There are so many life lessons that can be learned from sports. Teamwork, leadership, practice, persistence, and enjoyment are just a few things someone can know. 

But this weekend, I watched some football games that showed me a new insight I had not pondered. The teams battled back and forth in these games for four quarters. In the final minutes, the team trailing made a drive that set them up for a field goal. The kicker came out on the field and lined up, only to miss the game-winning kick.

The winning team ran onto the field in these games, celebrating the missed attempt. They were jumping around, hugging, and high-fiving as if they had done something right. In reality, they were also celebrating the failure of the other team, specifically their kicker. Their victory was the direct result of a mistake.

One quick camera shot revealed the kicker in devastation. One was kneeling, one with his hands over his head covering his face. It was the picture of someone who made a mistake, costing the team. 

Only in sports is it okay to find joy in the failure of others. In life, that person needs prayer, encouragement, support, someone to listen, and forgiveness. Whenever someone makes a mistake, it is time for us to run to them in Jesus’s name, not celebrate their failure.

Perhaps you have seen a meme, often funny, that starts with the line, “My toxic trait is …”

“My toxic trait is asking four people for advice and then doing whatever I want.”

“My toxic trait is saying things out loud that should be kept in my head.”

“My toxic trait is being productive for 20 minutes and then giving myself a two-hour break.”

“My toxic trait is expecting people to have common sense and then getting mad when they don’t.”

Well, my toxic trait, and maybe yours too, is that I love to sin. In the moment, it gives me a dopamine rush that brings me pleasure. It feels pleasing to my flesh and emotions while I am doing it.

And the reason it is toxic is because that same sin leaves a wake of destruction. The high fades, and I am left with broken promises, guilt, shame, fractured relationships, isolation, heartache, and separation from God.

The Bible says of Moses, “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” (Hebrews 11:25 – NIV 2011)

Why would Moses give up the pleasures of sin to be mistreated?

“He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” (Hebrews 11:26 – NIV 2011)

He did it because he was looking forward to an eternal reward, a reward greater than the treasures of Egypt. He was “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10) and was “longing for a better country – a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16).

Moses saw beyond that day and season of his life and focused on his heavenly future. 

Perhaps one way to overcome our toxic trait is to never settle for the momentary and keep our eyes on the eternal. 

When you give to the local Church, often you will not experience the blessings of that donation personally. Your financial gift is a blessing to others. 

Some of your money will be given to people in need. Benevolence is a considerable part of the Church budget. Your gift will provide other people with food, clothing, and shelter for people worldwide.

Some of your money will be used for mission work. The goal of spreading the Gospel across the globe is happening because of generous people whose gifts pay for the expenses of someone going to a foreign mission field. 

Some of your money the local Church will use for itself. This may be to pay current bills, but often, it has one of two purposes. One is to educate people in the Gospel found in scripture. That means the people leading the local Church today were trained years ago. Donations made several years before bought lesson materials and teaching aids and sometimes paid the teacher. And all that happened before you arrived.

Two, the gift went into a building and all the needed supplies. Each week, I preach in a facility that I did not help pay for, sit in a seat I did not give money toward, and come to land I did not assist in purchasing. Every week, my participation in the local Church ministry results from people who gave their resources 10, 20, 30 years ago, and more. 

Frequently, I find it difficult to talk to Christians about giving. It is not because I am scared to talk about money; rather, I know the people giving will never be blessed by their gift. Everyone likes to use their hard-earned money for something that impacts their life. Giving is an action that primarily affects the future. One day, someone you do not know will come to know Jesus because of the money that you gave this Sunday.

Our Church is here today as a gift from those who gave their money in the past.

If that is true, what will the future look like based on YOUR gifts?

I recently heard this metaphor for faith that I found helpful; perhaps you will too. 

A default is the pre-designed setting used by a computer program or app when the user specifies no alternative. When you buy a new computer, program, or app for your phone, it comes with preselected options for every user. If you want your device to do something different, you have to go into the settings and change the defaults, in essence reprogramming it.

