Life goes on

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

(Matthew 5:11-12) Life can be so simple at times, yet so challenging. Just last evening, as I was coaching my son's Christian flag football team (elememtary school now)I had to experience a similiar event as Jesus described above. One would not expect controversy at a grade school athletic event. After all, we all are believers and we all realize we are doing what we do to honor the Lord and reperesent Him above everything else . . . right? Wrong!!!!! Life goes on, even within Christian events! As I was communicating with an official concerning a specific call during the game ( I called a time out to privately discuss the matter). He took the opportunity to raise his voice for the entire field to hear and instructed me to be quiet and that he had no more time for me and to not question his decision. Embarrassed, my human nature began to surface and I had to be reminded by the Spirit within me to humble myself, accept the embarrassment, and use this time to privately instruct my 8-10 year olds on Jesus' words as he was publically humiliated: "Father forgive them . . ." (Luke 23:34) This was an ideal teaching moment to allow actions to replace words and for the Spirit to replace the flesh. I reminded the kids to allow their action on the field replace our anger and embarrassment. They responded with a march down the field and scored a touchdown! After the game, I was urged to apologize to the official for causing him any embarrassment. I had to be sure I did not leave any false images in his head. Everything was fine. My concern was for the kids. How would they respond? What experience would they treasure from this teachable moment? It is my prayer that tey learned that despite efforts on our part, folks can still misjudge us. it is still our duty to represent the Lord whenever possible and even if it requires us to humble ourselves and take the blame. We must pray for those who hurt us and remember there is always someone watching . . . . our young people need to see Christ in action at every opportunity!