Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers lost Game 7 of their series against the Atlanta Hawks… therefore the 76ers are heading home with a lot of questions. They have the personnel to receive a lot of high expectations… and they have fallen short. The job of the front office of a professional team is to put together the right pieces… players whose style of play fit together… players whose strengths can counteract opponents… players whose weaknesses won’t be exploited by the opponents… etc.
I’m thinking of this because in Philly-Atlanta series… (and Philly’s series prior to this one), one of the superstars (and by that I am referring to the guys that get paid even more to perform), greatly underperformed on the offensive end. His name is Ben Simmons, (and as a sidenote, part of why he is paid the big money is because he is a great defender and a great assist-man… and he did both of those things very well in each series); but he is also expected to help carry the scoring load, and there he struggled mightily. He only took 4 shots total in the final game, even passing up one wide open dunk… probably because he is a horrible free throw shooter. In fact, he is such a poor free throw shooter that he set a historically low percentage from there in the playoffs (just 34%)… teams were intentionally hacking him to send him to the line…
I’m telling this long story for a relatively simple point I think we need to look at… when choosing or coaching a team, it is important to have the right teammates on the floor together during “crunch time” to finish strong. I returned today from a youth camp over the weekend. The theme was “Go for Gold” and the messages were centered on not only getting in the game but then on running and finishing well. The evening speaker (Pastor Matt Brooks) did a great job of explaining that we get “in the race” based upon what Jesus has done for us… not what we do for him. And he went on to then talk to challenge the “runners”…
The final message was centered on the fact that in order to be successful, we are not intended to run alone! I loved how Matt emphasized that salvation is a personal decision, but not intended to lead to an individual “sport”… Christianity, as explained throughout the New Testament, is a “team sport” that is intended to be lived out together!
So, the challenge was (and is) for the youth, and the adults that were there, and for us, is to carefully choose “teammates” to have on the floor during “crunch time.” Church (the Body of Christ) matters! Yes, I am talking about church services, but oh so much more… “not forsaking the assembling of our selves together” (Hebrews 10:25) is preceded in verse 24 by the command to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” WE ARE IN THIS THING TOGETHER… NOT CALLED JUST TO GO TO CHURCH BUT TO BE THE CHURCH!
I loved the very simple way Matt drove home the point of good “teammates”… he took us to 2 Timothy 4:6-7 where Paul shares that his “race”… his “season”… is ending… and he states that he has "fought" and "finished" well… that he has trusted God through it all.
Paul then goes on to end the letter (4:9-21) by asking Timothy to come see him, and lists numerous “teammates” that he knew would be an encouragement to him… why? Matt speculated that these are the ones that were with Paul in “crunch time” and probably lifted him up when he was down… gave him encouragement when he needed it… etc. I think they are the ones the helped “stir up love and good works” in Paul… and I am sure Paul did the same for them.
Seek the right type of “teammates”!
Be the right type of “teammate”!
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