Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Oh Mavs

You will not find me posting about sports very often. We are not a very sports oriented family and are not particularly gifted in the athletic arena either. I am not a fan of the sports analogy when applied to our life in Christ either. So today I am breaking several rules of my own.

Last night while watching the final game in the NBA playoffs I was struck by something, and it was not an airball by the Mavs. I am a Mavericks fan and I think they have come a long way. I like Mark Cuban's off the wall ways and I think Avery Johnson is a gem. Do wish he would smile a little more often. All that time spent with Tim Duncan has left him a little emotionally comatose in my opinion. Love Tim too...however. Given that I am a Mavs fan, I am saying this with all due respect for what they have accomplished.

The Heat looked like they believed they deserved to be in the finals last night. Their body language, their comments, their focus - all told the same story. The Mavericks acted like they were lucky to be there. Their demeanor was markedly different to Miami. In some ways it was like they had won a spot in the game and not earned it. I am not a sports psychologist or analyst but if I could see this surely anyone could.

It made me think about how we live our life in Christ. Do we live in such a way that we believe that God loves us so passionately that He sent His Son to die for us and the world? Do we see ourselves as cleansed in Him? Do we believe that He pursues us with a love like no other? And as Max says, do we believe that if God carried a wallet, our picture would be in it?
I think that when we are living a life that reflects the power of the spirit and the unconditional love of Jesus, we truly advance the Kingdom in ways that He desires. We join Him in the work that He is already doing and we become His mouthpiece, hand, foot, arms etc.

However, when we live in such a way that shows the world that we only half think we are worthy of being a Christian and we don't really embrace the idea that God desires to be with us we do little more than hinder the work He is already doing in the world.

I am not suggesting that we live in arrogance and pride, but I do think we can confidently know that God is God and He knew us before we were born, and has great plans for us that will make our lives more complete in the Kingdom and He in the quite, longs to sing over us if we will be still long enough to hear Him. God makes us worthy.

3 comments:

Donna said...

I'm glad you broke your rules to share. I totally agree with your observations (Mavs and the spiritual reference). If we don't act like we are worthy, why would anyone want to be a part of what we have?

Hugs to you!
Donna

dutro said...

Wow. Great thoughts. I like it.

Jesus words about spewing out of his mouth the church that was neither hot nor cold also come to mind.

Living our lives in fear of doing something wrong is way different than living our lives trying to do what is right.

Amy S. Grant said...

Wow, that's a powerful illustration.

You inspired me to put a site meter on my blog yesterday. Interesting, isn't it?