C'Mon Coach

First of all let me say that I LOVE sports! Always have, always will. As a matter of fact C’Mon Coach is inspired by Monday Night Countdown’s C’Mon Man! You know the ESPN segment where players do things that leave you scratching your head. Well, this is kind of the same thing but it’s for coaches.
You see, growing up in church, I noticed this every now and then; but since becoming a Pastor a few years ago, I’ve really started to wonder about this. You see, I can’t seem to understand why a coach would willingly decide to schedule ball practice on a Wednesday night? I mean almost every church in our area has service/youth services on that night. This forces Christian parents to choose between taking their families to church or taking their kids to the ball field. Most families have such a crazy-busy schedules now, they can’t do both.
Having practice on Wednesday nights causes young people to struggle with the decision to either go to church or to the ball field. If they chose ball practice they feel like they’re letting their church & youth group down. If they chose church they feel like they’re letting their team and coach down. Either way, they feel guilty, and, no young person should ever be put in that position.
Don’t get me wrong coach. I really do commend you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be out there on the ball field volunteering night after night especially after a long day at work. I also appreciate your commitment to teaching our young people about discipline and teamwork but honestly, C’Mon Coach, isn’t Monday night, Tuesday night, Thursday night and Friday night enough time to do that?
My six year old son loves to play flag football but he plays for a church league that understands the importance of priorities and putting God first. I really appreciate how they schedule their practices on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights and their games on Saturday mornings so their players don’t have to miss church.
You see coach, in the game of life when the play clock finally strikes all zeros and the final whistle has been blown, people are going to spend eternity in one of two places. As a Pastor, I have a heart to see as many people as possible spend eternity with Christ. So, once again, I do LOVE sports, always have, always will, but I LOVE seeing families spending time together in God’s house even more! So……..C’Mon Coach!

By Dwayne Addison
      Pastor, City of Refuge Church
      Bristol, VA
      http://www.corbristol.org/