Play the Playoffs

The NBA Conference Finals are both exceptional series.  Both series feature young teams with no championships (Thunder, Heat) challenging the veterans with championship experience (Spurs, Celtics).  Both series were tied at 2-2 and it seems that every game has been close.

I don't know about you, but it makes we want to play basketball.  To be part of it.  (And I don't even have a favourite team left in the playoffs.)  I don't have to take the final shot, but I bet I could make the pass that leads to the winning basket!  But that will never happen.  I'm not good enough.  Only 10 guys or so per team are good enough.

On the other hand some teams are really crappy.  (Hello New Jersey!)  I think I could play for them.  Seeing incompetence also makes me itchy to get in the game.  Again, it's not going to happen.  I'm nowhere near as good as I think I am.  :-)  I'd struggle to run up and down a court more than once.  Talk about incompetent.  But that doesn't stop me wanting to give it a go.

So why is it in church that so often we're happy to be spectators?  Is the church like the NBA?  Does it exclude me because I'm not talented enough?  Or do I just not get the itch of brilliance that I get watching the Playoffs?  Is it possible I just don't enjoy church activities as much?

Is it the church's responsibility to motivate me?  Or is that something I need to find inside myself?

I think we do have a responsibility.  We get excited about Playoffs because we invest in the event. We know the rules.  We know the players.  We hate LeBron because he left Cleveland.  We want to see Duncan match Kobe for rings.  Or not. We hate the Thunder because they were stolen from Seattle, or we love that OKC finally has a big league team.  We want to see Boston's Big 3 get another last chance ring, or we think Boston's already had enough success.  And we love that the games are close and the tension builds.

I'm pretty sure that if we invested similarly in the lives of people around us, at church, or in our community and were familiar with their stories we'd feel God's itch to get involved in his work.  We may not get to Play the Playoffs, but we can get off our bleachers!