Winning Championships in Empty Stadiums

I love college football; I count down the days till the season begins. If given the opportunity, I plant myself in front of the TV on Saturday and “O.D.” on games.

The appetizer to the afternoon and evening games is better known as Game Day. While watching this pre-game show, I was intrigued by the interviews of several coaches concerning the upcoming season.

Each shared his personal wisdom which was distinctively different from his fellow coach. Although they all had uniquely different approaches to coaching, I noticed a pattern emerge from their interviews.

Here are three quotes (not direct but dynamic equivalents) from those interviews that stirred my thinking.

“Championships are won at practice when the stadiums are empty.”

“The success of our season is determined by the work we do in the off-season.”

“During pre-season practice we have to become proficient at the process so we can naturally perform it at game time.”

These statements brought to mind Proverbs 21:5a, The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance…

In leadership, family, ministry and personal life we want to be successful. I am not talking about being rich; I am talking about having the sense of satisfaction of knowing we have lived intentionally! It is easy to overlook the principles communicated in these quotes, facts the coaches obviously knew from experience.

I am sure the coaches realized the nature of a team is to take shortcuts – the easy way out. Some of the players probably show up only thinking about the big stage and the glory. The coaches know that without the grind there would be no glory.

Those of us in ministry face a similar struggle. Sometimes, we want:

• To be godly without spending personal private time with God and His Word.
• To have flourishing ministries without spending time in prayer and preparation.
• To develop leaders without investing time and life discipling them.
• To see people come to Christ without sharing our faith with the people God places in our paths each day.
• To make a difference in our homes but never make our family a priority.
• To be highly effective yet fail in creating rhythms of work and rest for our lives.

If the football mantra is Championships are won in empty stadiums then perhaps we could say the Christian mantra is a quote I read years ago by J. Oswald Sanders, in his book Enjoying Intimacy with God where he said:

“A successful and fruitful ministry does not just happen—it is purchased. It cannot be paid in a lump sum; we pay for it in gradually increasing installments. There is no such thing as a cheap, fruitful ministry.”

All of this makes me ask myself some questions that perhaps you need to consider as well:

• Am I spending that personal private time with God or have I reasoned this away by the demands of a busy schedule?
• Is prayer an addendum to my ministry that I tack on to make it spiritual?
• How much of my life and ministry is committed to reproducing reproducers?
• Is sharing Christ an event or a part of the DNA of my life?
• What steps am I taking to make my family a priority?
• What are the practical rhythms for my life and ministry that will allow me to be effective and efficient?

By the way, all of these questions are answered when the stadiums are empty in off season!