It wasn’t LeBron’s night.
Uncharacteristic missed shots and fouls had put him on the bench in the
play-off game’s second quarter. Yet at
each time-out, he was the first one up to greet the team, smiling, encouraging
them, and slapping backs. As the
broadcast headed to commercial, the analyst said, “When you put the team ahead
of yourself, that’s where the joy comes from.”
That struck me. “When you put the
team ahead of yourself…”
Really, if we can have just joy and peace, we don’t need
anything else…money, TV’s, cars, significant others, power, palaces, etc. Our culture tells us that these things bring
joy and fulfillment, and so off we go in search of them. Of course, they don’t bring us joy or peace
at all.
What brings us those is laying down our lives before Jesus
and he begins to grow real joy and true peace in us. Putting “Team Jesus” ahead of yourself…
But that’s the problem.
I’m not wired that way. My
default setting is placing myself at the top of the marquee. Jesus can be my supporting actor. It’s my movie, I’m the star, and you all are the
extras. Everyone, let’s focus on me
please.
This produces several results: pride, frustration, impatience, anxiety are a
few. It’s one of life’s ironies that the
very thing we’re wired to do (putting ourselves first) is what causes so much
grief and pain. For ourselves and
others.
When we agree to step down from our self-issued celebrity pedestal
and embrace the role of “extra” in Jesus’ movie, we’re on our way to a happier,
peaceful, more fulfilling life.
It’s not easy to do.
In fact, I believe it’s impossible to do on our own. We’ll need to be in prayer, asking God to
work with us to focus on him, not ourselves.
Living for myself is a vain, lonely, arid wasteland. Living for something bigger than myself is a fulfilling
adventure. And when you put the team
ahead of yourself…
