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I had a friend relate to me recently a great story about the nature of grace that she never realized until I pointed it out. She was at a basketball game that was being held between two schools in her town. The players on both sides were students that have \u201cspecial needs\u201d that limit their access to a conventional education environment. There were players of all \u201cskill\u201d levels on both teams playing in this game, and they were \u201call\u201d playing at the same time.<\/p>\n
The one thing she noticed throughout the event was that when one of the very ablest members of a team had the ball and was driving for the basket, he would always pass the ball off to one of his teammates instead of taking the shot for himself. She said that this didn\u2019t happen just on one team but was a regular occurrence on both teams throughout the game. She said that everyone on the team had a chance to handle the ball before a shot was attempted. When a basket was made, she said that the whole court erupted in celebration as each person \u201cfrom both teams\u201d praised the work of the shooter. By the end of the game, the score didn\u2019t matter because everyone had participated and been appreciated for their efforts by those in the game.<\/p>\n
This is the nature of God\u2019s grace being demonstrated before the entire world. Regrettably, most church environments look more like a professional team with your super stars and few bench players who can come in during a clutch situation. We, the church, might just be the \u201cspecial needs\u201d people who need to be schooled in the nature of our participation in this game called life. We each have a part to play and should be encouraged by our team rather than demoted and scolded for being who we are. Our head coach, team owner and head scout is already cheering for us. They don\u2019t care about the points because they\u2019ve already won the game. They just want us to enjoy having the time of our lives. Go Team!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had a friend relate to me recently a great story about the nature of grace that she never realized until I pointed it out. She was at a basketball game that was being held between two schools in her … Continue reading