Basketball, T-ball, And An Important Life Lesson

I have two young boys. My oldest loves to play basketball and my youngest is just about to play his first year of T-ball. I got a bit tickled when I took my youngest to sign up for T-ball and his T-ball tryout resembled a local little league version of the NFL combine. Like any dad, I would like to see them do good in whatever they do. That being said, I could really careless if they prove to be great athletes. If they listen to the coaches, respect others, and give a hundred percent on the field that's really all that matters to me. I never want either of my children to equate success in sports or any other field for that matter, as the standard that wins their dad's approval or acceptance.

I remember when both of my boys were born. They needed to do nothing to capture my heart. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, she asked me if I thought when he was born if we would just sit around and stare at him all the time. After he was born I caught myself repeatedly standing by the crib and just staring at him while he slept. I did the same with our second boy. Naturally, as they have grown, there are certain expectations and responsibilities that have come with age. However, they still need to do nothing to capture my heart. If my boys grow up and play in the NBA or Major League Baseball that would be great. Yet, while the world would see them as pro-athletes, I would still see them as sons who need to do nothing to capture my heart. I would hope they would grow to understand that their identity was not tied to their skills, gifts, or abilities. I would hope that they would grow up to understand that what they do is always secondary to who they are.

God is our Heavenly Father. Our acceptance into His family is not based on merit, ability, gifts, or works. We are sons and daughters of the Creator of the Universe. Our identity should not be found in anything but that truth. We need not do anything to capture His heart. The grace of God is not perverted or tainted with this world's form of performance acceptance. Like a loving father, He loves us at our worst and loves us at our best. He's not embarrassed by our performance nor is He impressed by it. He longs for us to rest in the truth that we are His sons and daughters. When we find our identity in our gifts, abilities, or performance then we have really made an idol out of those things. I pastor a church, but that's not who I am. I am a son of God and what I do is secondary to that truth. If I were to stop pastoring, my position of son remains unchanged. If I were a professional athlete, though my bank account may enjoy a nice increase, who I am would remain unchanged.

Knowing who we are results in true freedom. When I understand who I am, it then becomes unnecessary to prove anything to anyone, including myself. However, if I struggle to understand who I truly am, my life will be consumed with a need to perform in an effort to prove to everyone who I am, especially myself. I can not be truly free until I understand who I truly am.

If my sons miss every shot they take or miss every time they swing the bat, I'm as good with that as I would be if they make every shot they take and knock it over the fence every time they swing the bat. As long as they grow up to understand that their performance has no bearing on their positions as my sons and my acceptance and approval of them. If they'll understand that, then they'll be free to shoot and swing for the fences. And in that freedom, I think they'll get to experience what should be the number one rule in sports and in life....enjoy the journey and have a blast!