back into a life where they are enslaved to all of the things that go along with living in darkness? I’ll reference another DC Talk song from the same album: What if I Stumble? Each and every time we stumble there is a temptation to return to a life of hiding. It’s awkward to stumble in the daylight. People see us fall and it can be uncomfortable and defeating. The bigger the fall, the bigger the desire is to hide it.

Stepping into the light isn’t easy. Trust me. I’ve spent the good part of 3 years taking baby steps (What About Bob?) in my own life with my 1%. (It’s probably closer to 15%) With each step that I take in the direction of being known, the next step is a bit easier. Being known isn’t as scary as it used to be or as scary as I thought it would be. I am so thankful for the providential relationships, as Andy Stanley would refer to them, in my life. They are the folks that God has placed in my life at the time when I needed them. They were the loving and supportive people who sat through my first awkward baby steps into the light. Who are those people in your life and how can you start to take those steps into the light with them? If you are in the light, stay there. No matter how bad you stumble, trying to hide is unhelpful. In the darkness you will stumble again and again, but in the light you will see more clearly the obstacles in your path so that you can keep in step with the Spirit.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. –Galatians 5:25

　

Coaching Lessons

For those of you that participated in high school athletics, I hope that you never had ‘that parent’ at your game.  Every athlete knows the parent I’m talking about. The parent that is yelling at the referee…..and the coach……and their kid. Pretty much, the parent wanting their voice to be heard. I didn’t have ‘that parent’ because my parents didn’t think it was their job to do anything aside from cheer for me. It was my coach’s responsibility to yell out directions and it was my responsibility to try and follow them as best I could. A majority of the time coaches have to yell simply to be heard because of the immense noise during a game. Fill a gym with opposing fans and there is quite an obstacle for a player trying to hear his coach and so it’s important for a player to know his coach’s voice. His voice needs to stand out or you may be led astray and confused by the wrong voice. The time spent in practice prior to the games and the crowds allows a player to become familiar with his coach. The guiding and directive voice heard for a couple hours a day, 4 or 5 days a week, has a way of standing out from the crowd and turning down the volume of the ‘that parent’ and the fans.

Last week was the start of the basketball season for the kids I work with. One thing I regularly remind the kids during practice is that if they’re not looking me they’re not listening to me. This has a twofold purpose. First, it lets me see that they are indeed paying attention to me and not distracted by something or simply letting their mind wander. I need to know that they are listening. While they may argue that they don’t have to see me in order hear me, the fact of the matter is that they do. The second purpose for them looking at me when I’m talking is that they get to see what I’m doing. I’m a pretty demonstrative person, which is necessary when coaching almost any sport. When explaining something like ‘setting a screen for your teammate’ I am not just saying what they need to do. I talk with my hands and feet just as much as with my mouth. While talking I am showing them how to do it. While running through an offensive rotation, I don’t want them setting a screen on an imaginary defender so I stand in as an example. This allows me to see that each one is setting an appropriate screen or give them guidance if something needs to be improved upon.

Isn’t that what we see Jesus doing? His ministry did not consist of simply telling us what we need to do. Jesus didn’t tell us to pray for those who persecute us and then leave us wondering what that looks like. Instead, we see Jesus on the cross praying that his Father would forgive his persecutors because they don’t know what they’re doing. What he taught and how he lived provides us with a complete lesson necessary for us to become like him.

Over the 6 years that I played organized basketball, from 7^th-12^th grade, I had 4 different coaches. While the basics of basketball didn’t change with each new coach, there were some philosophical or systemic differences that affected which type of offense or defense we played. What we did, or attempted to do, on the court was a reflection of what our coach taught in practice. What I find funny is that there are many aspects of what I do now as a coach that is a reflection of how I was coached. I may not remember which specific coach taught me particular things but I do know that I didn’t come up with them on my own. I resemble my coaches in what I say and do with my kids on the court.

What we say and do in this world, as believers, is a reflection of our Coach. I know that there were many times, especially early on as a player, that I wasn’t a good reflection of my coach because I was young and very inexperienced. Now, as a coach myself, I know at the onset of another season that this new group of kids will look nothing like me at first. There is a lot of coaching to do, but my hope is that by the end of the season they will have developed as individuals and as a team. Maybe they will even look a bit like me when all is said and done!

"When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."—John 10:4

When it comes to our Christian walk, do we know our coach’s voice? Does it stand out in the midst of competing voices because we are deeply familiar with it or is it drowned out by the noise of the crowd? A shepherd and his sheep are familiar with each other because of the time they spend together. In order to be familiar with the voice of our Coach we need to be together.

"..wisdom is proved right by her deeds."—Jesus (Matthew 11:19)

When it comes to practice (Yes, Allen Iverson, I’m talking about practice.) are we giving our full attention to the Coach? Are we watching as well as listening? While it is easy to put a special level of importance on the ‘Red Letters’ (Jesus’ words) in the gospels, they ultimately find their value in what Jesus does.

"But Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."—2 Peter 3:18

And lastly, how much do we look like our Coach? Fortunately, as Christians, we don’t have a new coach every so many years. The goals and objectives are not moving targets and so each year we have the opportunity to continue growing in the same direction. That is, growing in Christlikeness.