Instruct One Another

“You yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all
knowledge and able to instruct one another.”
Romans 15:14 (ESV)

 NOTE: Today’s Bible Bits post is a guest post by Dr. Mallory Marshall (PhD, Michigan State University), a young mother to five children and Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at Samford University. Mallory and her precious family sit by us in church each week. She recently penned today’s article for a “One Another” devotional compiled by our Women’s Ministry Team. it is used with her permission, and I hope it blesses you as much as it has me! 

This past winter I coached my seven-year-old daughter’s rec basketball team. It was--and I’m not exaggerating--one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. Getting eight second- graders to stop twirling and listen, while whistles are blowing and fans are yelling and rules are maybe (sometimes, but not always) being enforced is beyond difficult. During the season my team scored for the opponents; a girl did a cartwheel while playing defense; and another child asked me if the game was over during each time out called, for the entire season. My voice was scratchy, and my ego bruised after every game!

In sports, the coach has many roles, which include instruction of the players in rules, strategy, and skill. A Christian’s walk with the Lord through life is not dissimilar; there are rules (found in Scripture), strategy (different approaches to rules, and not everyone who follows Christ agrees on the exact strategy), and skill (developing Biblical wisdom and discernment). But the role of instructors in the Christian life, according to Paul, is very different than that of the sports coach. Paul admonishes believers in Romans 15:14, one of the famous “one another” passages, to instruct one another. He says that believers can and should teach each other! There’s no single wise know-it-all, no celebrity pastor, no best friend, from whom we should receive all instruction in the faith. In fact, the relationship described by Paul is reciprocal in nature. If we are in Christ, we have been filled with goodness and knowledge, by the Holy Spirit, to instruct others, as well as to be taught.

The Christian life is not a competitive sporting event, but it is described in Scripture as a race (Phil 3:14; I Cor 9:24). This race stands in stark contrast to the way we think of a traditional race, because in this race, the coaching is ongoing, all the time, and comes in the form of many other believers, of varying maturity levels, in different stages of life, male and female, young and old. And perhaps most uniquely, the runners are to coach the other runners, even during the race! The runners pick each other up when they stumble, get tired, or want to quit. They encourage, admonish, and instruct, based upon the needs of each other at the time.

At the end of the season with my second-grade girls, I gave an award to every kid based upon her skills, personality, and unique contributions to the team. There was a “defensive diva” and an “energizer bunny,” among other highly coveted awards. The Christian race, again, stands in contrast, because the runners who finish, even if they crawl across the finish line ragged and bloodied, get the prize not because of their own merit, skills, or character qualities, but because of the merit of Jesus Christ alone. In this life, we get to run, coach, and receive a prize we don’t deserve. It will be worth it. Keep running!