Bees and Basketball

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

            I thought I would take a break from writing about exploring and share some of the latest from our life around Saipan Community School.  On February 3^rd, our school had its annual Scripps Spelling Bee competition.  As the English teacher, I am responsible for planning/organizing it.  There is a fair amount of copying involved in the planning process, but everything else is well planned already by the Scripps organization.  They have a great website that has every resource a person could ever need in order to run a spelling bee.  Our school allows grades 1-8 to compete.  We do an elementary (grades 1-5) spelling bee first, and this year a fourth grader won.  Afterward, we had a short bathroom break.  Then it was time to start our junior high spelling bee.  The winner of the elementary spelling bee is then allowed to participate and compete against the older kids.  When the competition was all said and done with our overall winner was Ms. Tiglao (an eighth grader) who had won the competition the previous year while in seventh grade.  Our little fourth grader, Tommy, ended up being the runner-up!  It just goes to show you that good spellers can be of any age.  Ms. Tiglao will now go on to the regional competition in Guam.  Last year, I allowed one of the parents to use my ticket to see their daughter perform; however, this year I will be going to see the competition for myself since it is my last year.  I have always wanted to see a spelling bee competition. Mrs. Tiglao said it is exactly as you see it on TV; I am looking forward to that. 

            Another thing that has been going on is Saipan Community School’s basketball season.  My wife and one of her co-workers are coaching the girls team and it is a rebuilding year.  As with all rebuilding years, it is sometimes tough to watch the games, but my wife is having a good time.  Coaching is always something she has wanted to do and I admire that.  I have attached photos from the spelling bee, boys basketball, and of course girls basketball events.  I hope you enjoy the pictures, remember to click on them if you wish to see them a bit larger.  Below I have attached a devotional I wrote after thinking about how basketball could relate to God, feel free to read it is you have time or need a break time with God. 

The junior high spelling bee students holding on to Tommy the fourth grade phenom. I hope you can tell which one is me in the picture haha

I love the color in this photo and it shows Kara's dedication to the girls. This was taken just before their first game of the season.

Kara giving the girls a pep talk before their first game is about to start.

One of my eighth grade students making his way toward the opposing team's net.

 

Bunching

It can be very easy in basketball to end up bunching together, and it is perhaps

even easier in other sports.

            When my wife was coaching a middle school girls basketball team, she told me one night about how she was trying to teach them zone and/or player to player defense. I could not help but imagine that Christ has the same issue with his followers. This essay is not about which form of defense is better or easier to learn.  This essay is about how to move as a team in order to see God at work among the players on the court.  Christians often have a problem with “bunching” because the environment bred by Christianity today matches our perception of the status quo. The status quo of Today is one that is self-serving, but it makes us feel as though we serve others.  An example of this would be going to church on Sunday, but forgetting to serve others in various ways throughout the week in our own “zones” of influence.  Some people refer to this phenomena as a Christian “bubble.”  We must take ownership as believers of what is perceived by those in our churches as a bubble.  The problem with every bubble is that talking about it leads to the eventual loss of that bubble’s flimsy structural integrity, a pop.  

            In basketball, zone defense is a great way to move players around while keeping the same structural integrity and effective defense.  The issues that face churches change daily because Satan knows how to twist the truth. When the ball is passed from one player to the next or the player with the ball moves to another position, it is important for the defense to know their zone and adapt to the situation regardless of the height of the individual.  In a church the same may be true.  In churches, the issue might move from one zone to another but as a church we must know how to adapt and keep unity.  In his prayer for believers, Jesus mentions how important unity is to the relationship with his Father and among believers saying:

              “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their
              message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me I am in you. May they 
              also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the 
              glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May 
              they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved 
              them even as you have loved me” (John 17:20-23 New International Version)

Without unity there is every kind of discord because Satan can sense weakness as easily as an opposing forward can see a break in man to man coverage and go for a lay up or a dunk. If a team has unity, opposing players will know that your team is of one heart and mind. The gap will shrink at and instead of bunching up players will box up.  Jesus had to be one with his Father because any separation would have led to Jesus being vulnerable to sin. We all know, however, that he never sinned and remained faithful in obedience by death on the cross.

             In the above verses, Christ tells us that if we are not united with Christ the end goal of sharing the saving knowledge of Christ is impossible just as scoring a goal or having possession of the ball is impossible on the court. In order to be open for a pass, a player must not be bunched up, but open and ready.  The same can be said of Christians and God’s game plan. If we are open to receiving whatever God has for us we will be in the open and not bunched up, stuck, and uncertain of where to move next. Jesus alludes to this idea of unity and being bunched up in a sort of self imposed prison of thought by sharing wise advice such as, “Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25).  I know all verses in the Bible are good for teaching and instruction, but this particular advice is given in three of the four gospels, which leads me to  believe it is maybe worth mentioning (Mrk 3:25 & Luke 11: 17).  A team is a sort of kingdom and realm of its own…perhaps more importantly it is like a family.

            The signs of discord from bunching in a church related setting are similar to what you see on a basketball court and may include uncertainty, ball hogs, confusion, and even sadness due to the state of affairs. I find it ironic that basketball hoops are symbolic of Christ and should remind the players not to bunch. All a player has to do to remember to keep unity is remember the team objective is a goal/basket.  That basket can come from anyone, but in order for it to occur the ball must first find its way through the halo with white netting.  That halo is a sign of unity.  If a team is off by just a couple centimeters the ball is going to fall away from the hoop and the ball will be in the enemy’s hands.  May we all be able to work as a team, not bunch, and be open to whatever God has planned for us.

Questions for Discussion

1. How does Romans 15:6-7 relate to this question of community both in church and on the court?  What does this verse say the reason for unity is?  (note: think about God and not yourself)

2.  In the above devotional there is mention of a team being like a family.  If this is true, how does 1^st Corinthians 1:9-11 relate to unity?  (note keep in mind that in v.10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family)

3. Does unity have something to do with mutual submission?  If so, how is that achieved in church and on the court?

4. See the following verses for perspective on living with others and having unity:

2^nd Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 2:2/2:5, and 1^st Peter 3:8.

Saipan Time is also Guam Time: