A true competitor wants to “leave it all on the field.”
When the game concludes she wants to know she did everything, gave everything, held nothing back in pursuit of the win. Pain, sacrifice, the next game, the next season–none of that matters. The competitor has a single-minded focus on this game, this interaction, this win. All the chips are on the line, right here, right now. Nothing held back.
Leave it all on the field.
Playing games, that makes a lot of sense. There’s a scoreboard, and scoring more points is the goal. As long as you play by the rules, there’s not much point playing if you don’t play to to win.
In a game, it’s all about the short-term. But life’s not a game.
The writer of Hebrews 12 speaks of completing a race with perseverance. The context suggests the notion of a journey, of reaching the finish line at the end of a long-term venture. At that point, I think, there might be a different sort of quiet satisfaction in knowing you “left it all on the field,” not because you won but because of a voyage well traveled.
Different because it’s not the all-costs gamble for a single win but the patient pursuit of a legacy based on eternal principles. Different because it’s not a celebration of what you won but a quiet recognition of completion.
When you do something like the FREEDOM TOUR, it’s about what you build, the people with whom you connect, the amount of trust you generate. Those require long-term collaboration, service, a genuine concern for the other guy’s success. If you’re serious about creating a community you don’t keep score. You’re willing to endure short-term sacrifices to advance long-term principles.
Life is long-term. It’s long-term because God is long-term. Love, community, hope, faith–you don’t build those by pushing all the chips to the middle for a one-time, whatever-it-takes win.
Because if you win, the other guy has to lose. That’s okay, in a game. If you’re good enough, skilled enough, you can win all the time. That’s how games work.
Takes guts to leave it all on the field at the end of a game. But in life, the guy who always needs to win at others’ expense is just selfish.
Real courage is the strength and humility to bring others along, the servant leadership required to sacrifice self to create a community in which everyone is loved and respected.
The FREEDOM TOUR is working at completing the journey, traveling well, building a community that doesn’t keep score.
Together on a journey of HOPE.
Join us? www.frontrangefreedomtour.org/