As long as…

Every week athletes and coaches around the country come to chapels and Huddles looking for something from the Lord in relation to their walk with Christ and their sport. Many come looking for a word from the Lord to encourage or inspire them before their contest. Some come for fellowship, some for worship, some for truth to purify their walk with the holy and righteous One (2 Tim 1:9). 

 

We have different motives for attending chapels and Huddle meetings. Webster’s Dictionary defines a motive as: “something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.” What is the need or desire for a coach or athlete to attend chapel? Some competitors selfishly attend because they expect favor, blessing or prosperity in the game. (i.e. “Lord, I will come to a 30-minute chapel as long as You will give me something in return.”) But only God knows what is truly in the heart of His people (1 Sam 16:7). 

 

Athletes and coaches are often seduced into making conditional sacrifices in pre-game chapels. Attendance can often be influenced as long as their motives and pleasures are satisfied. But when we seek personal performance enhancement or a desired outcome over God’s glory, we become adulterous people and friends of the world. We neglect the truth that only Jesus Christ will ever fill us. As it states in Colossians 2:9-10: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”

 

Attending chapel is about obedience, dying to self, allowing Him to refine our character, and about desiring to give Him glory regardless of our role. We are hating God (v. 4) when we seek desired performance and favorable game outcomes above the Lord. Whatever your desires, needs or goals may be, look to Jesus, the Savior of the world, who suffered and then triumphed in victory (Hebrews 12:2).