The NFL Without Reason

There has been great consternation and uproar surrounding the NFL lately. Domestic violence and child abuse are not trivial matters and should not be spoken of lightly. In the next few paragraphs, I will be giving some thoughts on the reasoning or lack thereof that is taking place within the national conversation on these incidents. Please do not mistake my ponderings on these topics to in any way lesson my disdain for the actions taken by these men.

The first thing that strikes me about the ongoing conversation is the nearly universal desire that the NFL to "do something" about these men. The public seems to be demanding that the owners, coaches and commissioner make decisions on discipline and playing status based on their moral beliefs. What strikes me as odd is that the logic behind this national narrative appears to be directly at odds with the reasoning that has been dominating the news for most of this year. Several stories have been in the headlines this year from Hobby Lobby to photographers to bakers all being told that they most operate business devoid of moral thoughts or beliefs.* I do not wish to debate the validity of any specific beliefs. We, as a nation, a people, need to first decide if we believe corporations and businesses are moral entities or not before we can have any of these conversations. If we decide a business is a moral agent, we can then feel free to have open conversations about the merits of the morals espoused by the leadership of those businesses, but we can no longer deny them the right to practice based on those beliefs. We cannot only allow moral action if we agree with those beliefs.

The second thing that strikes me is the immediate call for a zero-tolerance policy in the NFL concerning these and possibly other infractions. Is our nation’s notion of justice truly a one-size fits all, throw the book at them, no redemption allowed point of view? It seems as though that is course we are on. 7th graders arrested over a Tootsie Pop. 6-year olds suspended for kissing a classmate.* I do not know those involved in any of these incidents. I most definitely do not know the men involved in these NFL incidents beyond their fantasy football stats. I do not know if this is their first failing. I do not know their background, their support system or their inner thoughts. But we need to decide if we our goal as a society is justice or revenge. We are compelled to examine our beliefs on whether men, women and children can be redeemed. Our conversations should be focused on how to best to dispense true justice not how to execute quick revenge.

Tackling these two issues is hard work. We will be required to think. We must allow ourselves to be challenged. We will be compelled to listen. Patience will be a prerequisite. Let us not minimize the pain inflicted to the victims of these heinous acts. We need to offer them our support and prayers. While doing this though, let’s not throw out our ability to reason and debate civilly.

*I understand that all of examples above are not exact apples to apples comparisons. I am willing to discuss the nuances in each of these situations. I hold though that they are good and proper starting points for the conversation I wished to begin.

Show My Bound Heart

As part of our bedtime routine with the kids, we sing a song. We mix it up but we skew towards older songs that they may not hear on the radio or that we may not sing as often at church. Tonight, we sang "Come, Thou Fount" (which thanks to having an AWESOME worship leader we do still sing at church).

I love this song and it almost always moves me. But tonight, as I cuddled with my precious 6-year old girl, the 3rd verse just wrecked me.

Power of Being Picked - Basketball, the Gospel and the Body of Christ

This is a story about basketball, the Gospel and the Body of Christ. So let me begin by filling you in on my basketball resume. I am 5' 9"ish, have vertical leap of about 5", am about as quick as a Clydesdale and have a shooting range of about 5'. So you may be asking yourself what exactly do I have to offer on a basketball court. I am a quality passer. If you are open, you will get the ball. I am a tenacious defender. I also have a knack for rebounding (despite my size).

So as you can see, I have all the prerequisites of an NBA Draft Lottery selection...NOT! My skills are valuable to most teams but not generally recognized as valuable because they are not glorious. So today I felt giddy (like only a 12 year old should) when I was the 2nd overall selection in a pickup basketball game. And this wasn't your old dudes league. This was a bunch of college and high school students mostly. Now, I am well aware that "the first shall be last, and the last shall be first", but honestly, it felt good to be picked, to have someone recognize that you add value to their team. And you know what, I responded. I played really well. I did the things I do well really well and I even contributed somethings that aren't my specialty. And I never wore out. I am tired and sore now but not during the game. Not when I was wanted, needed.

Isn't this the picture of the Gospel. We weren't pickable. It is much easier to find our limitations than our value. And yet, Christ chose us. He not only chose us, but sacrificed everything to make it happen. Imagine trading the entire 1992 Dream Team for the rights to select me to be on the team...times infinity. On top of all of that, he gifts each one of us with specific spiritual qualities and places us exactly where and when he wants us in order that we might have the most impact in building up His Church and advancing His Kingdom. He is a great and gracious God and everyone one that I have ever met that "was picked" had the exact same reaction that I had this morning. It feels good to be valued, to be wanted, to be picked. And we immediately respond with our best. Because it is natural. It is designed by God and he uses his design to call us back to him.

So this brings me to the Body of Christ. When God, our GM and Captain, picks player, what is our response? Sure, I have rarely met a believer who booed the "draft pick" like a Philly fan. But on many occasions, I have seen us devalue a teammate because they don't have glorious gifts. Sometimes we don't even bother to get to know what their gifts are and place in the Body is because they aren't immediately obvious. When this happens, the initial joy of being picked is soon overcome by the feelings of uselessness, inferiority to more "mature" teammates and sometimes even unwelcomeness. We stop producing even what we are good at and often wear out or just quit trying.

Discipleship has been heavy on my mind recently. What should it look like in our current culture? What organizational structures and systems best move people along the continuum of spiritual maturity? As I experienced being picked this morning, it dawned on me that these things are important, but not nearly has important as developing a culture in which our teammates inherently value everyone on the team. This doesn't come from structures and systems. This comes from a change in heart of believers. From a transforming of the mind. And these changes start with powerful proclamation of the Word of God. The constant reminder that the Gospel is still Good News to us. A humble understanding that we too are unworthy draft picks. A daily picking up of our crosses, dying to ourselves and letting Christ be our eyes not only on the unbelieving world but also on the our imperfect, flawed brothers and sisters. Eyes that see not the imperfections but the value of your teammate. And then encouraging, equipping and amplifying that value so that it resounds in the Body.

Let us always remember that discipleship begins with being picked not perfect.

God is big enough

I was blessed this past Sunday by the deep passion and vulerability of my pastor, a man I proud to call my leader. He shared an amazing sermon on coping with grief in all forms and letting God be the center in the midst of it all.

But one of the points that impacted me the most was when he spoke of how we often deal with our anger by "shooting" one another. We take out our grief, frustration and anger over the loss on each other in the body of Christ. He encouraged us to learn a lesson from scripture and learn to properly lament. To take those feelings out on God and not each other, because He is big enough to take our best shot and He has promised that if we seek Him, He will meet us with open arms.

I told my small group tonight that it all reminded me of a song. So I thought I would share that song with everyone.

The email and the still small voice

So I got an email today from Amazon Kindle Publishing. You see, I, as a Kindle user, support the platform in everyway and therefore signed up to have this blog published to the Kindle platform. It is also listed in their directory. This is all well good you may ask but why should you care.

Admonishment + Holy Spirit = Joy

Reading through Galatians this week has been a joy. That isn't my normal reaction when reading through a book filled with such admonishment. Paul is as rarely this blunt with observations or as urgent with his pleas. The Galatians are in a world of trouble and it came not long after Paul left. He knows they are ripe to be led astray and he is worried.

The reason it has been such a joy for me is because

Vision and Focus

The topic of vision seems to come up a lot in my life. Not the 20/20 you need bi-focals kind of vision, you see. But the the leading people visionary kind of vision. I just always seem to be in position to have conversations about vision or be reading books about vision or even writing vision statements.

I believe this may be in part to the fact that I