A local NFL coach was fired recently. According to the team’s owner, the coach did not lack a strong work ethic or knowledge of the game. He did not have an attitude problem and he was not involved in any kind of scandal. The owner seemed sincere when he said he liked the coach and had a meaningful relationship with him. However, a chief criticism was that he was “getting the least out of talented players.” He was held responsible for poor production from a group of men that rank among the world’s most biologically gifted, self-disciplined and physically fit in the world.
I am not in a position to criticize the decision of a football club owner, but it did cause me to consider the question, “What is required to get the most out of people that are immensely blessed?” I believe each of us are prone to focus on what we don’t have. We tell ourselves, “I don’t have the _____________ (biblical training/time/money/speaking ability/intellect, etc.) that he has.” In doing so, we diminish what God has given to us and lay a foundation of excuses for not getting the most out of what we’ve been given.
If you are a Christian, the most important thing you have been given is a new life. Those that continue to be burdened with the old, unbelieving life operate in the futility of their minds. “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Eph 4:18). “But that is not the way you learned Christ!” (Eph. 4:20). In this new life you can put off the corrupt old self and put on the righteous new self.
The new life you have been given is not just a matter of subtraction, but addition. Not only must you stop lying, but commit to telling the truth. Not only should you not steal, but be involved in honest work so that you can share with others. Not only should you avoid inappropriate speech, but you should encourage and impart grace to those listening to you. Not only should you stop being an angry person, but you should be characterized by kindness, demonstrate a tender heart and be quick to forgive.
It’s easy to judge professional athletes whose every physical trait is weighed and measured and whose every competitive achievement has been documented. From the comfort of your couch you can articulate with precision how someone with that skillset has failed to live up to his potential. It takes no effort to point out the inability of a coach to get more out of those kind of players.
If you, however, are the one that has been delivered from slavery to sin and death and have been given a new life and a new hope, then what are you doing with it? If, through the Spirit of Christ, you have been given the opportunity to live a life that is pleasing to God, then how does your performance rate? To what do you attribute any shortcomings? Do you believe God has shorted you somehow? Has He not given you enough? Do you put it on your spouse or your kids? Are they inhibiting you in some way? Perhaps your pastor “getting the least” out your talents?
The reality is that, to some degree, the answer to some of those questions is yes! You do have less time and money than others. You do have a spouse that imposes limitations on you. Your pastor is not doing as much as he could to maximize the production of spiritual fruit in your life. While true, none of them exempts you from making the most of what you have been given.
God does not put you through an agility test. No one is measuring your hand size and arm length or taking note of how many times you can bench press 225 pounds. You have been created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness and, as such, are expected to tell the truth, share generously with others, be a verbal encourager and be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving. Not incidentally, every one of those things can be accomplished from a wheelchair!
If needed, ask God to forgive you for complaining about your perceived list of limitations. Thank Him for giving you new life and ask Him to help you to maximize the situation He has placed you in. Leave your prayer time with a commitment to a godly, grateful thought life that produces Christ-glorifying spiritual fruit. Make the decision to make the most.