My first college football coach had three rules. 1: Walk on the sidewalk. He said if we were supposed to walk on the grass, God would not have created concrete for us to walk on. 2: Don’t wear your hat inside. Wearing a hat inside will make you lose your hair. 3: Do whatever Coach tells you to do. Rule #3 pretty much covered everything else in our lives.

Like every set of rules, there were both good and bad consequences depending on whether or not we followed them. One positive consequence was that a young man could end up with an NFL contract after playing football for Coach. One negative consequence was that a young man could find his scholarship taken away the third time he broke the team rules—any of them.

As a young coach I had a sign on my office door: “Rules for Our Program. Rule 1. The Coach is always right. Rule 2. If you think the coach is wrong, see Rule 1.” My players always thought that was funny and, remarkably, true most days. Throughout athletics, rules govern the game. Our lives are no different.

De'Andre had it all: a great college basketball career behind him, a Master's Degree from a prestigious institution and an awesome job on Capitol Hill. He had the world by the tail. He thought he had it all on his own. Thinking he didn't need any help, he walked away from his faith and continued to thrive by the world's standards. But when the things of the world didn't fill him up, he decided that he needed more. He left his career to chase a dream. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as this is where his true adventure began. When his dream crumbled, he ran and hid. People offered help, love and care, but he was lost in the sin of the world. He had no desire to return home to Christ.