I don’t know if I’ve ever been faced with the reality of our world’s brokenness as I have in the past month. I’ve never had so many nights where I am just to exhausted to move—not because of any physical exertion, but because of the weight of my emotions. This world is far more broken that I have ever realized. Just this past week:
- One of my close friends dies while playing pickup basketball. Eric was 24, and a leader in the African-American community. He was laboring for the Kingdom, and loving his wife and children well. This world is so broken…
- A player walks into the weight room in street clothes. “Are you lifting today”, I ask. He responds, “I don’t know. I have to see when my dad can come by to help me move my stuff. My grandma put me out.” Another player responds through laughter, “Again?! What did you do this time?” To them, it’s just the way it is…
- We bought protein powder to give to our guys after workouts. Many high schools do this in order to get their players bigger and stronger. That would be a great perk for us, but our main desire is that our players simply have some type of nutrition, because there is no guarantee they’ll get it at home…but that’s the way it is.
- One of our players will be a star. He’ll be able to go to any college he wants to, and he talks about it all the time. He’s always leading by example. Yet, yesterday he decided he wanted to be cool and hold someone else’s marijuana. Caught, suspended, arrested…how can he not connect holding that bag to his chances of college? Something is wrong here…
- A player opens up to me and tells me a lot about his life. His mom was able to buy a house, which is a huge step. But she put her boyfriend’s name on the deed, only to discover he was little more than a cheat and a drunk. She can get no help from the authorities because they are all his drinking buddies. She has to spread her kids out in various places. “I sleep on my sister’s couch. My mom won’t let us near him because she knows we’ll beat him up. I just want to have a room again.” Does it bother him? “It makes me mad, but that’s just how it is.”
The difference between my view of the brokenness of this world and that of these youth is simple: To them, “it’s just the way it is”. I agree, “it’s the way it is”…but that’s not how it should be. And I can claim the promise that the broken world we live in will be restored to the fullness God intends. That truth keeps me going, and keeps me praying that these youth will one day embrace the gospel, giving them a reason to hope in the midst of more suffering than I’ll ever experience. The reality of “the way it is” might not change, but at least they’ll know the truth: “It’s not how it should be, and it’s not how it will be”.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Eric Marshall, Hero and Friend
A hero died Wednesday. He wasn’t just a hero for me. He was a hero to all that knew him. Eric Marshall defied the odds. He was more than just a great basketball player. He was a father. He was a husband. He was committed to the betterment of those around him. Somehow, in this self-serving world, Eric found a way to think of others far more often than he did himself.
He shouldn’t have made it through college with the success and impact he did. How many guys have a child the first week of their freshman year, yet still manage to maintain a solid GPA, a successful Division I basketball career, and be integrally connected to many other students and activities on campus? I’ve heard of few doing such a thing, and none who remain intensely committed to raising their child well.
And what about after his dream of playing any type of professional basketball ended? After he tore the second ACL? Was he devastated? Did he give up on life, and just spend the rest of his days drifting aimlessly like so many others who have faced the same reality? No, Eric had perspective. He knew that basketball in and of itself was absolutely worthless to all of us. It’s a sport. It’s merely a game. It’s nothing more—unless it is used for a greater good. And Eric knew this.
And, finally, Eric had a vision of reality that many of us don’t. He recognized that his first son’s mother was not someone to consider marriage with. He wasn’t proud of the out-of-wedlock birth, but he knew that this just wouldn’t work. So he waited. And eventually he found a woman worth waiting for, and he married Tanya and they were blessed to have a child together as well. Isaiah could grow up around a stable home with his new brother Caleb because his father had the fortitude to embrace a hard reality, while trusting in a more hopeful future.
How did Eric live in a way that was so counter-cultural? How does a young man swim upstream, against the current of our world? He was rooted in Jesus Christ, grounded in the very grace that saved him not long after that first week of his freshman year. I was privileged to know Eric through college, and to see him mature into a man of God. His growth in the faith and trust in the Lord enabled him to live as he did. Basketball became a tool to share the gospel, which is why he was playing Wednesday night. He wanted to use his gift to impact the world, and he did. He wanted to invest his life into the lives of other men, and he did. He wanted to love Tanya, Isaiah, and Caleb well, and he did that too.
Eric Marshall wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t without his faults and flaws. None of us are. But he lived a redeemed life, one that was passionate for the gospel. That is was set him apart. He didn’t just make it through life; he lived hard, and he lived well. His is a life we should all emulate. May we pursue that same life, may we pursue our Savior, Jesus Christ.
He shouldn’t have made it through college with the success and impact he did. How many guys have a child the first week of their freshman year, yet still manage to maintain a solid GPA, a successful Division I basketball career, and be integrally connected to many other students and activities on campus? I’ve heard of few doing such a thing, and none who remain intensely committed to raising their child well.
