(upbeat music) - Brendan writes in to ask this. Hello Pastor John, I'm currently an 11th grade junior in high school and on the varsity football team. I've been in a dilemma lately that I could use some guidance on. I've always been disciplined by my parents about not quitting anything when you make a commitment, whether it be sports, a job, et cetera.

I never have quit anything before, but football has consumed so much of my time that I haven't had time to spend with God or work on school and my grades in relationship with God are in danger of slipping. I'm not a quitter, but I also have priorities and plans on being a pastor when I grow up, so the Lord and academics are immensely important now.

So when is it time to quit football? Let's think for a minute about the morality of quitting something that you've begun. I think it's very important, especially in this situation, to realize that sometimes quitting may signify a weakness of character or a weakness of faith in God's provision. And other times, quitting may in fact signify a strength of character and a strength of faith in God.

And of course, Brendan's parents and Brendan himself are rightly concerned that he never quit anything because of weakness of character or lack of faith in God's positions, especially if there has been some kind of promise or commitment, since of course, promise-breaking is clearly a sin. It's a character flaw.

It dishonors the God of truth. But let's think for a minute about these two kinds of quitting because this may help Brendan sort it out. Sometimes quitting signifies a weakness of character and a weakness of faith. An activity may be difficult and demanding and we may be lazy and so unwilling to remain in the activity, and so we quit.

Well, that's a dishonorable way to behave. Laziness is never a good reason to quit anything. Or the activity may be painful, highly demanding exercises that make us very uncomfortable for two hours in the afternoon. And we may be unwilling to deny ourselves the pleasures we could be having in the afternoon, and so we quit.

And that lack of discipline and self-denial is not a virtue, it's a weakness. Or the activity may be boring, though it's fruitful, but we may be so addicted to lots of stimulation, we're simply unwilling to be bored in any period of our lives, and so we quit. And that's a sin and a weakness that Brendan's parents would surely want to warn him against.

Or the activity may be, I'm not very good at it, and so I'm not getting a lot of praise. I'm sort of performing in an average acceptable way, but not much applause is coming to me, and frankly, I very much like to get applause, and so I'm gonna quit this activity, no matter how useful it is for me or others, because I wanna go somewhere where I can get more praise and more applause.

So it's really plain that Brendan is right, his folks are right, quitting is often a sign of weakness and flaws, and we should do everything we can not to quit under such circumstances. However, this really needs to be said, there are situations where quitting may be the very best thing you can do, and may require enormous courage, and a high degree of character and faith in God.

For example, the activity may provide us with lots of notoriety, or fame, or popularity, but with no fruitfulness in benefiting the lives of anybody else, quitting this activity would require a great deal of self-denial, and humility, and trust that God has a better way for us, because we're gonna lose all this popularity if we just drop out and start studying, or something hidden and unimpressive.

Or the activity may involve huge amounts of pleasure, very little improvement to our spiritual power, or development of our gifts, and so quitting this activity would involve valuing spiritual power, and fruitful exercise of our gifts above short-term physical pleasures, that would be a good, that would be a beautiful thing to quit something under those circumstances.

Or the activity may be proving lots of money is coming in, so you have a job that's just paying like crazy, but you find it involves you in some compromised behaviors, shady dealings, harsh personnel strategies. Well, to walk away from that kind of money would be a biblical virtue, as would put people above money.

So it's never enough simply to say, "Don't be a quitter." It's never enough to say, "Quitters are losers." No, no, no. Sometimes losers don't have the courage to quit. So Brendan raises the issue, well, what if I made a commitment? And so here are the two questions I think he should ask.

Did you, in fact, Brendan, make a promise, or make a commitment to play the entire season? Second question, was it perhaps, instead of a promise, the kind of intention that both you and the coach knew contained implicit conditions and qualifications? And I would say, to the degree that the commitment to play rises to the level of an unqualified promise, to that degree, you finish the season.

You don't break your promise. You find other ways to fight the fight of faith, to get near to the Lord, to do your schoolwork, but you don't break the promise. However, my guess is that even if there was an implicit or explicit promise to play the season, a conversation with the coach gives him the right, that is, he has the right and gives him the opportunity to release you from a commitment that you made.

And that's the conversation I would probably pursue. So if your studies are suffering, and your walk with the Lord is drying up because it's not being fed and watered, I would say that both of these outweigh the importance of football, and are worth a serious conversation with your coach.

- That's an outstanding little theology of quitting. Thank you, Pastor John. Well, what is the point of thinking deeply about God? We think deeply about God a lot on this podcast, but what's the point? We have a listener who is trying to convince her friends that they should try to use more thinking in their Bible study to go deeper in what they can discover.

So how do you convince a non-thinker to think more deeply in their Bible study? John Byber and I will close out the week with this question on the table tomorrow. Of course, you can keep up with all of our episodes with our free app for your phone, and of course, you can get those apps and send us your questions at our online podcast home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

I'm your host Tony Reinke. We'll see you tomorrow. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)