Teamwork Playbook

True Champions Talk about the Heart and Soul in Sports

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

• Publisher: Revell
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780800726928
• eBook ISBN: 9781493404209
• Topic: Theology & Religion

Insights from Popular Sports Figures Show True SportsmanshipIn the competitive world of sports, it's not always easy to see where Christian values fit. With these compact books, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes encourages athletes to raise their standards of performance and have an eternal perspective on sports and life.The Teamwork Playbook helps athletes and coaches discover how a band of brothers (or sisters!) are even stronger when they become a band of believers. It shows how to spot the enemies of team unity and how to build an amazing team.

1
Losing Control

MIKE FISHER

NHL Defender

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.

Proverbs 3:5–6

Leadership is an act of submission to God. To be a leader means listening to all kinds of people and situations. Out of that listening, we are hoping to discern the mind of God as best we can. This is the price of leadership—it’s an act of sacrifice. So leadership is part and parcel of the work of submission to God.

Richard Foster

Most great athletes instinctively want to take control. It’s usually these athletes who rise to leadership roles within a team. But the best teams typically have leaders who understand that even they aren’t really in control—and that’s a good thing.

Since fully surrendering his heart to Christ at the age of twenty-two, NHL defender Mike Fisher has been intentionally and deliberately taking the steps toward a more trusting relationship with God. As a boy growing up in Peterborough, Ontario, he remembers coming downstairs before school every day and seeing his mom reading her Bible and spending time in prayer.

“Both my parents are prayer warriors,” Fisher says. “They have a lot of faith in God, and that was a great example of what it looks like to trust God for direction. They knew they needed His guidance to lead our family.”

Fisher’s trust in God was first put to the test when he was nineteen years old. While playing juniors hockey, he suffered his first serious knee injury and had to sit out the remainder of the season.

“Remember, God doesn’t make mistakes,” his mother told him. “Trust in Him and it will be okay. He’ll use it for good.”

At the time, Fisher admits he wasn’t terribly receptive to her advice. But in the long run, he knew she was right.

“I’ll never forget some of those moments,” he says.

Fisher’s ability to trust God and let Him lead has made a difference in the way he has approached his hockey career. Fisher made his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators in 2000 where he spent the better part of eleven seasons. It was an opportunity to be an example of his faith in a world where outspoken Christian athletes are a rarity. But Fisher sees that changing.

“Hockey has come a long way—even over the last ten years,” he explains. “You’re seeing more Christians emerging and there are some great chapel programs through Hockey Ministries International. But for me, it’s just trying to be real. I’ve been in the league for a while and the first few years were probably the toughest. But after that, for the most part, the guys have come to respect that it’s part of who I am. If you’re truly living the way Jesus lived, then you’re going to get those people that disagree. But you’re also going to get those people who, if you’re loving them the right way and you’re being a good teammate, are going to respect you too.”

But nowhere has Fisher found more divine camaraderie than within his own home. In 2010, Fisher married country music star Carrie Underwood, and the two continued a team-oriented approach that began with their dating relationship.

“Before we got married, trust was one of the three things our pastor touched on in our counseling,” he says. “It’s really second in importance only behind your relationship with Christ. We both live different lives and we’re on the road a lot. We trust each other with all our hearts. It makes it so much easier to know I can trust her character and who she is as a person. That’s the same way it is with the Lord. It’s comforting. It’s freeing. It brings a lot of peace knowing that you don’t have to worry about anything and you can trust in Him. If you don’t have that, good luck.”

Just as a team captain has to take charge on the ice, Fisher feels a sobering sense of responsibility when it comes to serving as the leader of his marriage.

“I take it very seriously,” he says. “We’re both doing this thing together, but I understand that it’s my job to make sure we’re encouraging each other and praying together and growing spiritually. That’s such an important thing. The closer we feel to God, the closer we feel to each other. When we’re in the Word and growing and doing things we need to be doing, it makes the relationship so much better. That’s so important and it’s a top priority in our marriage.”

Fisher, who added fatherhood to his growing list of leadership titles in February of 2015, knows that the way he models character and trust in his marriage serves as an example for his teammates who look to him for leadership as one of the team’s veterans. This has especially been true since he joined the Nashville Predators midway through the 2010–11 season.

