Play the Man Quotes

“You can’t make a difference without making waves, and some people in the boat won’t like it. So be it. Rock the boat anyway.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“In 1995, the gray wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after a seventy-year hiatus. Scientists expected an ecological ripple effect, but the size and scope of the trophic cascade took them by surprise.7 Wolves are predators that kill certain species of animals, but they indirectly give life to others. When the wolves reentered the ecological equation, it radically changed the behavioral patterns of other wildlife. As the wolves began killing coyotes, the rabbit and mouse populations increased, thereby attracting more hawks, weasels, foxes, and badgers. In the absence of predators, deer had overpopulated the park and overgrazed parts of Yellowstone. Their new traffic patterns, however, allowed the flora and fauna to regenerate. The berries on those regenerated shrubs caused a spike in the bear population. In six years’ time, the trees in overgrazed parts of the park had quintupled in height. Bare valleys were reforested with aspen, willow, and cottonwood trees. And as soon as that happened, songbirds started nesting in the trees. Then beavers started chewing them down. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, building dams that create natural habitats for otters, muskrats, and ducks, as well as fish, reptiles, and amphibians. One last ripple effect. The wolves even changed the behavior of rivers—they meandered less because of less soil erosion. The channels narrowed and pools formed as the regenerated forests stabilized the riverbanks. My point? We need wolves! When you take the wolf out of the equation, there are unintended consequences. In the absence of danger, a sheep remains a sheep. And the same is true of men. The way we play the man is by overcoming overwhelming obstacles, by meeting daunting challenges. We may fear the wolf, but we also crave it. It’s what we want. It’s what we need. Picture a cage fight between a sheep and a wolf. The sheep doesn’t stand a chance, right? Unless there is a Shepherd. And I wonder if that’s why we play it safe instead of playing the man—we don’t trust the Shepherd. Playing the man starts there! Ecologists recently coined a wonderful new word. Invented in 2011, rewilding has a multiplicity of meanings. It’s resisting the urge to control nature. It’s the restoration of wilderness. It’s the reintroduction of animals back into their natural habitat. It’s an ecological term, but rewilding has spiritual implications. As I look at the Gospels, rewilding seems to be a subplot. The Pharisees were so civilized—too civilized. Their religion was nothing more than a stage play. They were wolves in sheep’s clothing.8 But Jesus taught a very different brand of spirituality. “Foxes have dens and birds have nests,” said Jesus, “but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”9 So Jesus spent the better part of three years camping, fishing, and hiking with His disciples. It seems to me Jesus was rewilding them. Jesus didn’t just teach them how to be fishers of men. Jesus taught them how to play the man! That was my goal with the Year of Discipleship,”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“The hands-down most important spiritual discipline is getting into God’s Word on a daily basis. When you open the Bible, God opens His mouth.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“You can’t play the man if you don’t pray the price. That’s how God turns the heart. You’ll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent. And prayer is what turns ordinary parents into prophets who shape the destiny of their children.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Now, here’s a little tip. If you try to play God instead of playing the man, it won’t work out so well. When you try to do God’s job for Him, it backfires. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict; it’s your job to love. We”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Man skills may win you man points, but manhood virtues win the heart of God. Virtue is much harder to develop than skill, and it takes much longer. But the payoff is far greater! Don’t”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“There is no situation under the sun in which your ability to respond can be taken away from you. You may not control your circumstances, but you control your reactions to them. And that is what sets the men apart from the boys!”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“remind them that their failures don’t define who they are!”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Don’t beat yourself up if you fall short on any of these seven virtues. Remember, Jesus already paid the penalty for your sin. Don’t try to double pay with feelings of guilt. Philippians 2:12 provides a good guideline for this: Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. The irony of this statement is that salvation cannot be earned by good works; it can only be received as a free gift. But once you receive the gift of salvation, you have to take it to the gym and work it out. You exercise virtue the same way you exercise muscles. You have to push them to their limits until they literally tremble. That’s how you know the muscle fiber is breaking down, and that’s how it gets built back up even stronger!”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“In his brilliant book The Road to Character, David Brooks makes a distinction between résumé virtues and eulogy virtues. Résumé virtues are the skills you need to make a living, and those are often the most celebrated virtues in our culture. But when it comes to making a life, eulogy virtues win the day. These are the virtues that get talked about at your funeral.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Playing the man means playing hard—giving God everything you’ve got. It’s leaving it all out on the court. The gold standard is Colossians 3:23, which says, Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord. A literal translation could read: “Do it like your life depends on it.” In other words, give it everything you’ve got. Don’t just make a living. Make a life.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“One of the biggest mistakes I made as a young leader was trying to make everyone comfortable, but in the long run that doesn’t do anybody any favors. I’ve since redefined my job description as a pastor. My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and the latter is not less loving than the former. It’s more so! Comforting the afflicted is love. Afflicting the comfortable is tough love. It is so much easier to just avoid conflict, isn’t it? So we delay discipline, but in the long run that hurts more than it helps. Or we postpone tough conversations because we lack the emotional energy or courage.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Before entertaining guests, Roosevelt would read up on whatever subject matter they might be interested in. This enabled him to become quite the conversationalist. And I would suggest that it was one way in which Roosevelt loved his neighbor as himself—he showed genuine interest in their interests.”
― Mark Batterson, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be