An Abnormal Answer to a Coach’s Question
I was talking with Coach Tom Bartow recently and he was telling me how his good friend Coach John Wooten, greatest basketball coach of all time, taught him the importance of knowing what the important questions are. He thought one of the most important questions to be considered is “Are you better off today than you were in the past?” He asked me what thought came first to my mind.
I thought that I am not better off in terms of Christian influence in today’s society in America and the world. Christianity is losing ground, probably for a lot of different reasons.
Coach Bartow was surprised at my answer. He said that most people think first about the economy or world security, but he said the most important thing to think about is the slow decline of the Christian faith.
Wow—I think America needs to wake up to the direction in which we are drifting concerning our faith. We are drifting far from what our forefathers envisioned and wrote about.
How are we doing in the following areas:
- Kindness—Most Christians and non-Christians are treating each other with anything except kindness. What if we began to treat each other in the same way in which we would like to be treated? We need to make positive progress towards kindness.
- Change in our Culture—We are supposed to be changing culture, but culture is changing us. Even the church is being silent on major issues that the Bible teaches because culture is squeezing us into its mold. Read Romans 12:1-2. We can’t be the salt of the earth if we sugar coat the gospel!
- Biblical Authority—We today tend to make up our mind about an issue, then try to find some Biblical passages that we could interpret to support our position. That’s not the way it was intended to be done. We should look at what the Bible says about all issues, then form our opinions from those issues. One thing God left out of the Bible—is my opinion!!
- The Christian Witness—The great commission is to go into the world and share the Good News. Many churches very seldom have anyone whose life is being transformed. Churches have good programs, but the most important thing is a personal witness to the people with whom we come in contact. For example—with whom have you shared your faith recently and challenged them to be a follower of Jesus?
There are many other areas of which we are not as well off today as we were in the years past concerning our Christian faith. We must stand up and stop the slide. Paul said, “How can they change unless they hear, and how can they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) It’s time for all Christians to stand up and boldly speak!
It might be that my position is considered abnormal. My prayer is that most of us need to become more abnormal! Coach Bartow is encouraging people to start a revival of the “great abnormal.”
Our approach to our Christian faith is far more important than inflation, national security, and other issues. If we get the right answers to the faith question, the rest of the answers will come.
Are you better off today than you were in the past?
