Comfort in Chaos

Our service of the people of sport is often mundane and slow. There are hours of standing and watching a practice, long bus rides or plane flights to endure along with occasional doubts about the wisdom of such use of time. At other times we’re in a vortex of noise, confusion, anxious personalities, screaming people and indecision. To serve effectively we must find a way to be comfortable in such chaos.

We feel the chaos for a number of reasons, among them is the fact that we’re really not in control of most of the situations where we serve. Someone else is running the practice, the competition, the emergency room, the surgery center, the coaches’ conference room or changing room. The lack of control feels like chaos.

Another reason for our discomfort is that we’re seldom the center of attention. If we’re Church leaders, we’re probably used to everyone following our lead and our agenda. It feels chaotic when we’re not in charge of the timing of the team’s activities. We have to become comfortable with that and simply fulfill our responsibilities.

The closer one is to the court, pitch, field or ground at the time of competition, the more the chaos is amplified. While standing on the sideline of college football for 15 seasons has ruined me, I hate to watch games from the seats, it has made me progressively more comfortable with the rush of chaotic-feeling noise and activity which surrounds me and the team.

Let’s become comfortable with the chaos which accompanies our world of sport and simply relax. Our relaxed attitude will make us more effective in service, more winsome in nature, and more intuitive in heart with those whom we serve.