Even a Georgia Bulldog fan can acknowledge greatness from opponents. A few years ago, I was able to hear the late Coach Bobby Bowden share his heart and reflect on his coaching experience at a local Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet. I was blown away by his clear mission to develop boys into men!
In his forty-four years of coaching, of which thirty-six were at Florida State University, Bobby Bowden made it clear that football was not his priority. He understood that a growing percentage of the young players in his care were from fatherless homes, and they needed an earthly father figure and ultimately to be introduced to our Father in Heaven. As he embraced his position as a fatherly figure, the relationship of genuine love created a framework for better understanding the drive and purpose for excellence, the persistence of painful drills, and the correction through coaching.
Without this relational framework, it would be easy for a player to misinterpret the intentions or heart behind rules, rigid expectations, and rebellion to creep in. It is admirable and relatable to understand this in a role model like Bobby Bowden. However, people tend to fail in applying this relational framework to our interactions with God.
Many view through a lens of religion and focus on the rules and restrictions written in the Bible. This short-sided frame of reference will lead to resentment and rebellion and, ultimately, a poor understanding of the Gospel. Before God gave the Law in Exodus 20, He took great care to ensure in Exodus 19 that the nation of Israel reflects on His grace, goodness, and unrelenting character of holiness.
We can best understand the principles and standards of Christian living when we first understand His character which provides the framework for any rules. Furthermore, we must see the gracious relationship of a heavenly Father who desires a relationship with humanity.
It is this design that moved Him to send Jesus to die for our sin, and Jesus’ willing sacrifice paid the penalty our sin deserves so that we can be reconciled to God and have hope. Consider the words of Hebrews 12:18-25 ESV, “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
Be guarded against viewing Christianity as a religion of rules. Instead, rest in the freedom and grace extended and made possible by the work of Christ. That position gives us a more healthy perspective and deeper understanding of some of the warnings that Paul describes in the New Testament. We strive for holiness because He is holy, and we want to be more like Him every day.
Examples like the late Bobby Bowden help us to see how sinners saved by grace can carry hope to the world and model the gracious relationship that has been extended to us so that others can see our good deeds and glorify our Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16).