Jeff Hopper

The Bible for Athletes in the Thick of Competition

Jeff Hopper — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:29:50 -0700

Let’s start here: I won’t be calling anybody out.

Still, in my attention to professional golf events and interaction with Christian golf fans, I often hear expressions of excitement over tournament winners who “speak up for Jesus” by quoting verses they have used to push them to victory. And I’m afraid it is all I can do not to write back to these elated fans and ask, “You do realize that the passage they’re quoting is being entirely misconstrued?”

To their credit, most Christian athletes will be the first to tell you that they are not theologians—and honestly, it shows in the Scripture passages they regularly choose. So as tempting as it is to capture your attention by giving some specific examples of athletes’ victory speeches and the Scripture they have commandeered as a catchphrase for their winning day, I’ll keep the names quiet for the sake of the humble and the innocent.

Yet I think it is important to consider some commonly chosen Bible passages and assess their application before selecting other Scripture choices that may make a lot more sense during a game. Here we go.

Three passages that athletes should trade out for something better

Theologians call the convenient application of a Scripture passage to our personal circumstances or interests “prooftexting.” Some teachers may do this deceptively, but most believers do it lazily or accidentally. Understanding the context of a passage helps us keep a check on our prooftexting and challenges us to apply the verse to our lives as it was meant to be applied, not how we would like it to be applied. Desiring to be more careful with our Scripture application, then, let’s look at three passages that may need to be phased out of use by Christian athletes.

● Jeremiah 29:11 - “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” This is a powerful promise found in the prophetic passages of Scripture. What athletes—and frankly, business people, artists, moms, and just about anyone hoping for a happy outcome—fail to recognize here is that this prophecy was given to a specific people: ancient Israel. Moreover, it is surrounded by all kinds of warnings about what will happen to God’s people if they neglect the pursuit of him. Sadly, verses like this have made their way to the front of many Christians’ “promise packs” because they have the ring of comfort and success. We do a much better job of biblical application if we are sure that a promise is really meant for us and if we understand that God’s picture of success is infrequently the world’s picture of success.

● Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through him who gives me strength. No doubt, athletes need strength. And no doubt, one of the chief principles of sport psychology is to keep telling yourself you can do it. So what better combination for a believer than to say that God can give me the strength to accomplish my goals? The trouble is that no theologian would agree here that “all things” means all things. For instance, we wouldn’t say that through God we can do things outside of his will for us. We can also find plenty of athletes who have believed this verse in full faith but have never accomplished their highest athletic goals. Plus, there are plenty of athletes who win—maybe even dominate their sport—who are doing so without any attentiveness to God. This is a powerful verse, but it is better left in the context where it is written: the ability to respond with Christlike character to the many vagaries of life, whether winning or losing.

● Philippians 3:13-14 - But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I’m sure you get the idea here: reaching the goal. This is what every athlete sets out to do, even the weekend cyclist preparing for her inaugural century ride. So “pressing on” toward such a goal is a perfect fit for the professional and the weekend warrior alike. But it has nothing to do with what the apostle Paul was writing about. Paul was talking about the goal of an eternal prize—a pursuit that ends in death, often a martyr’s death in Paul’s time. Yes, there are professional athletes whose priorities are in order and who, in addition to attempting to be world-class competitors, are willing to put their lives on the line for Jesus. They are pressing on for a heavenly prize. Good! But that pursuit and the pursuit of a trophy that will fade are not the same thing, as Paul clearly delineated for his readers in 1 Corinthians 9:25.

Five passages that may be just right for competition

As a writer, coach and athlete who wants to do things according to God’s design, I wrestle with the difficult balance between maintaining a competitive edge and demonstrating Jesus’ heart. A young athlete recently told me that he had a teammate walk out on him because this athlete did not cuss and berate himself when he made errors. The absence of such behavior, the teammate thought, showed that the athlete did not care about performing well. No wonder it is hard to be a Christian athlete!

I know as an athlete, however, just how much I care. My competitive drive needs no STP^®. Put me on the field of play and I am instantly revved up. I’ll guess it’s the same for you. You hate to lose. But you hate it even more when you deny God’s presence in your life by the things you say or do in the midst of competition. For a committed Christian athlete, this isn’t just about sportsmanship; it’s about reflecting the Lord of our lives. And when we don’t do that well, we fail—no matter how many trophies are on our shelf.

