West Cocoa Chat

Seems that Coach Knight was trying to make a point with one of his players during a game. Now depending on your definition of force or excessive force, Coach Knight used his finger to lift (or strike) the player’s face up so he could look him in the eye. Apparently both the player and his family said they did not disapprove of Coach Knight’s actions.

It was in discussing this incident that I heard our local “Sports Talk Radio” guy say when a parent signs their kid up to play for Coach Knight, you know what you’re getting. You’re getting a coach that demands a lot of his players. To his credit Knight has almost a 90% graduation rate that is almost unheard of in the NCAA. Then he spoke of Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy.

Tony Dungy is well known as not only an excellent NFL coach but also a man of faith and character. The point he made was both Coach Knight and Dungy demand and try to build character in their players. Their methods are poles apart but both are after the same thing, winning teams and men of character. The guy on the radio then made this statement, “Character is like a religion, you have to bleed it and live it.”

Most of us will never have (or maybe want) the opportunity to play for men like Coach Knight or Dungy to have our character molded. But we all have access to the ultimate model of character, Jesus Christ. I couldn’t help but think of “character” this past Wednesday night.

It was the last night of our “Men Only” class. Several of the men indicated that while trying to live a life of character, a Christ-like life, they had met with some failures. The overriding cause seems to be sexual sin in the form of pornography. Satan has certainly found a weapon that is easy, accessible, and plays on a man’s sex drive.

But through our conversation I couldn’t help but think that these men were still men of character. Perhaps real character is knowing one’s flaws and knowing that I need help from a “higher power,” in this case, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps our church is on the verge of a time of healing and truly worshipping in “Spirit and Truth.”

May God bless all of you.

// posted by cwinwc @ 7:55 AM