Basketball and my Walk

Under Cuban the Mavs have been a powerhouse of offense. When Cuban bought the Mavs in January of 2000, he lead the team (and the league??) into a into a new era of Basketball. With such phrases as small ball, fan-interaction blogging, Steve Nash, and "reunion rowdies," to his credit, Mark Cuban made the NBA what the dominant bruisers of the league (Ewing, Shaq, Rasheed & Wallace, et al) hated....fun. Teams that run (suns, mavs...) don't always win championships,(insert cliche) but who wants to watch an NBA game that doesn't break 70? Not Me.

Well I began thinking about how this offense-motivated movement relates to the life we have in Chirst. What's different about the Mavs this year? If you live within 5oo hundred miles of Dallas, or have access to ESPN, you would say with authority, Defense. But I would temper that statement and say that the Mavs have acheived balance this season. And that has made all the difference. What does Christ want from us? Balance, faithfulness- to be steady, dependant on the word at all times.

II corinthians 7:1 (NLT) says, "Because we have these promises, dear friends,

let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.

And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God."

The words "everything" and, "complete" suggest a balanced approach to all the obstacles that come into our path. "...let us work toward... implies that a balanced Christian life is not something we arrive at by ease, but something that requires striving, and making sacrifices over a period of time.

From 2000 until the end of the 04-05 season, the Mavs lacked an emphasis in a critical part of the game, Defense. But it was not the defense that landed them in the 2006 NBA Finals, it is the balanced combination of offense and defense. Now going into game 6, they have a decision to make. A decision we as Christians make every day. Will we play the opponents game or will we make them play ours? You see, through 10 quarters in the NBA Finals, the Mavs played with perfect balance, a balanced-attack as commentators would say. Then when the pressure was on the Mavs leaned to heavily on their new found tactic of defense. This practice resulted in squandering a 2-0 series lead. The pendelum can't be allowed to swing too far in the other direction either. Can the Mavs pull out the next two at home to avert elimination? I hope so, the way to do it, is come with a balanced attack- play defense, but go with what you know, push the ball, get it to Dirk, make your shots.

The Mavs have the whole lone star state and a couple of people from OK rooting for them, as Christians we are surrounded by God almighty and a great cloud of witnesses. Let's run with balance.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

Heb 12:1 (NLT)