If you are a regular reader of this blog or attend the church where I serve or attend one of Martha’s Bible Studies or read one of her books, you know what May means to us. It’s NBA Playoffs time. It’s the time to crown a champion, and we want to be right in the middle of it.
As much as possible, we watch every game on television. We started doing this in the first years of our marriage and we haven’t missed many games. Occasionally, we get to go to a playoff game in person. We love it.
In the early 90’s I surprised Martha with a trip to Phoenix to watch Charles Barkley and the Suns in the second round of the playoffs. I told Martha we had nose bleed tickets but we would go as soon as the doors open to watch the shoot arounds. We sat at center court 25 rows up until it was time to go to our seats. She kept saying “we’d better go” and I kept putting her off until I finally said these are your seats. I accumulated a lot of husband brownie points that night!
Yesterday I read an article about the playoffs. It is down to the final four teams. The two teams ahead are teams that function as a team. They work together and give maximum effort. They share the ball and the glory. They are tough minded. When times get tough, they get tougher. They point to others’ contributions before their own.
The result is that they win. I couldn’t help but think of the church in the same way.
We “win” when we put Christ and others before ourselves and we work together to accomplish the same goal. We endure hard times and come out better on the other side. We value everybody and appreciate their place in the work of the kingdom. All of these produce “wins” for the church.
God has called us to serve together to carry out His purpose. He wants us to share the ball and appreciate others.
When we do these things we please God and we enjoy the journey–even when the journey is sometimes hard. God built His church for us to work together and bear one another’s burdens. When we work together and pray for another, the church is blessed and the gospel goes forth.