A Shift in Instincts

My old volleyball coach used to point out to us all the time that in order to play volleyball, we had to train ourselves to go against our instincts. (well.. the team did. I'm the manager. I just watched. Not the point.) Natural instincts would tell you that if there is a ball flying towards your face, you need to move out of the way. I was thinking about this today during practice while watching my team do this very interesting thing where the coach hits a ball at them, they pass it, do a funny backflip-roll thing, and then pass a second  ball.

It looks about like this:

Just like that, actually.

So we do this drop and roll thing every day at practice. Every single day. The idea is that eventually, the roll will become instinct.

In Sunday School, we were discussing how to be "in the world, but not of the world." Which led us to a discussion of the upside down kingdom, and about how the things we do as Christians go against our instincts. He talked about how we have to train ourselves out of it, like a sport. It may be instinct to react in anger to a hurtful remark, but Christ calls us to turn the other cheek. It may be instinct to want to be served, but Christ called us to serve.It may be instinct to hold a grudge, but Christ calls us to forgive. It may be instinct to worry, but Christ calls us to trust Him.

Ultimately, it is instinct for us to live for ourselves, but Christ calls us to live for him.

These things don't start out as instincts. If they did, we could just say "Okay, from now on I am going to love everybody no matter what", and that would be it. But it's not like that. It's not an instinct. we have to practice stepping in front of the ball before it becomes natural for us to do so. The more natural it becomes, the more instinctual it is, the easier it will be to play the game.

When we learn to play the game well, the whole team benefits.