What I have grown interested in, then, are passages of Scripture that feed an athlete’s character more than his or her drive. There are many of these, certainly. And after reading this article, I hope you will be better equipped to find them yourself. But let me introduce you to five passages that you would do well to have fixed in your mind. In some fast-action sports, like volleyball or tennis, you won’t find much time to reflect on these passages in the middle of a game—but if you go into a game with them stored in your heart, you place yourself in a great position to have Jesus’ aroma overcome the sweat of your athletic effort.

● Matthew 5:16 - “Let your light shine before others that they may see your God deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” This is an excellent starting point for all Christian athletes, for it emphasizes the end goal in the way we live our lives: God’s glory. Certainly it is not our victories that will cause others to glorify God—especially when those “others” are our opponents. Rather, when we conduct ourselves with Christ’s heart inside our own, God’s light will become our own and He will be seen as the source of our character.

● Colossians 3:2 - Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Dedicated athletes are very good at establishing priorities and sticking to them. But for Christian athletes, the pursuit of eternal goals must win out. If the competition becomes the most important thing—even in the thick of it—we have lost eternal perspective; we have chosen to go after treasures that moth and rust destroy while forsaking the things that last. The context of this verse directly attaches the setting of our mind to the wonder of Christ’s resurrection and glory. Why would we ever want to be overcome by lesser thoughts?

● Colossians 3:12-15 - Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. While the context of this passage emphasizes relationships among believers, we know that the world takes notice of how we act to one another (see John 13:35). Besides, you will need a lot of these aspects of character with your teammates as much as you will need them with your opponents! This is a big passage, one to learn over time, perhaps, but you might start with key phrases, such as this one: “…let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”

● Galatians 5:22-23 - The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. I recently spent the day in the close presence of an athlete whose character was not governed by many of these traits. When adversity came, his words and demeanor demonstrated a lack of peace, patience and self-control. But here’s the funny thing: he met his goal for that day, qualifying for a national competition. Sadly, the only lesson I got from him was this: don’t get upset before the day is over. His attitude coupled with his successful result made him look more like a fool than a winner. To store this list of Spirit-driven characteristics in our heart should interrupt us in the heat of competition from dishonoring our God, our teammates, our opponents, and ourselves.

● Isaiah 40:30-31 – Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. At first glance, this may appear to be one of those verses conveniently applied to an athletic context: getting back our physical strength. But consider this passage anew. If in the midst of competition, we can take a deep breath and say, “Lord, I place my hope in you to restore my commitment to Jesus’ character in this moment,” we will be well on our way to giving him glory. We will be able to count on him to renew our spiritual strength—the strength we need to be like Jesus in the thick of competition.

One great verse for reflection

We put ourselves in excellent position to honor God in competition when we fix certain Bible passages in our hearts and minds. But before we come to an end, we want to recognize that proper reflection after the game is over can also help us in our growing relationship with God and others. Here is a passage many people, including athletes, know already, and one that can help us in our warm-down, whether we have won or lost.

● Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Athletes are prone to two extremes: overwhelming pride and self-absorbed disappointment. Both of these responses to competition can lead to faithlessness. When we stop after a match or meet and think back on what has transpired while also recognizing that God will be using this hour in our life for a greater good, we are humbly giving him credit for his preeminence over all matters.

The apostle Paul told the ancient Athenians that God appointed the times and places each person would live. This is an overwhelming truth, for we recognize in God’s detail that he must also have a reason for our existence at each and every moment! One of the best routines we can develop as athletes, then, is to keep asking ourselves, before and after both practices and games, “What purpose does God have for me in this?” If we can reach that answer through prayerful conversation with him and shared counsel with other believers, we can match our purpose to his. I can think of no greater victory than that—for then we will find ourselves right in the middle of God’s will for our lives.

( You can find a pdf of this article here to print and share. Scripture passages used in this article were taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.)

