TALK TO BLANCHET HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM (Aug 23, 2012)
COMPETING BIBLICALLY – FOUR PILLARS
* impossible to do in fullness without a relationship with jesus
* impossible to do in fullness without the holy spirit in you playing/coaching through you
* this direction is noble and positive to pursue regardless of your “spiritual orientation” (“truth is truth”)
HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND DON’T FLINCH WHEN WORLD SAYS LOWER YOUR SIGHTS
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1) Competing “2 by 4” is competing:
a) according to the word of god
b) by the power of god
c) for the glory of god
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2) the goal is to BLESS (abrahmaic blessing of Genesis 12 – be blessed not for your own sake, but in order to bless others –receive and “give it away” freely)
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3) the fulcrums (dividing lines) of this philosophy of competition (what separates it from other philosophies of competition,“christian” or other)
a) how you treat the scoreboard – is your goal to win or to glorify god regardless of results
b) how you treat the opponents – they come to “beat” us; we come to “be” us (to be ourselves) – our opponent is ourselves (and ultimately our “flesh” / the devil – Ephesians 6:12)
c) how we treat the officials/referees – they are “part of the field”. Control what you can control. Focus on yourselves and don’t get distracted by what is on the outside (outside or yourselves and your team). The goal is to close the gap between your potential and your performance (don’t get distracted and psyched out by stuff you can’t control)
4) how to play/coach (what is your attitude)? – to play with a :
a) whole heart
b) strong will
c) clear mind
d) great emotion
POWER OF THE PUT-UP GAME
1) build up vs tear down (make deposits, not withdrawals)
2) Put-Ups make you “momentum proof” (you stay “up” longer and go “down” less / stay down less)
HOW DOES LOVE IMPACT A TEAM
A) player to player
1) it is not enough to “respect” one another; unconditional love, considering others better than ourselves, over-looking offenses…………… is supernatural
2) love with words AND action
3) bible truth – unless a seed falls to the ground and dies cannot bear fruit
B) coach to player
1) people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care
2) do the players think we as coaches are about “them” or about “us” (our goals/dreams/ambitions)
john wooden– when you choose to become part of a team you cease to exist as an individual
Selflessness builds up and selfishness tears down
what do you want – trophies and rings or legacy (eternal impact)
DO YOU WANT TO BE GREAT OR DO YOU WANT TO BE COOL
WHAT DOES GODLY EFFORT LOOK LIKE?
Colossians 3:17 and 23 – what does it mean and look like to play with a:
a) whole heart
b) strong will
c) clear mind
d) great emotion
I only want one simple thing – every last drop of your blood (we have been crucified with christ and no longer live – galatians 2:20)
The power of the holy spirit is like dynamite within you (the god of the universe lives inside your belly! if true, what would that look like????)
We play for an audience of one (jesus) – we play/coach as to the lord, not to man (though we honor our human leaders and submit to their authority as jesus followers)
Handout –THE CHAMPIONS MANIFESTO
THE PERFORMANCE POTENTIAL GAP
The opponent/enemy is ourselves, not the team we are playing – our selifishness and our personal goals/ambition
original definition of the word “compete” – to strive with (NOT strive against)
Close the gap between your potential and your performance (you vs you)
What is greatness –
1) closing the gap
2) aiming for perfection
* differentiation – excellence is subjective and relative; perfection is absolute
EMBRACE COMPETITION AND ADVERSITY
What does it mean to truly compete?
If you only want to “win” and not learn how to compete……….you won’t learn how to compete………….and you won’t win for long
The goal is to learn how to compete against yourself in the midst of battle – you learn this in adversity, not in prosperity
Adversity smokes out weakness so that we can develop strength by staying in the fire of adversity (not in running out of the fire)
Adversity is our friend, our teacher; embrace him (the principle of the overload – we get stronger when we are overloaded)
Don’t pray that the weight gets easier. Rather, pray that you develop a stronger back
Bible truths – james 1:2-4, romans 5:3-5 and Hebrews 12:1-13
THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL TOUGHNESS
The battle is in the mind – sport is primarily mental (renew your mind – romans 12:2)
The mind shuts down long before the body does (we learn that from the navy seals and military special forces)
Mental toughness is primarily a learned behavior – we generally go there only by force; not voluntarily (no one jumps on the cross and says, “hammer me in!”)
Some individuals may be more inclined to be mentally tough. However, it is possible for all, since it is learned
You have more to give than you think you do; a good coach can draw this out without breaking his players hearts
Overloading the bar produces growth
You may beat us on the scoreboard. However, you will not break our will because our will is aligned with god’s will, which cannot be broken
War – you don’t want to fight an opponent who does not care if it dies
If individuals are willing to die to themselves for the sake of the team, they cannot be beaten
they might lose the game. However, they cannot be beaten (they will not quit; they will relentlessly pursue perfection until the clock stops – or their clock stops)
Scotty Kessler Resource Library 