Growing up a coach told me that the best ability was flexibility, well as I sat there in the circle of 20 other guys stretching I didn't quite understand what he was getting at. I figured, "I can touch my toes, isn't that good enough?"
A few years later I heard that statement again and I understood it in a completely different perspective. I realized what my coach was getting at-one needs to be able to adapt to the differing circumstances of a game and be able to change on the fly and through those changes come out successful. In the game of soccer there are no time outs and in each 45 minute half there is multiple opportunities for change. The necessity for each player to adapt and be flexible based on what the game gives him or her. It is a constant changing affect (oxymoron intended)
What and how does this apply to our spiritual lives you might be asking. Well Dave Gibbons writes in his book The Monkey and the Fish that "If there's one quality that matters most to the fate of the church in the twenty-first century, it's adaptability." The ability to change or be flexible throughout different circumstances is the one quality the matters the most for the church. Surprising...maybe, but dig deeper, below the surface. Nothing is cut and dry, black and white when it comes to our culture-today even the notion of truth, right and wrong, good and evil are being questioned. One needs to understand that Jesus is the True Constant and as we meet, greet, and treat others is not a 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Even Jesus talked and interacted differently in different situations and circumstances.
A few years later I heard that statement again and I understood it in a completely different perspective. I realized what my coach was getting at-one needs to be able to adapt to the differing circumstances of a game and be able to change on the fly and through those changes come out successful. In the game of soccer there are no time outs and in each 45 minute half there is multiple opportunities for change. The necessity for each player to adapt and be flexible based on what the game gives him or her. It is a constant changing affect (oxymoron intended)
What and how does this apply to our spiritual lives you might be asking. Well Dave Gibbons writes in his book The Monkey and the Fish that "If there's one quality that matters most to the fate of the church in the twenty-first century, it's adaptability." The ability to change or be flexible throughout different circumstances is the one quality the matters the most for the church. Surprising...maybe, but dig deeper, below the surface. Nothing is cut and dry, black and white when it comes to our culture-today even the notion of truth, right and wrong, good and evil are being questioned. One needs to understand that Jesus is the True Constant and as we meet, greet, and treat others is not a 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Even Jesus talked and interacted differently in different situations and circumstances.
How do you live your life? Are you stuck in your ways unable to move? DO you refuse to change or be flexible to differing situations?
Or how have you been flexible and adaptable to life's changes? Share your story...
