Today I want to continue with part 2 of a lesson I preached a while back on “Lessons from Basketball (part 1)”. We all interact in the world in different ways. Some like working with computers, others like building things, or tearing things up. Some like planning things, others like working with wood, or like helping young people or older people. Some like teaching while others like playing with chemicals. With these interactions and the things we like to do, we learn lessons that can be applied to our lives as Christians. Today I would like to share some things that basketball taught me.

1. Hard work, overcoming trials, and having a goal pays off (Philippians 3:12-14, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Peter 1:10-11). With basketball everyone can be a good winner, but coaches and players have to learn how to be good losers too. It is not all about winning games. It is about realizing that in defeat many lessons can also be learned to make us better. We Christians can learn that even though we might lose in the world, in trials there are many lessons we can learn to make us better (Romans 5:3-4, James 1:2-4).

2. Time with players is worth it (Luke 5:27-32, 7:29-35)! The hours of practice and games gave me a chance to develop relationships with players that were very special and that continue on today. It is a wonderful feeling when a former player comes up to me to say hello. One time in a Middle School game at Halls, Beth and I were sitting very near the court, and the game was very close. I had coached the same boys in a summer league previous to the Middle School season and taught them a sidelines play called KAT. At one of most critical times late in the game the boys called out for KAT and I am sure the coach had no idea what they were saying. They ran the play beautifully, scored, and won the game. Afterwards one of boys came up to me and asked me if I noticed the play they ran.

Last Fall, a mom of a young lady I coached on quite a few teams called up Beth to thank me for helping her daughter to finally make her high school basketball team. The mom relayed how the young lady appreciated all the things in basketball I had taught her and more importantly the things I taught her about life. The time we spend with young people is surely worth it! 

3. Players need chastening AND encouragement (Hebrews 12:5-6, Romans 14:19). Chastening and encouragement are needed to have a successful basketball team. If one or the other is missing, the team will ultimately fail. Each player needs chastening and encouragement and a good coach will be constantly striving to find that balance. At times I was hard on Daniel because I knew he had tremendous potential as a ball player but I always tried to balance the discipline with love and encouragement. I am not saying I was always successful at finding the perfect balance, but I believe to be a good coach you need to be striving for that. It is the same for us as Christians. Just like the woman caught in adultery (John 8:6-11). This is an example of Jesus chastening and encouraging at the same time.

4. Each player is different (1 Corinthians 12:18-27, 1 Peter 4:7-11). Two of my favorite players were not asked to play basketball for their school teams. The coaches for some reason did not realize that these unique kids had a lot to offer a basketball team. Zack was a little wild and goofy in practice, but when given the proper encouragement and friendship, would battle with the best of them in games. Alexis was quiet, very sensitive, and had trouble controlling her temper, but she showed me that she was gifted in many ways that most ballplayers were not. I loved coaching these and other players who had their own unique talents and strengths. They helped teams to have a lot of success. The same is true for us. We are all very different and have different gifts from God. When we embrace our differences and work together, these differences end up helping us all grow in the Lord and glorifying Him!

In addition, a coach cannot have the same expectations for each of his very different players. Not all of them will be good at shooting. Not all will be good at dribbling or rebounding or passing. But as a coach, the goal is to find something that a player can do well and something that they can bring to the team to help the team be successful. One of my players was a little girl who was so feeble and weak that she could hardly do anything. At the time each child had a chance to score a basket by shooting a foul shot at half time of games. This little girl wanted to make a shot so badly that she would constantly be working on shooting at practice and at home. Her mother was so fearful for her that she would not even come to her games. I figured out that if this little girl shot underhand she could get the ball high enough to have a chance to go in the basketball goal. I worked and worked with her until she finally made a basket in practice. I told her dad to encourage her mom to come to the next game. At half time of that game she shot her underhanded basket and made it! Everyone of her teammates and everyone in the gym clapped and shouted for joy because they knew how much that meant to little Lauren. Well you know what; she now had helped her team by working hard. Another girl I coached on a number of teams could not shoot, pass, or dribble. But she had very strong hands. So I taught her how to make steals by grabbing the ball from a player on the other team. The last game she played for me she had four steals for our team; a little girl that again worked hard to help her team.

Each player is different and has different talents that can help a team. In 1982 a college coach gave a young man an opportunity to play because he saw something in him that had been overlooked for years by high school coaches. This young man worked hard and when given the opportunity was able to be one of the starters on the team. He embraced the role of doing the dirty work of playing defense on the opposing team’s best player and rebounding. He ended up, even though very undersized, leading the team in rebounds. The coach also had an unusual tradition of having teammates vote on who should be the team captain before each game. This same young man was voted team captain by his fellow players for the last four games of the season. You see the players recognized the importance of this young man’s role even though most people overlooked the value he brought to the team. Years of frustration to this young man were erased because he finally was able to prove he could play basketball at a very high level. All because a coach saw an important role for this young man in using his talents to help the team succeed.

