Play to Win

Well, my team lost tonight. And, they shouldn't have. There was no execution. Players did not hit the board for rebounds. They were not aggressive on defense or offense. From my perspective, they didn't even look like they wanted to win the game. To me they seemed lackadaisical, as my basketball coach would put it. Now, I could understand, if my team was just no good and had no chance to win against their competitor. But, that is not the case. They have the skill and beat this team before. But tonight, they just did not play to the skill level they are capable of.  I have to exclude one player from this rebuke. He executed. Out of 96 points, he scored 41 for the team.

You know what? The church functions like this a lot. People show up dressed for play, but don't. We have players on the bench not paying attention to the coach. We have players on the court not implementing what the coach has instructed. We have players in the right position knowing what should be done and not doing it. We even have players on the court in the right position, playing someone else's. And, there is the one player, playing to win.

Listen. If the church continues to play Kingdom Ball for the Lord the way the Lakers played tonight, we'll lose. Yes, Christ has the victory and our enemy was defeated at the cross. But, churches close everyday. People fall by the wayside every day. Those are losses we cannot afford. Therefore, hear, listen to and execute the vision of your pastor. Get in your position and play hard. If you are a guard, stop trying to play center. It is a known statistic that only 20% of people who attend church do 80% of the work.  Saints... Kobe cannot do it alone. Jump in the game. Kingdom living is a team sport. It is going to take all of us doing what we are gifted to do with tenacity to win the lost. As we function like the body Paul descibes in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, the score for souls heaven bound will increase and the cloud of witnesses will shout from Heaven cheering us on from glory to Glory.