Confessions from the Court: "Would Jesus Wear a Jersey?"

Would Jesus have played the game of basketball? And if so, how would he have played the game? Check out this video blog and then let me know what you think.

Confessions from the Court: "It wasn't me."

"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye?"
Matthew 7:3-4 ESV

You know, when I am on the court I think I have all the answers. I can tell you who is not blocking out, I can tell you who isn't playing "D", I can tell you who isn't moving without the ball, and I can open my mouth and tell you when and how it should be done. Am I right every time? Absolutely not! Am I right some of the time? Sure. But even that is not the point. The point is that most of the things I see others failing to do I am also failing to do them. I notice one guy not blocking out while at the same time my man blows by me to grab the rebound and put it back up for 2. O' how blinding pride is.

Listen to what Paul says about this when writing to the church at Rome,

"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things."
Romans 2:1 ESV

Solomon lets us know that there is "nothing new under the sun" (Ecc. 1:9) and this is definitely the case when it comes to the sin of pride that causes us to blame someone else before taking the responsibility of our own faults. This is not just in basketball, but in life. If we look all the way back at the beginning (Gen. 2-3) we see Adam doing the very same thing. God tells Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they disobey God and do so and God shows up to hold them accountable for their rebellion from which they cannot hide. How does Adam respond? "It wasn't me! It was someone else's fault!" (My Paraphrase ) How similar I am to Adam.

Confessions from the Court: The Overflow of the Heart

I heard someone say once that if you want to know the true heart of a man then put him on the sports field. The more I step onto the basketball court the more and more I find this to be true. Not because I see the true heart of the people that I play with, but because every time I lace up my Jordan's the true state of my heart and character begins to stare me in the face and mock me like Spike Lee at a Knick's game.

But why is this the case? Why is it that the field of competition reveals such truth about our hearts? I think it is because in everyday life we have the time to choose wisdom or foolishness. But in the heat of the battle you often don't have time to think, you respond. That is why a good soldier, or a good athlete, trains. So that in that crucial moment, when there is not time to think, their reaction is the right one. Jesus said that from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), and I think that often times on the court this is what is happening. When something doesn't go our way, we are fouled too hard, someone doesn't pass us the ball or whatever, we don't think, we respond. I speak for myself when I say this, that more often than not, my response is not what I would desire it be.

In sports we often take the much needed time to work on our game so that in every moment our reaction is the right one. The Lord has been challenging me to take the much needed time to work on my character and my heart because in the heat of the moment of life I would hate for my reaction to be the same as it is on the court.

With that said, I am starting a blog entitled, "Jesus and the Rock: Confessions from the Court". These blogs are going to reflect the lessons that Jesus is teaching me through the game of basketball. I would highly appreciate your comments and confessions if you would be open to share them.

Grace and Peace...and don't forget to enjoy the game!