Who's Team Are You On!

During the Covid19 shut-down, all of our local, state and national sports have been cancelled. No professional, college, and high school sports or even community leagues have been active since mid-March. No college basketball, no March Madness. No track and field. No NASCAR, No Soccer, and No NBA. Even the Summer Olympics have even been postponed till next year. It has been sadly humorous to watch ESPN Sportscenter as the commentators try to come up with sports news 24/7 when there is literally nothing going on.

There has been one green oasis in the middle of this Sports desert. That is the highly anticipated series documentary, The Last Dance. Have you seen it? I watched each episode as soon as it aired. I couldn’t wait for the next two episodes to come out on the following Sunday night. And so, Sunday Nights for about five weeks became my must see tv evening of the week. If you haven’t heard about The Last Dance, it was about the NBA Team, The Chicago Bulls during the 80’s-90’s. The focus was on the 1998 season with the greatest team ever assembled, who were in their last push for a sixth NBA championship. The show highlighted Hall of Fame players Dennis Rodman, Scotty Pippen, Coach Phil Jackson and the GOAT Michael Jordan. The show was such a hit, that it became THE sports topic and still really the only interesting thing in sports to talk about a month later.

Why was it so riveting? Why did their story as a team and their individual stories capture our attention? For me I was at just the right age as a young adult guy in my late teens and through my twenties to become a Michael Jordan fan. I also loved to play basketball. Even though I am only 5’6”, I played on my highschool basketball team. The Rhame Pirates. A small town of only 200 people in the southwest corner of ND. Our school had only 40 some students from 7^th-12^th grade. So, we needed everyone to play just to put a full team on the court. As the shortest guy on court, I had to work at finding my role on the team. Into my 20’s & 30’s I continued to play pick-up games and in 3-on-3 tournaments. So, I loved and appreciated basketball. In 1986, I even bought a pair of the original red, black and white leather Nike, Jordan basketball shoes. I loved those shoes. I wore them every day. When I went to classes, hanging out with my friends, at church, and most certainly when I soared above the rim playing pick-up basketball. Ok, maybe not above the rim, and maybe it was more like a foot or two below it, but I felt like I was Jordan.

I used to think, what would it be like if I went to the basketball court to play a pick-up game and my teammate was Michael Jordan. We would totally dominate EVERYBODY! It could be the two of us verses five and we would still crush them. Why, well everyone would be in awe of Jordan and so intimidated they probably couldn’t even dribble. All I would have to do was pass the ball to my teammate and let him crossover dribble between three defenders, soar above the rim, double pump and reverse dunk it over 2 dumbstruck dudes.

But that may be my basketball fantasy teammate, but I have another team mate in life who is so dominate he conquered death and sin and has given me the assurance of victory in His name for eternity.

Let’s call this Team, The Christian Team - You as a Christian man are not in this alone. You are part of a team. Yes, we do say I am a Christian, but that means we are believers in Christ, followers of Christ and Disciples of Christ. It is You AND Christ. What a powerful team that is. If you had to chose one teammate you would want the wisest, most powerful, most compassionate teammate you could find. That would unquestionably be the Son of God, as Ephesians chapter 1 states: He is full of immeasurable power, seated at the right hand of God, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Christ invited you to be part of his team. As a member of his team, that when he ascended into heaven he sent the comforter, the spirit of Truth, God’s Holy Spirit who equips us with power to be the Man of God, God has called each one of us to be. He has not only called us, but also equipped us to fulfill our role successfully.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…(Verse 11) All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

You are uniquely equipped with gifts from the Holy Spirit. You might look at pastors, church leaders, musicians, and other influential men and say, I don’t have what they have? I can’t do what they do? And you are RIGHT, God is the one who equipped them with specific gifts and talents. They are being obedient in fulfilling what role or task God led them to do.

As a Freshman in High School, I wanted to join the High School Basketball team, but I was the shortest guy in my school. I couldn’t compete on the court the same way my taller teammates could. They could defend better, shoot over defenders, dunk the ball, rebound, etc. I had to find my skills and strengths as a player on the team. I discovered I had one unique attribute, quickness. I realized I had a strength that most couldn’t defend as I darted here and there. On defense, I could steal the ball and cause turnovers. On offense, I could dribble past most taller, slower defenders creating opportunities for our team to score.

You are already equipped to handle the challenges or opportunities before you. You can be confident today, for you are on Christ’s Team. We know this truth from Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In his strength and his will there is nothing that can keep us from following God’s Word, living a transformed life, and making a difference in our community. The goal of being on Christ‘s Team is no less then to transform this world. 

You know, now that I think about it. Michael Jordan will have to sit on the bench, when I have Christ as my teammate.

High Expectations!

I am pouring over the stat sheets, watching NFL updates on ESPN and creating my strategy cheat sheets for my upcoming Fantasy Football drafts. Yes, I am a Fantasy Football Junkie. One aspect of what makes it so intriguing is the high expectation factor of who will become an exceptional player this year and if you picked them, then your Fantasy Football Team will destroy the competition (like those who picked Patrick Mahomes last year). The problem is, you never really know how a player will do, and with higher expectations is the likely possibility of higher disappointments.

Two examples in the NFL and NBA remind us of high expectations come with high disappointments. Ryan Leaf, the QB drafted by the Chargers as a second pick behind Peyton Manning. Sports Illustrated asked “How good is he (Leaf)?” and answered, “Almost as good as he thinks he is, which is to say spectacular.” However, after a $31 million dollar contract and a disaster of a rookie season with more locker room fights and emotional breakdowns than touchdowns, he became one of the biggest busts in the NFL. In the NBA, does anyone remember the first three picks of the 1984 draft? Number 1: Houston selected Hakeem Olajuwon, Number 3: Chicago selected Michael Jordan and (yes you can groan), between the two, Portland selected at Number 2: Sam Bowie. Sports Illustrated, said that pick was the biggest draft bust in NBA history.

High expectations sometimes can lead to high disappointments. One of the most colorful Judges in Israel’s history was birthed with high expectations with great potential. He showed glimpses of power and might as the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and yet his role as a deliverer to the Israelites ends as a major disappointment. He is Samson.  Samson was God’s number one pick to be the mighty warrior to defeat the Philistines and drive them out of Israel, establish peace and worship to God and re-establish Israel as a holy nation. Samson, however, allowed cultural distractions and personal weaknesses (primarily those that bat their eyes and twirl their hair) to diminish and eventually destroy the great potential he had as Judge and deliverer.

What about us? Do we even begin to think of ourselves as God’s #1 pick for his team? I believe, God has high expectations for us, and certainly much greater than we view ourselves. He views us with great potential, and He is ready to equip us for whatever task or challenge may lie ahead. God sees us as men of character and integrity living our lives in the fullness of God’s love in all our roles as spouse, friend, parent, co-worker, business owner, etc. God sees how we could have a great influence on others, if we submit our lives to him and train with obedience and dedication. We could be His star player on His team. Wow! To think God chose us as His #1 pick, with high expectations and full of potential. I think all of us want to be an MVP on God’s Team, so let’s train and begin to live like one.

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ^ – Colossians 1:10-12