Throughout your years of development, you became programmed with personal default settings. Because of your genetics, experiences, teaching, and even trauma, you have acquired regular ways to handle the issues in your life. Some of you get angry, others withdraw, and still some blame others when you encounter failure. Some of you default to guilt, while others are full of appreciation during your experiences. 

One of the challenges of faith is to change your default settings to what God desires for you, to bring your actions and feelings in line with his word rather than our past. The things of God are rarely natural to us, and we must reprogram our hearts and minds to match his will. 

On your journey of faith, one valid question is, “What are my default settings?” And then follow that question with, “How can I make my defaults Christlike?”

My wife and I watched the movie on Amazon Prime entitled “A Million Miles Away.” If you have not seen it, it is the story of Jose Hernandez, who was born in Mexico as the child of a migrant worker. He dreamed of being an astronaut and eventually went on to fly in the space shuttle.

Within the story is an interaction between Jose and his team leader, Kalpana Chawla (herself a minority astronaut). He struggles to keep up with the rest of the team, and she informs Jose that he has everything he needs to succeed.

“Tenacity is a superpower…” she tells him.

Grit, determination, persistence, and never giving up are keys to a successful life. That is true in our jobs, families, hobbies, and even our faith. Tenacity is a superpower, and it is one that all of us can obtain.

The hymn “Victory in Jesus” is an account of substitutionary atonement.

It details how Jesus came, sought us, and bought us with his redeeming blood. The lyrics tell of his work on the cross, God’s love for us, and the victory secured through Jesus’ death. 

The song is an old favorite of mine, but recently, as we sang it together as a Church in worship, a line from the second verse jumped out at me. It says, “And then I cried, ‘Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit.’ And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory.”

I had never noticed the word “somehow.” Despite this being a song that is strong in the theology of the atonement we receive through faith in Jesus, there is still this mystery. The words declare Jesus’ mighty work is our salvation, but still, I am not a hundred percent sure how it all works. 

Many spiritual giants with an enormous theology have attempted to explain the work of Jesus, and it all makes sense. Still, it is rooted in the love of God and a grace that I cannot wholly explain. 

Faith is not having every answer; faith is trusting in Jesus and knowing that, somehow, all this works to pay my debt of sin. Faith is trusting despite having a “somehow” explanation. 

I usually walk at the local high school track in the wee hours between 3-5 am. I have done this for about four years and have only had a couple of issues the whole time. 

This year has been different. At least two families of skunks have taken residence near the track. One group is almost entirely white. They are easy to spot when I see them walking on the black lanes, even in the dark. The other family is almost completely black with a small white stripe. They are practically impossible to see in the dark.

They come to the track for two reasons. One, there is frequently food all over the ground. The other day, the trash can had blown over, and I could see and hear one of them munching on chips. Two, this has been an incredibly dry year, and they turn on the sprinklers there to keep the football field green and plush. Thus, it has become a one-stop paradise this year for animals. I have seen raccoons, rabbits, armadillos, and these skunks. 

One Sunday morning, I was walking on the track, and I saw one off to my left, and he was eating and minding his business. I passed by a few laps before it happened. On one trip around, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, and there, two lanes away from me, stood a skunk with his tail high and looking like he was ready to launch.

My immediate reaction was to take off running. To my surprise, the animal initially ran after me. Within a few yards, it quit, but I sprinted to my truck.

I did not stop and look at the animal in wonder of this fantastic creature. I did not think, “What should I do? What should I do?” I did not call a friend and ask for advice. I simply took off running. 

The plea of the Bible for believers is that when they encounter evil, they should flee.

Paul tells Timothy to “flee evil desires and pursue righteousness.” He tells him to take off sprinting when he sees that dirty old sin. Don’t stop, don’t ask someone what to do, and don’t overthink it. Just run away. Take off like a skunk is in pursuit. You will never regret that decision.

