Huddle Up!
Matthew 11:15 The one having ears listen up!
If you have ever been on a sports team, you can join me in imagining Jesus calling a huddle. Sports team coaches don’t mess around. They landed in that coach role for a reason; they are one fuse short of a full explosion when things are not going their way or even when they are. It’s called passion; for the love of the game. And in Jesus’ case, for the love of the world.
For the coach, a championship is on the line. For the world, eternity is on the line. We aren’t talking about Battleship Galactica or Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader. The battle over good and evil is as real as the chair you are sitting in, and your head coach is Jesus: The one who has ears, listen up!
The Greek New Testament shares a grammatical imperative for the word, listen, so the English needs more ‘umph’ to give it the commanding presence it deserves. Jesus is not messing around, any more than the coach of a team who is losing the game.
There is a deaf world out there not listening to Jesus. Consuming thoughts has taken believers captive, and they have lost their ability to hear the gentle whisper of the spirit’s voice. Jesus commanded in the Big Sermon not to be consumed with thoughts for that very reason. “Get your head in the game!”
Jesus may be the head coach, but everybody has a brain of their own, which defaults to the role of offensive line coach. This offensive line coach forces action to whatever it is consumed with, and the rest of the body goes with it. The offensive line coach can quickly overturn the directions of the Head Coach, and it turns off the ears needed for listening to Him. And of course, that’s when things go south.
All of sudden, Jesus is no longer calling the plays, and the yellow flags are flying all over the place: fear, anxiety, sexual immorality, anger and more anger, depression, envy of the world, greed for more, dependency on drugs and alcohol, abuse of all kinds. Lips loosen, gossip increases, self-discipline, self-restraint and renouncing the self all get red-shirted, and they’re off the team!
What do we do about that offensive line coach?? It’s a problem; a real problem. But minds can be transformed; ears can listen up. An earful of Jesus can transform any mind, and once the mind is transformed, we can all look forward to a winning season!