Football coaches, theology, and the God stamp

Jeff Hopper — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:53:19 -0700

So Jim Tressel took himself out of hot water. Or his bosses did. Hard to tell with coaches’ “resignations.” But however it went down, Tressel is now separated from the decade past, those ten years when he led one of the country’s most dominant college football programs at The Ohio State University.

Or maybe not.

You see, when almost all was said and done, Tressel wrote this into his final statement: “We know that God has a plan for us and we will be fine. We will be Buckeyes forever.” If you’re wondering about the plural, Tressel was including his wife Ellen in his thinking here. And if you’re wondering about how far removed Tressel will be from Ohio State football, it appears not too far, in that he will be a Buckeye forever.

Which leaves us wondering if Tressel really is just another football coach who should never dabble in theology. I mean, is that forever forever, or just forever? You know, the eternal forever, or just the until-I-die forever?

I wish this were only a matter of semantics. Unfortunately it’s not, because Tressel’s books, including his very recent Life Promises for Success: Promises from God on Achieving Your Best, emphasize topics such as honesty, integrity and faith. Now with the first two traits (honesty and integrity) in grave question as far as Tressel is concerned, it brings the third (faith) under scrutiny as well.

May I make a blanket statement: Can we all just quit using the God stamp? Football coaches especially. God is not a Buckeye, Tiger, Gator, Longhorn, Bruin, Duck, or any other mascot you can dream up. He’s not even a Fighting Christian, as Elon College long called their mascot (until they rose again as the Phoenix when they moved to University status in 2001). And when we go on about God being a hundred things He is not—Republican or Democrat, American or Irani, Packer or Cowboy—we just end up looking stupid.

I’m not saying, as some do, that God does not care about this stuff. God cares about every little thing.

Here’s another way of looking at it. Nearly every Civil War general, Union or Confederate, believed one thing: God was on his side. The South lost. Guess Jackson and Lee and Longstreet and Pickett were wrong, all wrong. Or guess not. Because when it comes to individuals, God is on each one’s side. Not that He’s assuredly going to let you win whatever battle you’re fighting—be it military or athletic. But He’s going to do whatever He can to capture your heart. Sometimes that’s about losing. Sometimes—sorry to say this, Coach Tressel—that’s about being a Wolverine.

Sometimes God uses our enemies to draw our attention to Him. You don’t have to read very far into your Old Testament to start seeing that truth over and over.

So let the stamps fall where they may. Mavericks over here, Heat over there. Just don’t take God and stamp Him on top of your favorite. If anything, you’re inviting Him to make you look silly.

Athletes? Christians?

Jeff Hopper — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:59:34 -0700

What makes an athlete?

It’s a common question, with bowlers normally excluded and football players (both kinds) always counted in.

It’s a question we can raise again today as Forbes has announced its top 10 most influential athletes for 2011.

At the top: Jimmie Johnson, a NASCAR driver.

I’ll give Johnson the sweat part that comes with most athletes. But that comes with most farm workers, factory laborers, and gardeners too.

I’ll give Johnson the concentration part that is required of humans driving vehicles at fatality-encouraging speeds for hours on end. But concentration comes with data entry operators and death defiance with airline pilots.

So we could question Johnson’s sport. We could say he’s not an athlete. And we could argue the same for fellow drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Jeff Gordon, who are also in Forbes’ top 10.

Still, it sounds a lot like Christian-splitting though, doesn’t it? You know, those discussions that lead us to pronounce who counts as a believer.

Just as with athletes, there are signs.

The fruit of the Spirit, say. But I’ve known plenty of people who speak little else of faith in their lives and yet outshine me in patience, or joy, or kindness.

Perhaps it has to do with those who stand up best for Jesus. They’re articulate, passionate, accessibly intellectual. And yet we know that some who say “Lord, Lord,” and have used God’s name with effect will be standing apart from God in the end, by His choice.

OK, so it’s about their church. Mormons out. Baptists in. Catholics, hmmm. Truth is, we can find some pretty insidious error just about everywhere we look. And while I’m pleased to hear more leaders ask God at the end of a book or a sermon to erase things they have said that do not rightly reflect Him and His Word, it also reminds me that no one has it altogether accurate.

I can’t tell you who the most influential athlete is. It will change next year, anyway, when the Olympics return or Tiger Woods regains his form or Jimmie’s car sputters and spins more often than it crosses the finish line.

