“Potential” is a Dirty Word

I never thought I would start a blog post talking about football. Sorry, it’s just not my thing. But my husband Gary said something the other day that stuck with me. He said that in the NFL, “potential” is a dirty word.

When coaches and media talk about a player having potential, it means that although they are capable of great achievement, they have not yet captured it. There is a disconnect between what they should be able to do and what they are actually doing. In the NFL, no one wants to be labeled as having great potential.

Here is how that hits home. I grew up in a loving and supportive family with godly parents. My parents modeled to me what an authentic relationship with Christ looks like. They showed me Jesus in action. Basically, I have been given every opportunity to succeed and to thrive in my own relationship with Christ and to do God’s will. I know that not all have been so privileged, and I will never know the degree to which I should be grateful not having walked in the shoes of those less fortunate.

Today, I reflect on the question, “Have I captured my potential?” And to be honest, I feel a little uneasy. The answer stings a bit.

I made the decision to follow Christ, to be a disciple of his, when I was 12 years old—to follow this call: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15)

Sometimes that call grows stale and distant. Words from well-known pastor Francis Chan surface from inside. They are eerily branded on my mind: “Are you truly a disciple of Christ if you are not making disciples?”

Ouch. It hurts to think about the opportunities that I have wasted. So what do I do to change things, to shift momentum?

I pray: God, make the most of me. Use every ounce of me for your purpose. I don’t want to squander opportunity. When I feel the Spirit pressing, I want to respond. When I have an inkling of, “I should do this,” I don’t want to wait.  

I want to trade uncaptured potential for purpose in practice—to trade the possible for the actual.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

I pray for courage to do his known and revealed will.

“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)

How do I do his will practically? How do I capture potential? For starters, I have two little disciples in training right here at home. I have 18 years—talk about opportunity—to point them to Christ. So I model Christ to them.

I bring people into my home. I foster relationships for Him. I build new relationships for Him, breaking out of what is comfortable. I speak boldly on His behalf. Whatever I’m good at, I use the mess out of it. I expose it for the glory of the one who gave me that talent.

When I come to the end of my life, I don’t want to be known for having had great potential. I think of this old saying: “Reach for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land among the stars.” Well, the God who made both the moon and the stars, “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20), can take my simple obedience to Him and add to the number of those who are saved. They will land beyond the moon and the stars—in a land much grander where potential is always captured.

“May the God of peace…equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)