Back to Basics

My dad didn't care much for basketball, but he loved legendary coach, John Wooden. He would always tell me stories of how successful he was as a coach and try to explain to me John's coaching principles. One of the stories my dad liked to tell was at the beginning of each season coach would sit down with his players and teach them the basics. He would walk out on to the field and explain to everyone on the team what a gym sock was and how to properly put it on your feet. John always said that if you don't put your socks on correctly you'll get blisters and you won't perform at your best. He would then go on to explain what a basketball was, how to properly lace your shoes, wear your uniform and then explain the rules of the game. He did this at the beginning of every season. Personally I thought this was a bit much and if I were a senior I'd get really frustrated with the first month of practice!

Another story that my dad liked to tell is how the coach new the strengths and weaknesses of every player. He know the personalities of everyone on his team. He knew that the best way to motivate one player was not necessarily the best way to encourage another player. He would scream and yell at some players and quietly walk over to another player and put his arm around him and give him a little pep talk. Growing up I thought this was unfair because I was probably the player getting yelled at and would get frustrated to watch another player screw up and not get yelled at. It just didn't make any sense to me.

I never really understood the importance of these principles until I began ministry. There are moments in ministry where you need to take a step back and start from the ground up. I love taking a Sunday morning to pause, hold my Bible up in the air and tell students, "This, is a Bible! there are rules and principles in here on how to live life. There are stories in here that will help you know who God is. And if you follow what is in here you will truly be living life, not just getting by." I once heard a story of a pastor who was always accused of not going "deep" enough in his sermons. He always talked about God and loving your neighbor. His response was brilliant. he said, "Every time we gather as a church I will teach about loving God and loving people, once we master that, we can move on to something "deeper." He was teaching the basics. Come to think of it, Jesus seemed to always be teaching basics.

I also learned from coach Wooden the importance of knowing your students. Every teenager that steps into our ministry has a different background and brings with them their own baggage. Teenagers don't respond the same as their peers do. So, conversations, teaching and discipleship must be done differently for every student.

As our ministry continues to grow I am making a conscience decision to always go back to the basics of sin, Jesus, and love. I'm taking time to learn more about my students and how to appropriately respond to them. And once we have mastered the basics of loving God and loving people we will move on to the other stuff.