To Speak or Not to Speak

To Speak or Not to Speak:

As an FCA chaplain, I have the great honor and pleasure to work with high

school athletes and coaches on a weekly basis. During football season, I bring a

devotional from God’s Word every Thursday afternoon, and I serve the team on the

sidelines on Friday night. Even with years of FCA experience under my belt, I’m often

conflicted about when I should express my convictions and when it’s a better expression

of grace to keep quiet altogether. See, most of my team does not know the Lord, and

as expected, they walk, talk, and act like they’re lost. It takes a heavy dose of wisdom to

decide: When I hear or see certain things from the team, do I respond with expression

of Biblical conviction or do I just keep quiet, hoping they see a picture of grace? My fear

is that if I say something convicting, these players and coaches will shut me out and I’ll

risk a hard-earned connection and platform for sharing the Gospel.

Last Friday I had to make one of those difficult decisions. One of the players on the

team was struggling. He was the unfortunate victim of a bad call, and while walking the

sidelines, he decided to tell off an opposing fan, who was working with the chain gang.

(Those are the guys that work with the first down marker.) I had a decision to make:

Do I reprimand this disrespectful player who had and bad attitude and used a string of

profanity that would make a sailor blush? (What did sailors to earn such a bad rep?)

Or do I simply remain quiet? I decided to express myself. I grabbed his jersey, looked

him in the eyes and very firmly expressed God’s standard for respect, attitude, and

language.

Surprisingly, the player responded, “Yes, sir. I understand. I’ll clean it up.”

He received what I said! He didn’t shut down...he didn’t close himself off. I was

shocked. Remember—I’m not a part of the coaching staff. He doesn’t have to listen to

me. I spoke to him later that night and there was definitely still a ministry connection.

I still don’t have a straight-forward answer for when it’s best to keep quiet and

when it’s best to speak out, but I do know that we need to in tune with the Holy Spirit.

We need to rely on “The Helper” to guide and direct. To be honest, I lean towards grace

and silence, hoping my testimony and grace makes the impact—but I cannot forget that

grace needs expression. We cannot be afraid to share God’s Word! We cannot be

afraid to take a stand. The outcome may surprise you.