shine

I blew my cover yesterday. I was talking to my 7 year old’s soccer coach. He’s a great coach and all the parents want him coaching their kid. He’s fun, even-tempered, a good athlete who knows the game and passes on that love of the game through his love of the kids. He asked me what church I went to and then started sharing about his own church experiences. They happened to be in churches that I knew and when he started talking about pastors I had to let him know that I was a pastor and I knew some of the people he was talking about. I didn’t want him to say something he might regret later because he didn’t know that I knew the pastors he was talking about.

But in a way it was really the coach who blew his cover. I didn’t know that he was a Christian until he asked me about church and found out I was a Christian and then started talking about Christian stuff with me. He doesn’t usually preach through his words. He just loves on the kids and everyone loves him as a coach and so if he says something about God it’s easy to hear. You know it’s real. And he lives it in other ways, too, like he and his wife adopting several kids, some of whom are of a different race.

Last Sunday the Raiders lost badly (yes, I’m still a Raiders fan: I actually wore my Raiders polo shirt today). They seem to be getting worse with each game (it’s going to be a long season). One of their players made the news because he was penalized for dropping to his knees and raising his hands to heaven after making an interception (it’s illegal to drop to both knees: excessive celebration). He’s a Christian and said he was thanking God (although one blogger wrote that he seemed to be calling more attention to himself than to God) and complained that he was being penalized for doing something Christian.

I don’t know anything about the football player’s faith. He may be a very sincere Christian who just didn’t realize that his gesture of prayer was against the rules. But I wish that he had just paid the fine and not said anything about the league being anti-Christian. Instead of being tagged as a complainer, I’d rather be like the soccer coach who is quietly living out his faith by having a positive impact on kids and their families. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)