The NBA and Christ

A buddy was telling me a story about Lebron and how special of an athlete he is and I had to look up the story for myself. I guess Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Lebron James were out in the Bahamas. Melo got everybody to jump out into the water from their yacht to look at some barnacles or something. Well everybody else got back in the boat and the boat was taking off but Melo was still out in the water doing his scuba thing.

Melo said he looked up and he was drifting out in the middle of the ocean and the boat was leaving. He said he was trying to swim to the boat but the current was so strong that he couldn’t make it. He was getting tired and he said all kinds of thoughts crept into his mind. Lebron saw him struggling and jumped out into the water and with one arm grabbed him and then swam using his other arm all the way back to the boat. Melo said Bron literally saved his life. Dwade said out of all the amazing athletic things he’s seen Bron do on the court this by far was the most special thing he’d ever seen. Melo couldn’t make it back to the boat on his own, but Bron could make it while pulling Melo in with him! That's insane! But besides being a spectacular story of how freakishly athletic Lebron is, what's this got to do with Jesus? Well, Paul writes a letter to a church in Galatia and says to them that we should help those in sin be better. We should bear each other's burdens. And Paul says when we do that we fulfill the law of Christ. First off if we want to be the ultimate christian (fulfilling the law of Christ) then we just have to help another brother or sister along the way. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. We know this isn’t easy because Paul puts a qualifier on who is to help. “You who are spiritual” (Galatians 6:1). Paul is talking about a person who is walking step by step with the Spirit (he is reflecting back on what he spoke earlier in Galatians 5:16-18). We’ve got to be strong in the power of the Spirit to bear one another's burdens. Because if we are not walking by the Spirit, we could get swept up in the same or even more grievous sin (Galatians 6:1). Again you ask, what’s this got to do with Lebron pulling Melo back on the boat. Lebron is and did physically what we as Christians are to do spiritually. Lebron went and saved a brother. He literally carried Melo (his burden) to the boat because Melo couldn’t do it himself. But before he did he made sure he was physically capable. Though it wasn’t specifically to save lives at sea, Bron trained his body to be physically able to do many strenuous tasks demanded of him. We as Christians need to be looking out for those who cannot carry their own burdens, whether it be loneliness, sadness, depression, anger, lust, self control issues, sin or otherwise so they might be found strong in the love of Christ. But first we ourselves must be prepared spiritually for such a task. How do we prepare ourselves for that task? Prayer, scripture reading and memorization, walking in step with the Spirit, and being in community with other believers. That allows us to know God and recognize his character. And when we know God and recognize his character, it creates a trust in him that happens only through a deeper intimacy with him. And through that intimacy we prepare ourselves to be able to help those who need help carrying their burdens. And when we do this not only do we see the wonder of God’s love through us but also others get to see it and then trust in God a little bit more through the work he does through his people. And that's what I call fulfilling the law of Christ!