Fellowship of Christian Athletes: Impact Play

“Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” — 1 Timothy 4:12

Imagine you need to get up early in the morning to go to campus because you were leaving for a team tournament by 6:30 a.m. Just before bed, you get a call from a teammate asking that you call in the morning to make sure she is up and doesn’t miss the bus. That’s an extra step in a morning that you are already wishing you could add sleep to. But you say you will and set another reminder on your phone to make the call.

Your teammate is counting on you to ensure she arrives at school, and you take it as your responsibility. Your teammate is holding you accountable for doing the task of wake-up duty, and you owe it to yourself to see that you have maybe one extra alarm set to ensure you get that call to your teammate.

Accountability is an incredibly powerful and important piece of a well-formed team. It’s a willingness to take responsibility for our actions, even when it’s hard. It’s what fuses us together, that our teammates know we are there for them no matter what.

We also hold ourselves accountable to our spiritual teammates. If you and some friends choose a Bible study to do together, make sure you do the reading each week. If you say you’re going to pray for someone who is going through a hard time, make sure you say a prayer before you even are done with the conversation. As Jesus lived a life of accountability to God the Father while on Earth, we too should commit to Him through our actions, mental determination and heart.

As believers, we are invited into one another’s lives. We are to build each other up, stand firm in the faith and challenge our people to grow in faith. We should never be satisfied with the status quo, and in a world where it’s easy to shirk responsibility and avoid doing the hard work of commitment, we look to the approval of Jesus as we submit to His authority for our lives. Let’s make the decision to be responsible to our teammates, coaches and community and hold ourselves to the standard of Christ.