Well, quite obviously, if you don't know already, I am a coach. I label myself more of a football coach, but I actually coach football, basketball, and track. Football is my first love, so it is more of a default for me. In the athletic setting, players perform on a field, court, or track, mostly at night. Hence, "under the lights". As a coach, I am also on display under those lights. For coaches, the moniker of "under a microscope" might be better. I know you find this hard to believe, but even middle school coaches live life under that microscope. Coaches' decisions are often called into question a few times during a game, even at my level. Therefore, every action I take is under scrutiny. During a game setting, all my work during the week and all the calls I make to the team are on display for the entire crowd. They are wide open to the criticism of the people in the stands. Make sense? Even my life away from the classroom and the field or court is under scrutiny in the public eye. Yes, even as a middle school coach the way I conduct myself, in public and even on social media, is seen by the people that I have some sort of impact on.
Where else does this theme apply to my life? Well, I like to think it applies to my walk with Christ. In 1 John, the Bible says that "God is light," so therefore if I am claiming to be a Christian and living my life in God then I am "under THE light." The Bible goes on to say that if I say that I have fellowship with God, but spend my life in the darkness, then I am lying. It goes on to say that "if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from sin." So therefore, as a Christian, if I am to be in total fellowship with God, then I must be "under the lights." Does that mean if I am walking under the light of God that I will not fail, or that when I'm on the literal playing field that I don't screw up? NO! The Bible goes even as far to say that those who claim to have no sin are lying to themselves. The greatest promise of all, occurs at the end of the passage in 1 John: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." The best thing about all this is that, I don't have to be the perfect Christian or the perfect coach! Does that mean I can go out and live like hell all week and treat my student-athletes like crap all the time? Of course not! However, it does mean that I do not have to fear death for the mistakes I make. I serve a God who loves me and wants to forgive me where I fail. The beauty is, that's how most people are, at least in my opinion.
God wants you to be real, and in my short life I've noticed that most people just look for you to be genuine. We have enough fake people and we definitely have enough fake Christians.
It is time that we started to live all of our lives under, or in, the light. Take it as a blessings that God is watching, and that even others are too!
No comments:
Post a Comment