FCA Talk 6 – Why we need a coach
What if the football coach showed up the first day of summer practice and said "Y'all are talented - you figure it out. We'll be back for the first game and see how you do."

What if the basketball coach took 5 very talented players and just turned them loose? Let them run and gun. What if the coach never came to practice...just gave them what they wanted, let them just play, let them just have fun? No conditioning. No position coaching. No free-throw practices. Just "run and gun boys...you're talented...figure it out"

Would that work? Does it work in life? Is that mindset working in America where we just want to do what makes us feel good. We don't want the consequences...we just want to do things and buy things that make us feel good.

At the start of the movie, Coach Carter takes a part-time, low-paying job coaching the basketball team at his old high school. Of course, the boys are wild, cocky and unruly. Plus, they had a dismal 4 and 22 record!

80% of the boys in that high school wind up in jail. Only 50% graduate and 6% go to college.

Isn’t this a picture of the world and man? Isn’t this a picture of our culture today? We are cocky, wild and unruly. We want what we want. Life is all about what we can grab and our record of success is abysmal. Marriages ending in divorce, addition to cocaine or booze or meth, addiction to sex, a culture drenched in pornography and reckless living. We are a people who know the rules, know what is right/wrong and yet, we still chase after what makes us feel good despite the cost.

Coach Carter sets out to coach the boys = the fundamentals, the plays, the discipline, getting them into shape and he sets strict rules for the team:
• 2.3 GPA minimum (higher than the required 2.0 GPA)
• No skipping of classes
• Must sit in the front row in class
• Must wear jackets and ties on game days.

The natural reaction? Three players walk out of practice.

Isn’t that our reaction to God? He sets some rules for us. He gives us some guidelines for life, i.e. don’t be drunk with wine, don’t cheat on your wife with another woman, don’t covet what your neighbor has. And isn’t our reaction to just walk out on that?

God gives us the Bible (the Word) it is our playbook for life – plays for offense and defense. James 1-2

So Coach Carter puts in these rules, focuses on discipline, focuses on respect and the team starts winning games.

Cruz, who had walked out in the first session, fights like crazy to get back onto the team. And after impressing the Coach, he's allowed back on.

It soon becomes apparent that all that has changed is the boys' ability to win. They taunt opponents, skip class, and get bad grades.

So, the boys start to win because they follow their coach – God starts to bless us. And as soon as we get some blessings, we turn our backs on God and want to Quarterback our lives…we’re in control now God, thanks for getting us here….

So Carter goes crazy himself.
• He locks them out of the gym (in the midst of an undefeated season!)
• He forfeits some games
• He makes the players get tutoring, instead of basketball practice

This leads to Cruz quitting (again). He goes back to dealing drugs full-time. But the untimely death of Cruz' drug-dealing cousin shakes some sense into him. He focuses on basketball full-time, leaving the life of crime behind.

Just like Cruz, we rebel. If we can’t have life the way we want life, we rebel. Depsite all God has done for us in the past, we still take control of the wheel and it takes a brush with death to wake Cruz and us up!

The players' parents want the basketball to continue, and get the school board to approve it!

But the boys prove that they've learned something - they’ve been coached --, by going to basketball practice, AND GETTING TUTORED ON THE BASKETBALL COURT!
A good number of the players ended up going to college - a rarity for kids from their school.

Coach Carter is a great picture of why we need Christ. We cannot do this life alone. If left to our own devices, we'll train-wreck life every single time. We need a coach. We need to surrender our "I know what I'm doing" rebellious attitude and we need to come under His guidance. We need a coach.