People change, too. The worst find Jesus, whom they have been seeking more desperately and more earnestly than many who glibly sing that they “walk with Him and talk with Him along life’s narrow way.” The ones we thought we knew best, who we praised as husbands and moms and leaders and servants, give temptation their hand and walk away from it all.

I want to tell you Jesus died for you. I want to tell you that there is assurance of salvation in Him. I want to tell you that many, many have it. And they do. I just can’t tell you who.

Charles Barkley, Theologian

Jeff Hopper — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:25:30 -0700

I know, I know, it was Sir Charles Barkley (not really a knight) who once famously said that he was not a role model, that he had no desire to be a role model, that no one should expect him to be a role model, that he had no intention of behaving like a role model. Actually, Barkley didn't stretch it out with so many words--but if you know Charles, you know that he could have. And you know that Barkley has lived up to his non-role model title more than a few times.

But listen to Barkley now.

As the Monday night halftime show between the Mavericks and Lakers neared its end, Barkley and his studio company took a look at the nasty turn of ankle suffered by Chicago's Derrick Rose (he of the almost MVP) in the closing seconds of the Bulls' loss to Atlanta. Host Matt Winer noted that the Bulls had declared Rose "day to day."

Then, with no camera on him in the moment and no superfluity on his part, Barkley slipped in this little beaut: "Aren't we all?"

There is more than a little debate about who first said, "All truth is God's truth," but if that observation is true itself, then God's truth floated past the lips of Charles Barkley on Monday night. It was the short version of this: “'This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’" (Luke 12:20).

Barkley's interjection was mostly received with chuckles by his studiomates. But if he wants to expound, I'd be happy to listen. Or not. For if the Proverbs teach us that wisdom is carried in brevity, then maybe Charles' age really is producing a wisdom that needs no expansion.

Just Asking

Jeff Hopper — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:22:16 -0700

During Game 2 of their opening round NBA Playoffs series with the New Orleans Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers debuted a public service announcement intended to discourage anti-gay slurs such as the one made recently by Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant in the direction of an NBA official.

For noticeably and loudly saying this slur so heinous that almost no news outlet dared hint what it actually was, Bryant was fined $100,000. Interestingly, the outcry and fine came only days after a UCLA study reported that just 3.5 percent of Americans are homosexual (a number far smaller than the usual 10-percent figure announced by LGBT groups).

Which leads me to ask: If a slur bothering 3.5 percent of the population earns you a $100,000 fine, and as many as 80 percent of Americans call themselves Christians, would NBA commissioner David Stern truly consider a--doing the math here--$2.3 million fine for the next player who clearly profanes the name of Jesus Christ? Or would such a huge number only apply to a star like Bryant?

Oh, and here's another question: Will I be dismissed for asking as a moralist, or accepted for asking as a pluralist?

The Masters and the Greatest

Jeff Hopper — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:14:11 -0700

“Sing praise-songs to God. He’s done it all!

Let the whole earth know what he’s done!

Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion!

The Greatest lives among you: The Holy of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:5-6, The Message)

They wore their emotions for all to see on Sunday. Anger. Frustration. Disappointment. Happiness. Satisfaction. Glee.

And I emoted right along with them, from Charl Schwartzel’s holeout at the second just after I turned on the TV, to Rory McIlroy’s crushing blow at the tenth, to Adam Scott’s dart at the sixteenth, to Luke Donald’s bizarre pin-slamming, chip-dunking birdie at the last. In the end, Schwartzel it was who left us all pleased that someone from that unprecedented pack emerged not as an accidental winner but as a surging champion.

Now, may I make an observation? It’s about me. It’s about all of us, the people who say that the Greatest, the Holy of Israel lives among us.

Too often, because major sports events like the Masters are resolved on Sunday afternoons, I find in me a disappointing juxtaposition. The emotions I express in those hours of watching spirited competition outshine those in the morning hours when I am at worship with God’s people. Why?

For one, we have perhaps let church-going become a lifeless habit. We busy it up with programs and schedules that keep the crowd organized, but this often only contributes to the routine. Is there enough room left for the worship, for the silence, for the unexpected interjection of the Greatest’s own voice (however that might be perceived in your congregation)?

