I’m not
sure there is much in football I detest more than the “prevent” defense. Most
of you guys know what I’m referring to. In fact, if you watched any games over
the weekend, you surely observed it whether you realized it or not. The
“prevent” is utilized in situations that seem to be obvious passing downs. Say
the opposing offense is in third and a really long way or trailing before the
half or the end of the game, the defense will drop more defenders into coverage
to prevent anything too bad from happening.
For our
female readers, I hope I’ve not lost you yet, as I am about to explain my
disdain for this defense and why it is relevant to our discussion today. For
starters, it goes against all that is instinctive as a competitor. The
“prevent” is a form of damage control. It is a shift from aggressively
attacking with stunts and schemes as a defensive unit, to sitting back and
essentially playing to not lose. The
idea is to delay what seems to be
inevitable. Keep everything in front. It will most likely be a mess and we will
give up yardage…but perhaps we’ll hold on and not get beat. The irony is this: the very thing the defense works
so hard to keep from allowing often occurs as direct result of implementing the
said strategy. When I see my team move into this coverage, I loathingly refer
to it as the “prevent a win” defense.
Unfortunately,
I’m afraid that many moms and dads are adopting this same type of ideology as
their primary parenting strategy. It seems there is fear that a scriptural
approach might not be up to the task. There is no use in being so idealistic in
this day and age. Struggles are just inevitable, right? So there is a trend to
back away from parenting with intentionality and purpose. We’ll give in here
and here and maybe allow this and that and perhaps turn a blind eye to whatever
else, you can fill in the blank…just as long as our kids like us and we’re friends, we’ll be okay.
With
all due respect, are we really content with "okay"?
And do we really believe that will
work? Were you buddy-buddy with your parents? If so, how did that turn out for
you? Hasn’t time shown your parents to be tremendously wiser than you could
have ever imagined as a child? For me personally it seems that with each
passing year, I realize that I was not only was wrong about having it all
figured out, I truly had no clue. My parents weren’t so stupid after all…
Like
the aforementioned defensive squads, we often pretend that we can do nothing as
parents. We sit back and play damage control, just hoping to survive. Problem
is that’s just not so. We have a role, a voice, an influence, and a very
special calling as parents. So let’s embrace it! We have not been commissioned
to be friends but parents. We have been commanded to love enough to risk hurt
feelings for a greater goal, to discipline and correct in order to meet deep-seated
needs, not just surface level wants. This game is about preparation for life,
not prevention of harm.
With
that being said, might we be encouraged to boldly and lovingly engage our
children with a far different approach. May we not parent out of fear but out
of a deep trust in our Heavenly Play-caller. Might we hold God at His word that
tells us to train up a child in the way
he should go and that even when he is
old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). Scripture also makes it
abundantly clear that God the Father loves our children far more than we are even
capable of. Unlike
some football game, we’re not given the benefit of seeing the ticking clock.
We’re not guaranteed to see this thing all the way through. But what we know is
this: there is victory in Christ and our hope rests in Him. Motivated by such
truth and grace – might we parent with bigger plans in mind and play to win the game!
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