The Gospel according to Coach V

"Don't give up!  Don't EVER give up!"

Jim Valvano's voice echoed through the rafters of historic Reynolds Coliseum.  NC State invited Coach V back to Raleigh to celebrate the '83 NCAA Basketball Champs.  

But this day was a lot more.  V was facing his toughest opponent.  Cancer.  He only had days to live.  And he knew it.  The theme of his speech was loud and proud.

"Don't give up!  Don't EVER give up!"

Let me be clear.  Jim Valvano was a great coach but certainly no saint.  The school forced him out amid athletic scandal.  I have no idea of his relationship with Jesus.  

But if there was a running theme throughout his life, it was the consistent message he preached that day in Raleigh.  And it's the same message that the Apostle Paul tries to get across to his dear friends in Galatia.

"Don't give up!  Don't EVER give up!"

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (v9).  Two phrases jump off the page.  "Let us not grow weary."  "Do not give up.”  

Hang in there.  Press on.  Keep on keepin' on.  It's worth it.  It's absolutely worth it.  Don't.  Give.  Up.

The main verb in the sentence in the original language is the Greek word εγκακεω/egkakeo.  It means to grow faint, be weary, exhausted and utterly drained.  

The term describes that point when we can't give anymore and throw in the towel.  We realize that there's no hope and quit.

Paul bookends verse 9 with a second verb: εκλυω/ekluo.  This word literally means to let loose.  

It describes relaxing your grip when you have no more strength.  The term paints a picture of someone who has become despondent, fainthearted and drained.

Oh yeah, he also uses the little word "not" (Gr. μη/me) both times too!  

Do NOT give up.  

Do NOT quit.  

Do NOT grow weary.  

Do NOT throw in the towel.  

Do NOT relax your grip.  

Do NOT be despondent.  

Do NOT lose hope.  

Do NOT be fainthearted.  

Do NOT be drained.

The apostle used nearly the identical words in his second letter to his friends in Thessalonica.  "As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good" (2Th 3:13).  

"Don't give up!  Don't EVER give up!"

Paul pleads with us to keep on "doing good" (v9).  What does he mean?  Well, flip back through the last few verses.  He's talking about "through love serve one another" (Gal 5:13).  "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Gal 5:14).  

Allow the Spirit to produce fruit in your life: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22-23).  

We're to restore those entangled in sin (Gal 6:1).  "Bear one another's burdens" (Gal 6:2).  In other words, I'm to live and love as Jesus did.

And who is to be the recipient of such Christlike acts of love?  "As we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith" (v10).  

Let's quickly take roll of who that is.  First, "Everyone."  Second, "those who are in the household of faith."  

That pretty much covers everyone I meet when I'm walking down the street.  Check!

We're to love those outside the church.  We're to love those inside the church.  Jesus calls us to salt and light in our communities (Mt 5:13-14).  

We're to kingdom outposts that Christ uses to spread His grace to a watching and broken world.  

Do good.  To everyone.

There's too much at stake.  Eternity hangs in the balance.  People need Jesus.  We can't give up.  

The Lord can and will give us the strength to keep on keeping on.  

"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 15:5-6).  

God can and will give us the endurance and the encouragement we need so that we don't grow weary.

"Don't give up!  Don't EVER give up!"

Let's be clear.  We'll stumble.  We'll grow weak.  We'll want to quit.  But Jesus didn't.  He lived the perfect life that couldn't live.  He died the brutal death that we should have died.  He rose to a new life that we don't deserve.  

But God absolutely loves using an endless parade of losers, goofballs and screw ups to shine His light.  Paul talks about how Jesus uses worthless "jars of clay" to contain "this treasure."  

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2Cor 4:7-10).  

Or in the words of those great theologians in the band Chumbawumba, "I get knocked down, but I get up again.  And they're never gonna keep me down!"

Call it the gospel according to Coach V.  "Don't give up!  Don't EVER give up!”

©2012

Jay Jennings