For two, while the Western world is bold in its argumentation, it seems to be timid in its proclamation—and increasingly so when God is involved. Mindful of putting others off, even offending them, we are fearful to cheer God Himself, to be who we were created to be before Him: worshippers in spirit and in truth. Let me ask you this: What would come to mind if someone said to you, “Show some spirit”? Maybe that’s the very question we need to ask ourselves when we think of how to best worship the Holy of Israel.

And for three, while we may speak over coffee about how Christ is living in us, I’m not sure we’re so good at letting Him come alive in us. I’ve got a notion that God is trying to light something much bigger than a candle in us. And if we would let that bonfire burn brightly, we just might find ourselves voicing what Isaiah voiced: “Raise the roof!”

One of my sons, a multi-sport athlete, loves the expression, “Go big or go home.” What would I do if an usher slid up next to me next Sunday morning during worship and said the same? I wonder. I hope I’d laugh at my blown cover and then go big!

(This post is co-published with Links Players International, www.linksplayers.com.)

Willing to wrestle with God

Jeff Hopper — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:04:58 -0700

I spend three or four afternoons a week this time of year coaching a local high school golf team. The following words emerge from a part of that work and the community of adults who explore Jesus together with me every other week at an area country club. At the core of this piece is the one thing God has been impressing on me most deeply since the day I officiated a funeral this winter for the father of one of my players: that we must keep wrestling with Him.

THE NAME OF GOD'S PEOPLE

The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28, NIV)

I’ve been working with a player whose short game has no variety. He’s an enjoyable young player to work with, but like a lot of us, if something is “working,” he’s reluctant to change.

For now, he is most comfortable with a pitch shot that starts with his hands pressed far forward and the blade squared up. He gets consistent, even excellent, results using this method. But as you might guess, the shot has no loft, and since it is his only option, it permits him little success when he has to come in over a mound or a bunker.

So we’ve been working toward a new approach to add to his repertoire: a shot with his feet open to the target and the clubface laid back—a lob shot. It’s not going very well. These things take time. And wrestling.

Have you ever given much thought to the name God chose for His own people? God certainly did; in Scripture we find He often had an interest in names. And, as you might guess, few were as meaningful as the new name He gave to Jacob, the name that would be carried by His people throughout time: Israel, “he struggles with God.”

Struggling, wrestling, scratching and clawing. These are probably not expressions you would give to your study and prayer times. This stuff isn’t really supposed to induce a sweat, is it?

I have been working through some tough material with one of our local Links Fellowships of late, ideas and pictures from Scripture that torque us pretty good. We’re a mixed bunch, with different church backgrounds and memberships, as well as unique personal experiences and challenges. When we find ourselves converging over a “dimly lit” spot in Scripture, or talking about actions of God that make us squirm, we’re tempted to retreat to our individual launching pads. But I try to remind them and me, “It’s OK to wrestle with this. We are the people of God. This is what we are supposed to do.”

What we’re not supposed to do is throw up our hands and walk away. Stay engaged. Keep wrestling. Look to overcome.

(Also published as the Links Daily Devotional for April 1, 2011 – www.linksplayers.com)

Victorious humility

Jeff Hopper — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:38:25 -0700

It seemed like only hours since I had put down C.J. Mahaney’s mini-book, Don’t Waste Your Sports. In it, Mahaney outlines a number of representative traits that Christ-focused athletes playing should be displaying on and around the playing field. Among these is humility.

I have to tell you, I’m a sucker for humility. In fact, I have made a habit of teaching through the years that, contrary to popular opinion, God does play favorites. He favors the humble. This is true both for those who are made lowly by their circumstances and those who endeavor to humble themselves before the sovereign Lord. This latter group, James wrote, are those whom God lifts up.

But humility is hard to find in the many arenas of sports. Last night, L.A. Laker Ron Artest made a crucial 3-pointer in the team’s eventual triple-overtime win against the Phoenix Suns, then blew big kisses to the crowd when a timeout immediately followed. It got a big laugh out of me. But no, it was not humble. And in the NBA, particularly, where most games could contribute 30-40 such moments to a highlight reel, there are plenty of opportunities for athletes to point their fingers, thump their chests, and otherwise make sure their accomplishments are noticed and rewarded—at least with endearing applause.

