The game of basketball has changed dramatically over the
years I have been involved with it… not just the rule changes but also how it
has changed the style of play. I was just reading a report about Dallas
Maverick’s coach, Rick Carlisle, was discussing how they use their 7’3” player,
Kristaps Porzingis…
The issue centered around commentators stating that they
thought Porzingis should post up more and not spend so much time on the perimeter.
Back in my day, (I sound like an old geezer now), we always played “bigs” down
low… posting them up; yet when the 3-point line came in, things started
shifting to spreading the floor out more, to where now it is commonplace to
play “5-out” with no one down low. Coach Carlisle stated it this way: “The
post-up just isn’t a good play anymore… It’s a low-value situation… when any of
our guys go in there (down low), our effectiveness is diminished exponentially…
It’s counterintuitive… We’ve got to realize that this game has changed. It’s
changed. It’s just a fact.”
I bring this up as I look toward our ministry plan for
2020. The Apostle Paul would be a strong advocate for allowing our “playing”
strategies to change with the times. (Don’t hear me wrong here, by talking
about strategy, one is not discussing the rules. Double-dribble is still double-dribble
in spite of what era someone plays in!) In 1 Corinthians we see Paul’s strategy…
“to the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win the Jews; to those who are under
the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might
win those who are under the Law; … to those without law, as without law… to the
weak I became weak… I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all
means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-22)
Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) is telling
us to make sure we are culturally relevant in our outreach, and that the goal
is always to “win”/save some. (And for those that think this is a license to do
whatever it takes, verse 21 reminds us that even when dealing with those
without law, we are still under the Law of Christ…)
As we end each year, I find myself evaluating our
effectiveness and trying to plan for being more culturally relevant for the
coming year. Sometimes I fear that our insistence upon doing things the same
old way, is making it where our “effectiveness is diminished exponentially.”
Don’t get me wrong there is a time and place for doing things the old way, but
we can’t get stuck in the past. One of Bible college profs used to state that
he had an open methodology with a closed message… ever-changing methods, never-changing message.
This week I challenge you to evaluate how you are
personally pursuing victory (winning folks to Christ)? And, if the ministries
you support are “playing the game the way it is played today”?
Please pray for InBounds Ministries. This weekly devotion
marks 18 years of weekly devotions… yet I will be honest in that we are looking
at effectiveness in weekly blogs vs podcasts vs ??? We are changing our game
plan a bit for 2020 to increase our platform… we want to be effective! Yet, I can
assure you that the message is not changing at all! It is still the message of
God’s amazing grace!!!
Thanks for allowing this blog into your life… please pray
for us to be wise in maximizing effectiveness… please pray about being a
partner in helping us “by all means save some.” (vs 22) We do everything we do “for
the sake of the Gospel…” (vs 23)
InBounds Ministries PO Box 981 Troutman NC 28166
www.PayPal.me/go MADmoney
