The lamb and the wolf…

A post from the past…this one is two part — continued from yesterday
It all began about 4 years ago when some poor volunteer from the City Rec department called me, begging me to coach our youngest son’s U-8 soccer team. I knew very little about soccer, having played only one bad inaugural season as a senior in high school. But my boy really wanted me too, and by this point I had attended 8 years worth of my three older kids’ soccer practices and games so I thought I could manage a U-8 team. We were a ragtag bunch, with only nine players, 4 of them being precious little girls, and we excelled in the goals I had for them – to get exercise, have fun, be good sports, and learn a few soccer skills. If our goal had been to win, one could not say we exactly excelled.
One cold and wintry day near the end of the season, I had only seven players show up. It was going to be a rough day, with only one sub. Then I saw our opponents, 12 sturdy and obviously athletic boys, completing passes in warmup, something our team attempted but never quite accomplished. Everyone knew them – they had played together since they were four, and they always won. The hulking, deep-voiced man, my enemy neighbor, was the coach, barking orders at his team. I sighed and readied myself for a rough game. Our kids fumbled the kickoff and the big guys captured the ball, made one pass, and scored from midfield. By the second half, their strategy was apparent, and it was working – one guy would kick the ball way downfield to where a forward was waiting (there was no offsides rule at this age in this league), and he would kick it into the goal, undefended, except by our goalie, who performed valiantly, then begged to be replaced. I was furious at the way they were bullying and humiliating our kids. I fumed and fussed, and finally after their eighth goal was scored (we still had none), I looked over at the coach, threw up my hands and said, “How many do you want?” He smiled at me and said, “Oh, I just want every boy on my team to get to score.”
So, I asked God, indignant, “You want me to dwell in peace with this wolf who hurt those little lambs??” The Spirit spoke, very plainly, it seemed, “Who said you are the lamb?” It then occurred to me, I am the wolf in this scenario who would like to hurt and destroy. I know it is right to be angry against injustices, and there are many far worse than humiliating young soccer players, but I also know that God is the one who has defeated unrighteousness by humbling Himself to send His own Son to endure the Cross, despising the shame, for sinners like me.
Because I have been reconciled to God, I am called to long for reconciliation with my enemies. It would not be wrong to kindly speak to my neighbor and encourage him to be considerate of the feelings of the other players, but it is wrong to think slanderous thoughts of him. So I long for the day when I will no longer be a wolf, when I will no longer ‘hurt’ and ‘destroy,’ and I look for it to begin happening now.