“I’ve been able to be an example for the married guys and those guys that aren’t even married yet,” Fisher says. “Before I was married, I wanted to show them God’s way to date properly and how to do the right things. I’ve gone through all that. I’ve been on the wrong side of it and done it the wrong way and fortunately with my wife, we did it the right way and God has really blessed that. That’s allowed me to help some other guys along the way. It’s all part of being a leader.”

Fisher has also had ample opportunity to show his teammates what it looks like to trust God when things aren’t going well. Through some shoulder and knee injuries, he has admittedly dealt with frustration and fear. It didn’t take long for Fisher to realize that he had gotten off track and needed to completely surrender the situation to the Lord. In doing so, he began leaning heavily upon one of his favorite Scriptures: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths” (Prov. 3:5–6).

“A lot of times we hope that everything is going to be rosy, but God doesn’t promise that,” Fisher says. “He promises that He’s got our back and He’s prepared a place for us. We need to keep that perspective that it’s not just about the here and now. That’s exciting. We know we’re going to go through ups and downs and we’ve all experienced that, but it’s about surrendering some of that control, which we all find so hard to do, but it’s really freeing when you can do that.”

When doing his best to give up control and use biblical principles as a leader, Fisher believes that the only way to do that effectively is to follow Christ’s perfect example.

“His ministry was showing love to others and trying to spread the gospel so people would trust in Him and have that faith,” Fisher says. “What He did on the cross was the ultimate display of trust. He surrendered Himself to the cross because He knew that’s what He needed to do. He sacrificed for us and He knew that God would raise Him up. Jesus gave up control on the cross and that’s what the Lord wants us to do in a lot of areas in life. We know how hard that is, but imagine being in Jesus’s position.”

Fisher is no different than anyone else. His human nature craves control. But his advice for athletes and coaches and anyone who might struggle with this concept of leading under God’s influence is to start with the little things and realize that it’s a process that will take time.

“It’s freeing when you start to give up some of that control,” Fisher says. “But ultimately the most important decision you can make is giving your life over to Christ and trusting Him with it. That’s an amazing thing. When you can do that, your fears begin to fade. What better person to have on your team than the God who made you?”

Training Time

1. Who are some people that you trust and why?
2. What are some areas of your life that you have struggled to turn over to God? What do you think has been the source of your lack of trust?
3. In what ways do you think trusting God can make someone a better leader? How might that kind of leadership improve the team dynamic?
4. Read Proverbs 3:5–6. What parts of that Scripture challenge you the most?
5. What are some things you can start to do today that will help you trust God?

journal

2
Locking Arms

JUSTIN MASTERSON

MLB Pitcher

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Fellowship means among other things that we are ready to receive of Christ from others. Other believers minister Christ to me, and I am ready to receive.

Watchman Nee

Justin Masterson is aware of the stigma that comes from growing up as a preacher’s kid. But somewhere between the stereotypical Goody Two-shoes and unrepentant rebel lies the truth about what it’s really like to be raised in a ministry home. While Masterson may not be able to pinpoint his exact location on that broad spectrum, he does know that having a pastor for a dad was nothing short of an incredible experience.

“I’m so thankful for that influence in my life,” Masterson says. “I’ve been blessed to have a relationship with God since I was a little kid.”

Masterson learned at a young age the importance of locking arms with those around him. It started in the home, but as an aspiring young athlete, he certainly became familiar with the oft-quoted Scripture found in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (NKJV).

It was later in life when he had a revelation about this commonly misinterpreted passage.

“As the apostle Paul was writing that letter, he was physically in his weakest state,” Masterson says. “He wasn’t talking about how he could do anything he wanted to do like lift a boulder or something like that. He was saying that when you’re menta...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• The Four Core
• Introduction: Me Monsters
• 1. Losing Control
• 2. Locking Arms
• 3. Know (and Accept) Your Role
• 4. Trust or Consequences
• 5. Eyes on the Prize
• 6. All for One
• Thanks
• Impacting the World for Christ through Sports
• FCA Competer’s Creed
• FCA Coach’s Mandate
• Back Ads
• Back Cover