Who doesn’t love a great game of basketball?  Ten solid athletes working as one well-oiled machine intent on sending a  leather sphere swishing through a harsh rim suspended 10 feet upinto the air.  The players have spent many more hours practicing their movements and designing difficult plays than they will ever spend in a game.  Yet they work like horses: stretching beyond their limits both horizontally and vertically.  The falls they’ll take, the bodies they’ll bump, the floor they will eagerly bite, all to get their hands on the leather, to save it, steal it, toss it, alley oop it, slam it, tip it, tie it up, or flip it out… they’ll fly through the air and land on wood to keep it alive. Basketball is about discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, and victory.  Hmmm, sounds little like something else I love.  My church.

My church is a place where people work as a team.  Many solid Christians working as one well-tuned body intent on sending the word of God out into a thirsty world in need of drink.  We spend many hours in our disciplines: reading the Word, memorizing the Word, translating the Word, praying the Word, outlining the Word, studying the Word, meditiating on the Word, all to keep the Word alive.   We work like a colony of ants stretching beyond our limtis both outward and heavenward.  We may stumble, even fall, but we do this as a team.  We grieve as a team, we rejoice as team.  When one is in pain, we all feel stunned. When one meets adversary, we all fight the spiritual battle.  Churchwork is about discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, and victory.  About present pain and future trophies.   Hmmm, sounds even better than a heated game of roundball.  And you gotta love the head coach!