The Mission

Salt and Light

What is a "successful" season?

Most would comment that winning most of ones games, and/or winning them well if you can.

We want to measure our success based on the following verse from Matthew 5:13-15:

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything excpet to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house."

Come the end of the year, although it would be amazing to win the league and play some great football alomg the way, we want to be able to look back and know that with God's help, we have been salt and light to all those we have encountered along the way - officials, team mates, opposition players, parents and whoever else we come across.

If we lose our salitness, we have failed.
If we hide our light, we have failed.
If we aren't these things and win the league, we have failed.

So what is it to be salt and light for players and coaches alike?

Salt is a flavour enhancer for meat. In the same way, as we play and coach, we are to bring Christlike flavour to those around us. Sprinkle a bit of salt on the meat and walah it has great taste. We should aim to play football in a way that enhances everbody's experience of how good the game can be when played in the right (or godly) manner. If we forget to do this, we lose our saltiness, and are useless. Jesus doesn't say be salt, he says you are salt. He has empowered us for this very purpose, to enhance the enjoyment and quality of every game so that others get a taste of the kingdom and the king.

When teams blame officials for poor deicions, we should encourage and thank officials for their efforts. When coaching staff are tempted to load teams and fiddle with fixtures to get an advantage, we must play with whomever we have at our disposal, when we are supposed to. When we are tempted to endorse all sorts of tactics to waste time, we should play fairly and bring the flavour of Christ to the occasion. When teams taunt and humiliate us for our play, we must endure the ridicule and treat them kindly in return.

Light enables one to see. Our good works, shine the light of Christ in an otherwise overly competitive, and sometimes ugly environment. Sometimes it is hard, as we want to cover ourselves up and play the way others play - to level the playing field. The temptation is to turn down our glow and mix it up with others, so that the conditions are a bit more "fair". But if we do this, our foe and friends, will not see how good Jesus is. We need to do the opposite and shine the light of Christ in such an incredible way, that by his grace, others will see how wonderful he truly is. Turn up the glow. Jesus says we are to shine the light of Christ so that others may see and "glorify our Father in heaven".

So, while we want to win where and when we can, this is not the barometer of our success.

With Christ's help, the team's success will be measured by these two mission-markers:

1. Did we give others a taste of life in the kingdom, under our King Jesus?
2. Did we help others to see how good Jesus is, so that they might glorify our Father in heaven?

What a privilege to have these abilities and serve Jesus in this way... please pray for the team as we endeavour to live, train and play, each day, in this way.