These illustrations show that we all have something to offer in our work for the Lord’s team! We all need to make sure we do not overlook our brothers and sisters who embrace the tasks that are not as glamorous as others. These might include reading to and teaching old folks the gospel, helping a brother when they have computer problems, simply listening when a brother or sister is going through a rough stretch in life, giving an unexpected gift, helping a very little one go to the bathroom, calling to say hello, having lunch with young people, turning on and off the lights, holding a fussy baby during services to give a mom a break, taking care of the collection, etc., etc. We are all different and have different talents, and some may go unnoticed most of the time, but these works are very important to the Lord! 

5. Related to this is Teamwork (Ephesians 4:14-16). If each player is simply doing what he wants and being selfish about it, there will be a team of 10 individuals not working in unity. In basketball everyone wants to be a shooter and a scorer. But if everyone wants to be the shooter, the team cannot function properly. On a team you need players who accept each one of their roles happily and try to work as a unit. Some of those roles are not as glamorous as others, but are still very important to the success of the team. After big games UCLA coach John Wooden would be interviewed and asked about his star players who scored a lot of points. In those interviews Coach Wooden would always stress the importance of a great play that a player who did not play much made, or how hard all the players, even the ones who did not play in the game, worked in practice to make the team as good as they could be. This is a Biblical concept. We all have roles for the Lord and some of them are not as obvious as others, but all the roles are equally important if we are going to be successful as a church of the Lord!

6. Coaches need to be themselves (Romans 12:3-8). Trying to be someone else does not work. We need to use what God has given us. It is the same in coaching as in preaching and teaching the gospel. When I tried to coach in a style of others, some things did not feel right and I did not do very well. One time I had two high school players picking at each other during a practice so much that it became a distraction to the entire team. I had them run laps and that did not do any good. They did not want to get along with each other. So I made them sit along the sideline facing each other a few inches a part. I told them that if they did not figure out how to get along with each other they would have to sit that way for the entire practice. Within a few minutes they both apologized to each other and to me. This is also an example about how two individuals who have a problem with each other can impact the entire team in a bad way. When individuals have a problem it benefits the entire team for them to work it out. It is the same when Christian’s have problems. Two individuals with a problem can impact the entire church (Galatians 5:9). When we have a problem with a brother or sister, we need to work out the problem for our own good as well as the good of the congregation!

This idea of being ourselves is also not limited to coaches. Samantha played basketball for one year on a team I coached. She had a good time and shared in some good things, but she found out basketball was not for her. Sometimes we try something in our life as Christians and it is not the best fit for us. As a Christian, we need to keep looking to figure out what talents God has given us so we can use them to His glory. 

7. Opportunity to teach can arise at any time (1 Peter 3:15) – Just being a Christian as I coached gave me opportunities to help others with the gospel. One time a Christian who was the mother of one of my players asked my advice about her marital situation. It turned out that she had divorced her husband unlawfully. I taught her that in that case she needed to repent of her sin of the unscriptural divorce of her husband and seek to reconcile with him. Shortly after our communication she did that very thing. She repented to her husband and sought reconciliation. No matter what our task in this world is, whether it be a coach, a worker, a student, the Lord will give us opportunities to teach and preach the gospel in order to help others (2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3).

8. Face mistakes and ask forgiveness (Luke 19:8) – Over the 12 years of coaching I made some mistakes. Sometimes I just goofed up in my strategy or in my game plans or misjudged a situation. Sometimes I gave in to frustration. There were times over the 12 years that I needed to say I was sorry to my players, or to parents, and even a couple of times to referees. I am not perfect and you all know that. But when a coach makes mistakes and never faces or deals with those mistakes, I believe that coach sets a terrible example. As Christians, we all fall short from time to time (1 John 1:8-10).  When a coach does not show humility when he or she could have done things better or when they have made a mistake, it shows others, including their players, that they do not need to humble themselves when they fall short. All mankind needs to humble themselves to God or they will be lost eternally. When we fall short we all need humility (James 4:6-10).

Close – Basketball has taught me many things both as a player in college and as a coach. But the greatest lessons I have learned from basketball are those that can help me and others become better Christians! On the grand scheme of things, basketball is not very important. But I believe there are some great lessons from basketball that we can apply to our lives as Christians. His Word teaches how each is do their part! Our goal as a team is to encourage each other to be faithful, save the lost, and seek to be in Heaven one day! On the Lord’s team we have the perfect coach. A coach who knows exactly what we need and exactly what it will take to be victorious over Satan and sin.

A Coach needs to have the respect of his players if he is going to be able to teach them what they need to know! Much like we need to respect the Master Teacher and listen to what He says. We will not be able to learn how to live and how to one day be rewarded if we do not respect, listen to, and honor His word (John 14:15).

What about you this morning? Are you on the Lord’s team? Have you become a Christian and started your journey to Heaven? Or maybe you are a Christian who has not been doing your part for the Lord. We all fall short sometimes, but the Lord wants us to rise up, repent when we fall, and then do our part in His Kingdom. When we do these things, he will reward us with the ultimate victory; eternal life! Won’t you come while we stand and sing?