December 14, 2020 - DWAP (Dribble With A Purpose!)

“We should enthusiastically be looking for opportunities to ‘get to the goal’!” That has been the theme the last few weeks on our weekly devos… with the understanding that the “goal” (OBJECTIVE) for the believer is sharing the Gospel and teaching the Word! I shared the analogy of being in a “Triple Threat” position… ready to pass, dribble, or shoot… and last week we looked at the importance of being willing to make the pass…

I mentioned the idea last week that a player is known typically as having a “pass-first” or a “shoot-first” mentality… BUT I stated I believe the right mentality is a “score-first” mentality… one that is keyed on the goal (the OBJECTIVE) for the team. So, if a pass is needed to get to the goal then make the pass…

This week I want to talk about “dribbling” from the “triple threat” position. As stated, I believe in a “score-first” mentality… that is our goal (OBJECTIVE) and thus everything should be done with that in mind, including dribbling… dribbling should be a weapon to help set up the team for a score! So, there are two quick points I will make from the basketball world and then apply…

1.       I teach players, when they catch the ball, to not immediately just start dribbling aimlessly… I also teach to take as few of dribbles as needed to get to the goal. The purpose is not to put on a Harlem Globetrotters show… dancing with the ball but going nowhere. I grew up in a very fundamentally based basketball world where any “fancy” dribbling was discouraged… i.e. never taught to go between the legs or behind the back. Yet, even “fancy” dribbling can set up a better angle to score… which is the OBJECTIVE! But the key teaching is “don’t over dribble.”

2.       The other thing that needs to be taught is “don’t under-dribble”… I seldom hear teaching about this, and thus I often see players pick up their dribble way too soon… not in a position to help the team reach the goal… it is like the point guard that brings the ball down the court, gets just over the half-court line, and picks up the ball… that is a wasted dribble. It is a weapon to create angles/lanes to the goal…

I guess the 2 points I just made can be summed up with this basketball bottom line: DWAP (Dribble With A Purpose!)

Now let’s apply it to our lives as believers, where the goal (OBJECTIVE) is the Great Commission… there are often 2 extremes within the church world… and the extremes are “over-dribbling” and “under-dribbling”!

“Under-dribbling”: When the church is just focused on teaching and loses sight of the fact that our acts of service are the ways we create lanes/OPPOTUNITIES to fulfill our OBJECTIVE!

“Over-dribbling”: When the church is just focused on acts of service and loses sight of the OBJECTIVE of the Gospel and teaching of the Word!

The bottom line: SWAP (Serve With A Purpose!) Showing the love of Christ is a great way to get an attentive audience to the message of Christ… A person with a growling stomach finds it hard to listen… BUT the adverse, a person with a full stomach is still lost spiritually without hearing the Message/Word!

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

Pray for some kiddos in the Dominican Republic that will be getting a great CHRISTmas dinner (because of many of your gifts) AND will hear the transforming message of the Gospel!