Manny Pacquiao's Prayer

Pac-Man is pretty much at the height of his game right now. He's still winning fights against much larger opponents, he is appearing on nighttime talk shows, and he is a congressman in his home country of the Philippines. Regardless, Pacquiao still finds time to pray to the Lord, thanking him for all the blessings in his life. As you can see by the picture, he does this with incredible sincerity and quietness despite everything going on around him. Pacquiao's life right now is clearly one of incredible turmoil, chaos, change, and pressure; yet he still finds time to go directly to the Lord in silence.

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. -- Luke 18:13-14

Too often we neglect this time of prayer. It's hard enough for most of us to get prayer in during a public meal; how are we supposed to pray during sports? The fact is that we need heartfelt prayer for everything we do, and sports are no exception. Pacquiao's way of praying shows his incredible gratitude for the Lord, and his humility in being able to express his faith so quietly. Ironically, this quiet display becomes very loud in the public's eye. In a world that is encouraging Pacquiao to revel in his accomplishment and be proud of his amazing athletic prowess, he refuses and goes back to the Lord for guidance. When we go to the Lord for prayer while in public, even when we're scared and confused of what form it should take we can remember this example. Just be thankful for everything the Lord has given you, and faithfully request his guidance henceforth; no grand public displays needed. The Lord will provide everything else you need if you have this attitude.

God's Design: Where We Fit In

A young man asked me recently how one is supposed to deal with insulting situations. He told me that when somebody confronts him and tries to put him down, he feels obligated to defend himself in whatever manner the situation warrants; physically or verbally. As humans most of us boil down to one of two impulses in these situations: fight or flight. As Christians though, and new people in God, we are given a third option; trust.

I think its fair to say that some people involved in sports practice as a way to justify themselves to other people. They want to let their actions speak for themselves so that everyone knows what sort of person they are, and if confronted, they can point out their accomplishments. If somebody called me slow in High School, I could prove them wrong with medals and ribbons, and doing so filled me with an intense, albeit shallow, sense of pride. To borrow a metaphor from a comedian I heard a long time ago, this sort of pride is a lot like Fruit Stripe gum: extremely gratifying for a few seconds, although quickly replaced by boredom and staleness unless constantly refreshed.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. -- Ephesians 4:20-24

As Christians, we don't need to justify our identities anymore. We give our lives to God precisely because our actions without him are meaningless, and we desperately desire him to come and save us from ourselves. When we give our lives to God, we recognize the fickleness of our accomplishments, and finally let God define what we are. Since God is defining us, we don't need to prove anything to anyone. When people around us question what it is that's defining us as people, we can simply tell them that Jesus died on the cross for us, loves us eternally, and we live our lives trying to help him in whatever way he wants. We let God's actions speak for us; and we delight in the fact that his actions are infinitely more worthwhile and amazing than anything we could ever do.

God's Design: Ben Zobrist

I'll go ahead and reveal a startling revelation to you all: Not everyone is called to full-time ministry. While everyone is called to give their life to God, not everyone is meant to be a Priest, Pastor, or other such jobs that require extraordinary charisma and articulation. On a related note, Ben Zobrist is not Grant Desme. In addition to being a Major League Baseball player instead of a prospect turned Priest, Ben is a man who felt God's call was for him to pursue baseball.

Coming out of High School, Ben didn't receive any calls from scouts. As the son of a pastor, while a very talented athlete, he had planned to go to college to begin his path as a youth minister. He felt God nudging him a little bit, so he decided to use his leftover birthday money and attend a college scouting camp despite his parents' misgivings. Ben received an offer from a school, but told his parents he would submit to their will if they believed God's call for him was in ministry. His parents asked him what he thought God was telling him, and he told them he felt like God wanted him to play a little more, and his parents let him play having showed such maturity earlier. He took the scholarship, was drafted a few years later, and broke into the MLB soon afterwards.

