Years ago, a story circulated around Georgia Southern (then College, rather than University) about a conversation between legendary football coach Erk Russell and one of the best high school athletes in the state. One by one, SEC and ACC schools had considered the young man, but his rebellious attitude and off-field shenanigans had led each recruiter to quietly back away without offering him a scholarship.
Erk, not being one to shy away from a challenge, saw an opportunity to recruit a top-tier athlete to his new football program and scheduled a visit to the young man’s home.
Sitting at the kitchen table with the young man, his grandmother, a glass of sweet tea, and a warm slice of homemade peach pie, Erk said “Son, you can come to Georgia Southern and drink and smoke all you want. You can skip practices, chase girls all night every night, and you can party till dawn. But you won’t help us a win a national championship, and you’ll never know what kind of athlete and what kind of man you could have been if you don’t leave all that foolishness here. You see, at some level, all things are permissible but not all things are helpful. You will always have a choice, but some choices will move you toward your best life and some choices will lead you away from it.” The young man signed with Georgia Southern that day and went on to earn two national championship rings.
The Apostle Paul said something similar to the members of a church saturated in the same kind of foolishness in first century Corinth,
“‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me’ but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Like Erk, Paul seems to be saying that we each have choices, but some choices will move us toward our best life and some choices will move us away from it or keep us from moving forward.
As a teenager and young adult, it often seemed to me as though Scripture, and those wielding it, would like nothing better than to keep me from having fun. My friends and I had our lists of weekend and evening activities, and most of what was on our lists was prohibited by someone. Jesus just seemed to be the Chief Prohibitionist.
But the Apostle Paul and Erk were simply echoing the message of Jesus. While I was guarding against missing the fleeting promises of fun offered by the foolish rebellion on our lists, Jesus, Paul, and even Erk were warning against missing the lasting promises that would come from recognizing my purpose and reaching my potential through trust, discipline, and obedience. The desires and expectations of Jesus as expressed through Scripture are less about restraint and prohibition than they are about joy and freedom. Jesus simply asks me to give up that which will keep me from living my best life.
I’m not called to begrudgingly give up or forego anything. I am called to consider what kind of friend, husband, father, leader, man, or grateful follower I could be if I simply trust that He who created me and went to the cross for me might love me enough to guide me to my best life.
How about you?
Is Jesus challenging you to leave something behind?
If he loved you enough to give his life for you, might he love you enough to lead you to your best life?