And what about after his dream of playing any type of professional basketball ended? After he tore the second ACL? Was he devastated? Did he give up on life, and just spend the rest of his days drifting aimlessly like so many others who have faced the same reality? No, Eric had perspective. He knew that basketball in and of itself was absolutely worthless to all of us. It’s a sport. It’s merely a game. It’s nothing more—unless it is used for a greater good. And Eric knew this.
And, finally, Eric had a vision of reality that many of us don’t. He recognized that his first son’s mother was not someone to consider marriage with. He wasn’t proud of the out-of-wedlock birth, but he knew that this just wouldn’t work. So he waited. And eventually he found a woman worth waiting for, and he married Tanya and they were blessed to have a child together as well. Isaiah could grow up around a stable home with his new brother Caleb because his father had the fortitude to embrace a hard reality, while trusting in a more hopeful future.
How did Eric live in a way that was so counter-cultural? How does a young man swim upstream, against the current of our world? He was rooted in Jesus Christ, grounded in the very grace that saved him not long after that first week of his freshman year. I was privileged to know Eric through college, and to see him mature into a man of God. His growth in the faith and trust in the Lord enabled him to live as he did. Basketball became a tool to share the gospel, which is why he was playing Wednesday night. He wanted to use his gift to impact the world, and he did. He wanted to invest his life into the lives of other men, and he did. He wanted to love Tanya, Isaiah, and Caleb well, and he did that too.
Eric Marshall wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t without his faults and flaws. None of us are. But he lived a redeemed life, one that was passionate for the gospel. That is was set him apart. He didn’t just make it through life; he lived hard, and he lived well. His is a life we should all emulate. May we pursue that same life, may we pursue our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
An unexpected challenge to my faith…
Last night I had the opportunity to speak to the youth group at First Baptist Ellisville, which is in West County. I expected this to be a typical suburban youth group, but I was completely blown away.
First, the reason I was asked to speak was because the subject of their weekend event was Justice. The students initiated this opportunity to learn more about what justice is, God’s heart for it, and how we are called to live it out in our world. Did you catch that—the students wanted to learn more! All around the room were large banners the students had made, each with an issue of justice such as Human Trafficking and Child Soldiers, and the countries where these injustices are presently ongoing. After the previous night's talk, the students spent time praying about each of these issues. We ate a meal of only rice as a reminder of the suffering of many around the world. They spent Saturday morning serving with several ministries in the area, but the more amazing thing is that they serve in this way at least once a month. In spending a few hours with these students, I could tell that many of them had a true zeal for the Lord.
To top it all off, they were an engaging audience that responded to the injustice that has been done in East St. Louis, and, hopefully, to my challenge for them to live as people who cultivate God’s character within them and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Their youth minister (whom I embarrassingly had called by wrong name 3 times in my talk—see below!) told me they were going to send our ministry an honorarium. I obviously was very thankful, but even more thankful to have simply been around these youth for several hours yesterday. What a challenging reminder of how we are to pursue the Lord and live out of His character!
(Okay, here is the story. His name is Dustin. Our pastor’s name is Darrin. I called him Dustin all afternoon, until somehow our pastor’s name came up in conversation. From that point on, I called him Darrin…until he pointed out my mistake after I finished my talk. Unbelievable! He laughed it off, but I felt like a total idiot!)
First, the reason I was asked to speak was because the subject of their weekend event was Justice. The students initiated this opportunity to learn more about what justice is, God’s heart for it, and how we are called to live it out in our world. Did you catch that—the students wanted to learn more! All around the room were large banners the students had made, each with an issue of justice such as Human Trafficking and Child Soldiers, and the countries where these injustices are presently ongoing. After the previous night's talk, the students spent time praying about each of these issues. We ate a meal of only rice as a reminder of the suffering of many around the world. They spent Saturday morning serving with several ministries in the area, but the more amazing thing is that they serve in this way at least once a month. In spending a few hours with these students, I could tell that many of them had a true zeal for the Lord.
To top it all off, they were an engaging audience that responded to the injustice that has been done in East St. Louis, and, hopefully, to my challenge for them to live as people who cultivate God’s character within them and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Their youth minister (whom I embarrassingly had called by wrong name 3 times in my talk—see below!) told me they were going to send our ministry an honorarium. I obviously was very thankful, but even more thankful to have simply been around these youth for several hours yesterday. What a challenging reminder of how we are to pursue the Lord and live out of His character!
(Okay, here is the story. His name is Dustin. Our pastor’s name is Darrin. I called him Dustin all afternoon, until somehow our pastor’s name came up in conversation. From that point on, I called him Darrin…until he pointed out my mistake after I finished my talk. Unbelievable! He laughed it off, but I felt like a total idiot!)
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