Unlike Grant Desme, he struggled a little coming through the Minors. Despite the gaudy numbers he put up in 2009, Zobrist was always seen as a super-utility player--A great piece on a winning team, but not a cornerstone to build on. Whereas Desme experienced the thrill of being at the top and felt God tug him away, Zobrist felt the dredge of mediocrity and felt God push him on towards greater success.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed...Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. -- 1st Corinthians, 12:1,4-6

If we see God calling some of us away from our mediocre jobs, and others on to greater glory in our current fields, does this mean God is inconsistent? No. This means God has personal plans for each of us, and we need to leave our hearts open for that plan to take hold of our actual lives. Both Ben and Grant's choices were huge leaps of faith; Zobrist risked angering his family and losing out on valuable schooling to pursue a pipe dream, and Grant gave up a possibly highly lucrative career to pursue a lifetime of service. We need to trust God that he gave us the gifts he wanted us to have, has put us in a place to either use them or prepare to use them, and will move us to where he wants his glory to be seen. Let's just hope that we're smart enough to realize his voice instead of shutting him out in favor of our own machinations.

God's design: Grant Desme

The plans of the heart belong to man,

but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. -- Proverbs 16:1

Grant Desme has more physical talent than most of us could ever dream of. God gave him excellent speed, strength, and willpower to harness it in sports. Grant Desme could go back to baseball today and be ranked among the league's top 100 prospects. For those of you who don't know, Grant Desme is the former As prospect who quit baseball after an amazing 2009 minor league season to join the priesthood.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

but the LORD weighs the spirit. -- Proverbs 16:2

Many people who read about this are simply confounded; why would such an amazing athlete simply walk away to become a priest? Why would anyone want to abandon such fame and money to live a life of subservience? Why can't he stay in baseball and still be a man of God? Why doesn't he try to find a way to use his abilities in conjunction with his faith? The answer for Grant came down to God's design. Grant said, among other things, that he "aspires to higher things." He says he has no regrets, and that having such an amazing season as he did only strengthened his desire to follow God in the priesthood. He felt that the rush of exceeding at such a high level, yet still feeling God tugging him to work elsewhere, finally made him realize that God had other plans for him.

Commit your work to the LORD,

and your plans will be established. -- Proverbs 16:3

What this comes down to for Grant and us is that we have to pray relentlessly and earnestly for God to show us what he wants for us. While it may seem convenient to try and find a way to serve God in baseball, that may not be what God has for us. Only he who has given us life can explain what he wants us to do with it. We weren't saved because we are amazing people who God needs to use; we were saved because we were desperate for God's hand to save us from ourselves. If God is telling you to re-evaluate your life's course and follow him in a drastic manner, then the only answer you can give is "Yes."

The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes his steps. -- Proverbs 16:9

Team Unity

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the LORD added to their number day by day those who were being saved. -- Acts 2:44-47

Sports are naturally social events. We train with, are coached by, interact with, and compete against other people at all times. Even the most solitary of athletes has coaches overseeing them and other theoretical athletes putting up records that become goals to reach. The spirit of competition breeds fierce individualism in some, but nearly every athlete has memories of great communities in which they've seen a lot of growth. Just as the Bible commands us to work towards furthering a community, we should work towards building greater community with others involved in their sports.

The above quote comes from Acts, just after Jesus ascended into heaven and commisioned the disciples to spread the gospel. Jesus had trained them for this, and sent them out in pairs to learn how to do this (Mark 6:7) The Lord encourages us to participate in community, for he knows that others can compensate for our weaknesses and embolden our spirits in the difficult times. We can apply this mentality to sports. God has placed us in the lives of our team members to strengthen them, help them, and compliment them (and they for us.)

If you're on a team, get to know the other members of the team. Learn what drives them, entertains them, and helps them so that you can establish commonalities and a relationship with them. Through teamwork not only can we accomplish our athletic goals, but we can accomplish our spiritual goals. The above passage tells us that the members of the Church had all things in common--not just a love for Jesus, Baseball, or whatever. The more we establish community with people that enjoy the same things as we do and find delight in the same earthly activities as well, the more we can find tangible ways to evangelize in the world.

Start today. Find someone whom you work with, practice with, compete with, and try to find something new about them which you can relate to. Reach out to them and try to figure out a way to grow in your friendship with them through that activity, and then pray for God to guide you through this time as you grow in community. Most of all, pray that God can use the time for his glory, and that you can eventually show your faith to your friend. For when people meet in community and are passionate for the Lord, then their numbers multiply by the grace of God, and we can happily begin the same process anew.