So I was more than pleasantly surprised to read the words of Butler University men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens, after his team pulled off two razor-thin wins during the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, the second coming against the region’s top seed, Pittsburgh.

Stevens told reporters: “We’re not a better basketball team than Old Dominion or Pittsburgh. We just had the ball last.”

Now college basketball coaches are notorious for not stirring rivalry pots unnecessarily. But normally they do so with tired clichés: “First of all, let me give credit to ___________ (fill in the blank with the name of the team his squad just beat). They are a really good basketball team.” But what seems to lie below the surface here is a second statement: “But they’re not as good as we are.”

Stevens’ words just struck me a step beyond. They exhibited that this coach understands the nature of a tournament where one’s very existence is so fragile. A misstep here, a bad bounce there, and you’re done. Stevens captured the essence of why all athletes and teams should be humble. They may work hard, they may try hard, they may compete hard—but sometimes the circumstances turn you into a victor and sometimes they turn you into one defeated.

Yes, I was intentionally avoiding two expected words right there: Winner. Loser. Here’s why: Winning does not make winners. Losing does not make losers. In fact, losers are often exposed in their winning, while winners can be revealed best through losses.

Brad Stevens’ Butler Bulldogs won twice last week. But more than that, Stevens showed that he is a winner, whether or not his team wins again in this tournament. For me, at least, that’s how powerful humility is.

Nick Watney's improvement and ours

Jeff Hopper — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:23:51 -0700

The devotion I have written for Tuesday's Links Daily Devotional speaks to issues of grace and spiritual growth. It may be helpful here in light of recent discussion:

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience… (Colossians 1:9-11, NIV)

Johnny Miller couldn’t get over it. He kept returning to the statistic about Nick Watney’s short game.

Last year Watney, who won the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Sunday against the world’s best players, was 146^th on Tour in scrambling, the ability to get up and down from off the green to save par. After Sunday, Watney is—and this truly is amazing—second.

That’s right. Watney’s short game has improved so much that he has gone from one of the worst regulars on tour to nearly the best. I’m with Miller. This is both impressive by itself and indicative of why Watney walked away with the trophy on Sunday.

But here’s my question in light of so much of what I read on discussion boards and blogs these days: why is it that we can be so enamored with improvement in the athletic world and so resistant to it in one’s spiritual life?

So many places these days I read that grace is enough. And it is. Enough for our forgiveness, enough for our salvation, enough for our blessing. Grace is enough.

And yet, there is room for improvement in our walk with Jesus. Grace was never meant to give us a day off in the kingdom.

Understand, this is not self-improvement I am speaking of. This is improvement assigned and empowered by God.

Improvement by assignment. Look: when a coach wants his players to improve, he assigns them various drills and sets them to practice. The players do not resist this, saying, “You’re the coach. You are far above us and know so much more. Why should we even try?” What an absurd response that would be! Rather, they take on the instruction and discipline the coach assigns—for the sake of improvement. Obedience is not a rejection of grace, it is an acceptance of it. It says to God, “Thank You for making the way clear for me so that I don’t have to stumble through a life of trial and error. When I follow Your ways, I can count on the best life possible.”

Improvement by empowerment. And yet our work for Jesus is not a work we dare perform alone in our smarts and our strength. We consult with Him, plead with Him, trust Him, follow Him. We do this with confidence knowing precisely that His grace will pick us up when we fall. We do this “fill[ed]…with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”

Grace is first. It is what puts us on Christ’s “team.” Now we are set to play—and to strive to get better in the playing!

Basketball, honor codes, and grace

Jeff Hopper — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:18:54 -0800

Brandon Davies. Rob Bell. When it comes to hot bulletin board topics this week, you probably have to take your pick.

I’ll let you read for yourself all the Rob (Hell) Bell stuff. In this space, I’ll be sticking to Davies. And premarital sex. And LDS morality. And, hopefully, Scripture.

In the afterglow of BYU’s second win of the season over Mountain West basketball rival San Diego State, all should have been well in Cougarland. The blue-and-white appeared poised for a possible No. 1 seed come next Sunday’s NCAA tournament selection time.

