I have written many times about the importance of “getting
to the hole”; of when you have an opening taking it… In a basketball game that
means going straight to the basket when there is a lane… after all the goal is
to score. In the game of life, as commissioned believers, it simply means to
share the Gospel when there is an opening… it is more important than winning
arguments.
Yet, there is not always a clear lane to score; that is
why basketball coaches diagram plays with passes and screens/picks to free up
shots. But then there are the times when it is simply one on one and the
defender is tenacious. He is down in his stance, (basketball folks know what I’m
talking about… the opponent that slaps the floor… that has incredible
intensity), and he is daring you to try to get around him. The rules of
basketball do not allow you to run through him, so you must find a way around
him.
Life is much like a game of basketball, we have many
obstacles to get around. Often, we talk of how to help one another carry the
load… and that is Biblical (see Galatians 6:2… my family verse… lol); yet there
are other times we are on our own with an obstacle in front of us and each one
needs to “bear his own load.” (Galatians 6:5)
I am writing this week about our Great Commission load…
the call to reach people with the Gospel. The truth is that we will often run
into obstacles/opposition. There will be some that are tenacious/intense in
going against us. So how do you “get around a tough defender in order to get to
the goal”? (And like in basketball, the “rules” do not allow us to run through
the opposition, even though that is the way many Christians try to “play the game.”
And let me be clear that is an “OFFENSIVE FOUL”!)
Let me start with
a way I teach getting around an intense defender in basketball. As long as the
player with the ball looks to be in attack mode, the defender will be in a
ready stance. Yet when the player with the ball starts to stand up… coming out
of attack mode… the defender will tend to do the same. Basically I teach that
the player with the ball can sometimes just simply raise his head to look relaxed,
and when the defender follows suit and stands up… the player with the ball can
blow by to the goal. Simple rule is that it is much easier to go by a relaxed
defender…
The same principle is true in getting around obstacles in
sharing the Gospel… We create openings when we relax and the opposition
relaxes; as long as we are in confrontational arguments, it is hard to get clear
to the goal.
Heard a great reminder yesterday from the “Sermon on the
Mount.” Jesus explained that we will find success when we are meek/gentle. (See
Matthew 5:5) The pastor (my dear friend Q) cross referenced Psalm 37 and
pointed out that when we are meek, which literally means trusting God, it creates
a gentleness in us… because we are not having to try to win the fight or find approval
of others.
1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “sanctify the Lord God in (our)
hearts”; in other words, set Him apart as the One we are trusting. It goes on
then to say we can then “be ready to give a defense to everyone… with meekness
and fear.” That word “meekness” means with gentleness of spirit.
Be strong in your convictions; BUT be gentle in your
persuasions. If you will rise up and relax a bit, you will find more openings
to the goal!
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