About the Sport Principle
Rugby League is essentially a very simple (and brilliant) sport in its aims and objectives: gain territory. That’s it. Everything is geared to winning ground and moving forward. This principle reminds me of a brilliant book called ‘extreme ownership’ about US Navy Seals in Iraq by Jocho Willink (all elite special forces officers seem to have great names). As the Americans attempted to gain ground in one of the most violent and dangerous battlefields in history, their policy was simple, and could be summarised in four words: seize, clear, hold, build.
Of course, this is very similar to a rugby league team, kicking from their own try line, in an attempt to seize, clear, hold and then build on new territory.
Application to Life
This simple concept of gaining territory is similar to how we need to operate in life to be effective followers of Christ. You need to be ruthless.
- Seize: Life is a fight – until our dying day. Fight for that new thinking, that way of understanding yourself, or the world around you, or your relationship with God like your life depended on it. (It just might!) At the front end of this process, you may feel like you are in a war zone. That’s ok, we’re made for the fight!
- Clear: Part of the process may be eliminating old mindsets, or approaches to understanding the way the world works that are no longer relevant or needed. (The Bible refers to these as strongholds. There needs to be a clearing process.
- Hold: Once something of clarity starts to come into your thinking, you need to make sure you hold on to it at all costs and don’t lose it. A swimming analogy might be helpful here: You sometimes have to ‘tread water’. Even if it is all you can do to keep your head above water, fine, do it. It won’t be long until something of greater reasoning and clarity comes into your world, and you can build a walkway to the next level of life.
- Build: Once you have ‘held’ your new understanding, that part of the neighbourhood that used to be enemy territory in your thinking can be built upon with more Godly new concepts and ideas. But be warned, you may have to go through this four-step process over and over again.
Like a cross between a rugby-league warrior and a best of the best elite special forces officer, keep going, and you will eventually liberate the entire city of that problem area of your life from the insurgents of temptation and sin. There is little more satisfying than that.
Which areas of your life is God telling you are the enemy cities where you need to gain territory like a rugby league-playing US Navy Seal?
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”
Isaiah 54:2
Seize, clear, hold, build
ABOUT THE AUTHOUR
Christian Pountain lives in East Lancashire with his wife, Hannah, and two sons: Samuel, 18, and Daniel, 15. He is a passionate supporter of Accrington Stanley FC & Rochdale Hornets RLFC, and so is well equipped to deal with failure! He loves all things sport-related, especially judo. He is current veterans (a polite term for old men!) Commonwealth silver medallist in his weight category, and holds a competitive 5th Dan, the highest judo fighting grade in the world! Christian is an RE teacher at a local church secondary school with well over 2 decades’ experience. Converted to Christ as a school pupil himself by the witness of an RE teacher many years ago, his Christian faith underpins everything he does.
Christian will be sharing series of sport-themed blogs to bring sport and faith together in a way that is helpful to men from all walks of life.