Then the fan started spinning and the result was not pretty.

Davies, you likely know by now, had violated the university’s honor code, having had sex with his girlfriend sometime last fall. The university didn’t actually come forth with this information. It leaked. So while some were quick to want to forgive Davies over a “common college activity,” for all we know this was no singular incident. University officials may have already “rendered grace.”

And that’s where I want to head for a bit here, because while I am willing to give ground to those who do not hold to biblical morality and are asking what the big deal is, I wonder sometimes just what has happened to what we might call Christian common sense, that which should make us wise both in the world and in Scripture.

For instance, why do some people miss the fact that big-college athletes, in addition to normally having a large chunk of their education paid for, represent the university more visibly than almost anyone on campus? I can tell you that I have certainly heard of Davies and potential college player of the year Jimmer Fredette—a teammate of Davies. I wouldn’t have a clue who the president of BYU is. So if a college wants to ask its most visible reps to adhere to certain contracts over their conduct—especially contracts that all students are supposed to adhere to—this seems like no greater request than those made by employers everyday. Student athletes are like employees: they sign up for these expectations. Don’t like what one school or corporation demands? Go elsewhere. That’s simple earthly common sense.

But let’s consider this more deeply, from a biblical standpoint, because somewhere along the way, too many Christians have fallen in love with an unmitigated grace. They seem ready to instantly and easily forgive virtually every sin on a moment’s notice. Some felt BYU was out of bounds for this very reason; they were said to be graceless in the Davies situation. But I am not sure the application of grace applies in the Davies case, and here are three biblical looks at why:

1. What do you call a Nazirite who cuts his hair, drinks wine, and touches a dead person? Here’s a hint: You wouldn’t call him a Nazirite. It is in Numbers 6 that we read of this special class of Hebrew. Above and beyond the common law, a Nazirite voluntarily took a vow to follow God with an extra measure of self-discipline. While we would not say that the breaking of this vow was a sin of any great consequence, the breaking of the vow—even an accidental encounter with a dead body—necessitated a period of cleansing and restoration. The point? Sometimes, God’s people take upon themselves a discipline “above and beyond,” not for their own honor but for the honor of God.

2. You find the same principle in 1 Corinthians 7:5, where Paul wrote this to married couples about their sex lives: “Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer”—people honoring God with an extra measure of self-discipline. Who is dis-graced when the vow is broken? I certainly would not be bothered. How about God? Many people are not bothered by Davies’ action, even suggesting that no punishment should be given, because this is akin to the casting of stones by those who have likewise sinned themselves. But again, this was an agreement of Davies’ own doing. He signed the contract; he broke the contract; his school was dis-graced—not only in the unchastity but also in the lie that signed an agreement not kept.

3. And herein lies the clincher: If you want to make the argument that God’s grace is enduring through your continuing and intentional sins, you’ll find yourself arguing with Scripture itself. Grace, the Bible teaches, is a remedy for the sin of our old lives; it is never a license for sin in our new life. “Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? By no means!” Paul wrote to the Romans. And to the Corinthians, “You are not your own; you were bought with a price.”

I will give grace quickly to any sinner who turns to Jesus. By His grace, the old is gone. This is the grace that was given to me. It is the grace that forgave me and it is the grace the keeps forgiving me. But if I (a) harbor a sin-habit and presume on that grace, or (b) set out with sin-intent to disregard that grace, what I show is that I have no intention of honoring God. I dis-grace Him. I should not then be surprised if His grace is staunched as it was in the days of Jeremiah (read Jeremiah 44)—not because He does not want to give it, but because we have no intention of honoring it.

Believe me, I will not rush to judgment. Not only is that God’s work, I wouldn’t have the least idea as to the details of Brandon Davies’ life. But I also will not fall into the modern trap of dispensing God’s grace where it is only going to be trampled upon. This would be casting pearls before swine. Remember, it was right after saying that we should not judge others that Jesus approved the kind of discerning judgment that holds back the treasures of the kingdom from those who have no honorable interest in them. I pray this is not the case for Davies, but I am afraid it is increasingly the case for others whose God-disgracing actions are being too readily dismissed.