Last year, I sat in the tree stand waiting for a deer. I saw one that might be worth taking, but something happened when I pulled my gun up to look through the scope. Everything I saw was blurry. I switched eyes to see if it was the scope, and it was okay through my left eye.

Later tests would confirm that I am forming a cataract in my right lens. I have changed the prescription on my glasses for now, but I know surgery will be required in the future. Otherwise, I will lose all ability to see clearly through that eye over time.

In Church leadership circles, it is common to speak of the “vision for the Church.” This is a picture of the future that one group of believers might have for their people. A Church in the inner city might have a vision to help the homeless in their neighborhood. A Church in the suburb might have a vision to start a Christian school or homeschooling coop program. Another might have dreams for youth, another for college students, and still another for senior adults. 

Vision is the word used to describe the direction a Church feels being led by God as it ministers to its community.

Many Churches have the problem of blurred vision. They have no idea what they are doing and where God is leading them. Four years ago, our Church leadership spent a year looking through the Bible and praying about our vision. We framed a five-year plan with the simple goal of “Making more and better disciples.” Since that vision was laid out, the leadership and I have focused our efforts on that one goal.

Before the Church can move forward confidently, we must be clear on our aim. 

This has improved with new technology, but the quality level goes down when you make a copy of a copy. With every copy of a copy, of a copy, the quality diminishes a little more with each reproduction. You should copy only from an original printout to ensure the highest resolution. 

I think this is true for disciples, too. Jesus could say, follow me or imitate me. The Apostle Paul could say imitate me as I imitate Jesus. But that does not mean that you or I should have people imitate us, too. 

To be the best version of a Christ follower, you should try to imitate Jesus or Paul, not anyone else. I know I am not a person whose life you should copy. I have so many flaws and failures. Every Christian I know is the same way, and I know some great people of faith. 

We must be careful about what we copy from others. A flaw in someone you admire can become a significant issue for you and will definitely be one for someone who tries to imitate you.

I am glad you have someone discipling you, but always compare their life to Jesus. Just because a friend thinks they are spiritually mature does not mean they are living like Jesus in every way.  

A speaker at one of the conferences I attended this year made a statement that resonated with my soul. He stated, “Most pastors are poor disciple makers because no one discipled them.” I struggle to make fully devoted followers of Jesus because I, along with many other preachers, had no one take me under their wing and mentor me.

Then why do I feel like I am a spiritually mature person? How did I get here?

First of all, five years of Bible college helped. But there was still something lacking in my training. No one became the Yoda to my Luke Skywalker. I gained knowledge and tools, but learning how to implement them was neglected.

Again, I ask, how did I grow as a believer? My growth was self-directed. 

While I firmly believe this is not the best way to become spiritually mature, I do think it is possible to grow without someone coming up and choosing to teach you as a disciple.

Here are five ways to accomplish self-directed discipleship:

1. Read the Bible. Read it over and over and over and over. Accept nothing less.

2. Read books, articles, magazines, blogs, pamphlets, and anything else you can get your hands on about faith. 

3. Listen and watch every video you can from reliable teachers. I used audio cassettes, but now I have podcasts, sermons online, and YouTube. I go to conferences regularly to help feed my soul, too.

4. Meet with any person who will talk to you. I have never had anyone say, “I want to come tell you about faith and the Bible,” but I have contacted dozens of people through the years and asked if I could come and question them on faith and the Bible. A few people have told me no, but most are flattered, and I buy them lunch in exchange.

5. Connect tightly to a Community of Faith. I have learned so much from listening to older believers in the Church tell their stories. The sacrifice and commitment of the people in the local Church have inspired me. God has often surprised me by sending someone into my life with the message I needed at the right time. Some very uneducated people sure know a lot about faith.

Over the years, I have grown to be a spiritually mature person without any formal help. I do not think it is the easiest way, but I know anyone who comes to Church can do it; my experience confirms it.