Dwight Howard's Plan

Its not always an easy thing to try to use the situations one is in to exalt the name of God. Sometimes we feel like we're just random people who happen to be playing sports, and that we don't really have a proper medium for any sort of life-changing evangelism. We can look at Dwight Howard for inspiration in these times. Howard came into the league with a set plan, picks his battles, and uses action to prove the reality of God's love in his life.

Dwight Howard was, like most professional athletes, gifted from youth with sporting prowess. Both of his parents were/are athletes, and he was sent to schools his entire life which allowed him to harness his gifts in a competitive environment. When he was drafted in 2004, he famously proclaimed that he wanted to use his status as an NBA athlete to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world." Howard has a plan here; he'll use his status to try and be an influence on the inner circle in which he takes a part, and spreads that influence to those looking on as well.

Isn't this an apt looking glass through which we may view our own mission? We can translate Howard's mission to ourselves: Use the position God has put us in to influence those around us, and live a godly life for those looking onwards in curiosity. Howard isn't the most in your face Christian ever either. He does have moments in which he boldly proclaims the gospel (slamming Phillippians 4:13 on the backboard during the Dunk Contest comes to mind) but for the most part he goes about his life confidently and with quiet action. He was nominated in 2009 for the Jefferson Award for Charitable Athletes. His blog gushes about how much Haiti needs help, and he's done his part. Furthermore, he still finds time to help out with the youth programs at his home church.

We don't need to have amazing skills or influence to serve God. We need to follow God where he leads us and do our best to help those around us know God better. The opportunities may come infrequently and perhaps at inopportune times, but if we are confident in God's plan, then he will reward us with great chance for ministry.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. -- Philippians 4:13

The Value of a Good Teacher

Think about the athlete you like the least. If the person is anything like mine, the person is arrogant, self-centered and egotistical. The person isn't grounded and assumes that their talent and skill can carry them regardless of whatever competition may come. I think it goes without saying that, in a vacuum, we don't want to be arrogant, but in sports we can forget that at times. Some teachers may teach us to be ruthless, fearless, and even careless at times. Often the winner's mentality is based on the assumption that you are the best and there is no room for doubt. When someone grows up with this mentality its easy to see why they may crash and burn when they fall. This mentality needs to be remedied early on with the choice of a solid mentor.

Unless you truly are the greatest athlete ever, there's slim to nil chance you're going to get anywhere without the guidance of those who know better than you. These people can help you hone your craft and allow you to learn from experience. Whether its a coach, a supervisor, an advisor, or a parent, these people can profoundly shape your world view in addition to your athletic ability. As responsible people, we need to examine our teachers with a broad spyglass so that we can ensure that when we allow ourselves to be molded that we come out as better people. I've definitely seen coaches who are respected for their knowledge but I couldn't dream of working under because their goals simply don't align with mine. If you allow yourself to be changed by the wrong mentor, you may end up similarly to the person we thought of earlier. This mentality doesn't stop with sports. In our spiritual lives there's no sense in attempting to live and learn by ourselves--we need accountability, coaching, and help from those who know better than us. That said, coaching does nothing if we're not ready to be molded, and we need to be sure that our coaches will lead us where it is we want to go.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." -- Mark 1:17

Jesus called his men with direction, purpose, and confidence. These men made a choice to follow Jesus based on these actions. When we go through our spiritual and athletic endeavors we need to be confident in our teachers designs so that when we take a leap of faith we can land in the right place. The disciples were never perfect--they often quarreled amongst themselves, questioned their master's abilities, and avoided work when it was difficult, but they had chosen a master who had also made a promise to them. As long as they would follow Jesus, Jesus would continue to work them in his amazing fashions. Discipleship isn't always a process of perfection; we have teachers because we recognize our need to improve.

The right teacher is right because they have the qualities we're willing to sacrifice ourselves in order to gain. Do not choose a teacher because you want to improve yourself; choose a teacher because you need to change what you're doing wrong. Jesus has a teacher in mind for you so that he can work to fix that which you've clung to in vain. Discipleship is a two way street to be sure; teachers choose us because they see potential in us. That said, the choice to follow is on us. Pray, search, and be intelligent in your choice so that you can be pleased with where you end up.