Tyler knocked on the open door. “You wanted to see me, Coach?”

Coach Felkins glanced up from his playbook. “Come in, Ty. We need to talk about your grades.

Tyler groaned and shuffled into the office, flopping his massive frame into the plastic chair in front of Coach Felkin’s desk. “We’re 8 and 0 this season. I’ve been studying all the plays religiously. I want to go pro. I don’t know why I have to take all those stupid classes anyway.”

Coach raised his eyebrows. “Tell me why you want to play football. What do you love about the games?”

Tyler leaned the chair back on two legs and popped his gum. “Everything. I love the excitement of the crowd, the competition, the strategy. I love the smell of the snack bar, the sound of the marching band getting everyone excited, and the cheerleaders cheering us on. I love trying to outwit the other team, calling plays they won’t expect.”

“I’m glad you enjoy the game, but you have to know, football isn’t everything. Let’s take a look at your classes here. Music, math, history, English, chemistry. Every one of these is important in football.”

Tyler stared at his coach. “I don’t see how.”

“Music is obvious. Without it, you’d have no marching band, and that one crucial element of the atmosphere would be missing. Tell me, what’s your average passing yards per game this season?”

“153,” Tyler said, a touch of pride in his voice.

“What if you could never calculate any of your stats? Or perhaps even worse, what if you can’t figure out what percentage of your salary your agent is taking? Math is huge in football.”

Tyler shrugged. “I guess.”

“What’s the most important thing we do, other than practice, to get ready for a game?”

“Review the playbook and watch the tapes.”

Coach pointed a pencil at Tyler. “Exactly. What if we didn’t have either of those tools?”

“We’d never learn from our mistakes.”

“And that, Ty, is the importance of history. Winston Churchill said those who fail to learn from their past are doomed to repeat it. We study history to help us in the future.”

“OK, I see your point. But there’s no way chemistry is useful for football.”

“No?” Coach Felkin’s eyebrows rose. “How well would you play on a field with no lines?”

“Not well. We wouldn’t know if we were out of bounds, or whether we made the first down.”

“Well, those lines are painted on the field. That paint was invented by a chemist. The lights are provided by electricity. Architects designed the stadium. The football itself was produced in a factory where physics, chemistry, and dozens of other disciplines come together.

“What about English?” Ty asked. “What good does reading Romeo and Juliet do to help me in football?”

“You have to be able to read the playbook, and you have to be able to communicate properly with your teammates, all skills taught in English class.”

Ty dropped the chair legs to the ground and shrugged. “OK, I get it. All these subjects are important. I’ll work on bringing my grades up.”

“That’s important, especially if you want to stay on the team, but that’s not the only reason why I wanted to have this talk with you.”

“Why else?” Ty asked.

“I was thinking about changing up the positions on the team.”

Ty jolted to attention. “What do you mean?”

“I thought Atkins could be an offensive lineman, Jones could be the kicker…”

“You must be joking. Atkins is barely 150 pounds. He’s built for speed, not for blocking. And Jones is great at tackling, but could never get the ball between the uprights.”

“So what you’re saying is everyone on the team has a place, and they can’t substitute for one another?”

“Of course not, Coach. You know that.”

“At the risk of sounding preachy, I’ll tell you my point. God gave us all different gifts and talents. Just like we need all the different disciplines to bring together a football game and stadium, a team is made up of people with all different skills. We’ve got guys of all different races and backgrounds, but that doesn’t matter on the field because you’re all working together as a team. That’s how the good Lord designed life to be as well. Some folks are better at kicking, some are better at designing the stadium, and some are better at making music. You may be the quarterback, but you’re nothing without all of them.”

Ty was silent for a moment. “I’ve been getting a pretty big head lately. I’ve been proud of our record. I love being the hero. But you’re right. If the offensive line doesn’t protect me and my receivers can’t catch, I won’t be able to do anything. Thanks, Coach. I promise to think about what you said.”

 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?

 If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 

Dear God, thank you for making us all different. With different gifts and diverse interests, we can come together to make something truly beautiful. Some of us teach, some encourage, some preach, some write, some draw, some make music, some pray. Some heal, some create, some organize… the list goes on and on. No gift is too small or unimportant in your kingdom. Help us also to remember that our ministry may change in different seasons. As a young person, perhaps we have the energy to coordinate Vacation Bible School for hundreds of children, but in our older years, we may be better suited to leading a grief counseling Bible study. Some days, we may only have the energy to pray. Help us not to compare our gifts and interests to others, but please help us to use what you’ve given us for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.