Whose Side?

After playing in and coaching thousands of games, I have found that I struggle with one main issue: Whose team is God on—my team or the other team? How can God pick sides? If He does pick sides, how does He decide which side to be on? If there are Christians on both teams, then how can God be on both teams? These questions challenge us as athletes and coaches.

Let me be honest with you. When I compete, I want God to be solely on my team and not on the other team! However, when we have that mind-set, we have it all wrong. In the Bible, Joshua was the commander of Israel’s army and was preparing his troops for battle against Jericho when the commander of the Lord’s army appeared to him. When Joshua asked him whose side he was on, the commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Neither.”

Does this mean that God doesn’t take sides? Well, there is a bigger issue here. It’s not whether the Lord is on our team or their team; it’s whether or not we are on God’s team! When we compete, we need to first recognize that we are on Team Jesus Christ, not the other way around. It is human nature to want God to stand on our sideline. However, God wants us to be on His side only!