BEST OF 2025: Clear or Confusing?

The NFL season starts on Thursday, and everyone is making their predictions. Although I’m not a Patriots fan, I can’t help but believe they are going to have a bounce-back season and surprise a lot of people by how good they’re going to be.

I’m confident that new head coach Mike Vrabel is going to make all the difference in New England. He coached the Titans from 2018 to 2023, posting a 56-48 record while overachieving with their roster. He now takes over a Patriots team that finished 4-13 in both of the last two seasons, but is a franchise used to winning Super Bowls.

Vrabel and the front office have revamped the roster with the most new players of any team (28), the most rookies (12), and also have 14 new starters.

Chad Graff wrote a feature on TheAthletic.com with the headline, “Why Mike Vrabel is the Coach to Return the Patriots to Greatness: ‘There’s No Gray Area.’” It went on to explain, “These are the reasons Vrabel seems right for this moment: his clarity, his authenticity, his directness.”

Excerpts from this feature include:

“From the hard-to-watch final years of the Bill Belichick era to the undermanned and overwhelmed season under Jerod Mayo, the situation was dire. The roster lacked clarity. The team had no identity.”

“Too often a year ago, the Patriots seemed lost. They were stuck between trying to follow the ‘Belichick way’ and abandoning it completely. With Vrabel, though, there’s little ambiguity.”

Patriots outside linebackers coach Mike Smith, who used to be with the Chiefs under Andy Reid, added, “Coach Reid used to leave meetings saying, ‘Does everyone know where we’re at and where we’re going?’ And that’s the thing with Vrabel, too. From the schedule to practice to everyone’s individual stuff, there’s no gray area. You know exactly how he feels about something.”

It makes sense that players thrive under a leader who communicates clearly, sets expectations, has a defined team identity, and provides players with clarity about who he is and what he’s about.

When it comes to our own lives, I believe we, too, must value clarity, authenticity, and clear communication. I think that being direct with people, gently and lovingly, can also be beneficial.

Specifically, as followers of Jesus, we want to make it apparent who we truly are and that our identity is clearly defined in Christ. We want to be truthful in our interactions with people and make it evident what our lives are all about.

We also want to be honest and follow through on what we say we’re going to do, ensuring that our words and actions align.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:37 (AMP), "But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.”

If we commit to doing something, we do it, and people can trust and count on us to come through.

We want our lives to be lived in the light rather than the “gray area” where we confuse people by what we say and do. We don’t want to be like the Patriots were last year, stuck between trying to follow the “old (Belichick) way” and “abandoning” it completely.

Instead, there should be “little ambiguity” as we leave our old life behind and clearly follow Jesus, pursuing integrity, purity, and consistency in obeying God’s Word.

Colossians 3:9-10 (NLT) reminds us, “Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”

Unfortunately, we’re going to let people down at times, and we need grace. Let’s strive to be authentic, genuine, and sincere about who we are in Christ.

We want our integrity to be unquestioned, rather than keeping people guessing about who we truly are and what we’re all about. Living a Spirit-filled life, relying on Christ, who transforms and empowers us, is required.

Today, let’s be encouraged by the following two verses that capture the essence of what our goal should be as we seek to honor God and consistently follow Jesus:

"We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you" (2 Corinthians 1:12; NLT).

"Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us" (Titus 2:7-8; ESV).

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I desire to be a light in this world and make it clear that I’ve been made new because of Christ. I need Your grace and power to help me live with integrity and authenticity. I don't want my life to be confusing or misleading. Please help me to live in a way that brings glory to You. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.