Four or five of us neighbor boys were at Paul’s house. Paul was a couple of years older than us and had just received a brand new BB gun for his birthday. He was letting each of us take a turn at shooting the new gun.

When Paul finally got the gun back in his hands he turned around, took aim at my face and from about two feet away pulled the trigger. His shot hit me just under my left eye on my cheek bone and the BB bounced off my face. I immediately started running away from the area.

My house was a block away and when I got there, I ran into the bathroom. I put toilet paper on the wound and tried to stop the bleeding, which was considerable. My father followed me into the bathroom and said, “What happened?” I said, “Paul just shot me in the face with his BB gun from about two feet away.” My Dad grabbed me by the back of the neck and said, “Let’s go.” I said, “Where are we going?” He said, “To Paul’s house.”

When we arrived at Paul’s house my Dad hit the front door loudly three times with the bottom of his fisted hand. Paul’s Dad opened the door and said, “Joe, what is wrong?” My Dad said, “Your Paul just shot my kid in the face with the BB gun from about two feet away.” Paul’s Dad turned around facing into the house and yelled, “Paul get up here right now.”

Paul got to the door almost immediately. His Dad said to him, “Did you shoot Tim with the gun?” Paul said, “Yes sir.” Paul’s Dad looked back at my Dad and said, “Joe, I will take care of this problem on my end and thank you for coming over.”

I learned later that Paul had his new BB gun taken away from him forever and he received the butt whipping of his life.

A few days ago, I read a story in the news that said; about 50% of the babies in the United States are born out of wedlock with many a father not present. My first thought was, who raises these kids and tells them that shooting another kid in the face with a BB gun is unacceptable behavior?

The coach in pregame says this to his team in the locker room: “Now guys, let’s be nice out there tonight. I want you to quit being so rough on the other team. Quit hitting them so hard. Stop hanging on to the football so tightly; carry it loose so it is easier for the other team to get it away from us. Lets just be nice guys tonight.

My guess is, no coach in America at any level of football from junior high to the N.F.L. has ever said that speech and meant it.

Galations 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Men (and women) need to be challenged. That is why, I think, we love the game of football, our guys against your guys. Who has worked harder in preparation for the game, both mentally and physically? The game itself is a challenge to play. It is not for the soft in spirit and body.

Our spiritual lives are also challenging. It is difficult to love everyone. It is difficult to read the Bible and pray everyday. It is at times difficult to get to church.

But once we start to do the things recommended by Coach Jesus, it gets easier to do. We start to take on the characteristics of our Coach.

So are you pleasing people instead of God? Have you gone soft?