Catch and Shoot
I guess that the freshman basketball coach where I went to high school didn’t have the heart to tell a kid who was not all that tall, was carrying around some extra weight, who could barely touch the bottom of the net (on a good day), and wasn’t setting any land speed records that his future might not be in the NBA. He didn’t cut me from the squad, but he did allow me to sit on the bench long enough to figure it out all by myself.
While my “career” ended after that year, I still keep up with the game. I am especially a fan of college basketball. The degree of my love for that game is nowhere near that of our son, but I do enjoy watching that sport. (It also gives the two of us something to talk about – or for me to listen about.)
From time to time, I hear the expression “catch and shoot.” It seems that this is a talent that coaches would like for their players to have. There seems to be an “evolution” in this process. The coaches would like for the players to practice their shots so much that they become routine. They would then, it seems, like for the routine to become what they call “automatic.”
Somewhere during this process, the “real shooters” will hopefully get to the point that they catch a pass from a teammate and shoot it. They don’t think about what they are doing; they just do what has become “automatic.”
You will even hear commentators sometimes suggest that a shot was missed because the player had too much time to think about it. According to them, it would have been far better if the player had not had the time to really think about where he was on the floor, where the defenders were, what could go wrong, etc. It would have been better, in their opinion, for the athlete to have had only enough time to catch and shoot.
I’ve been doing some thinking about that lately. I’m wondering if what is desired in basketball could be detrimental to a Christian.
While I am not at all suggesting that our responsibilities and privileges as Christians are confined to what happens on the Lord’s day, I will use a typical Sunday to illustrate what I am thinking about. I’m wondering if the same guy who failed to make a career as a basketball player could also be failing to truly follow the Lord because of a “catch and shoot mentality.”
Does a typical Sunday begin by me doing what I habitually do when I get up and go? Has the practice of “going to church” become so routine that I do it without actually thinking about the fact that I will be worshiping the Creator of the universe? Do I think about the fact that, at least so far in our nation, I can do this without being threatened? Do I think about some who would love to do what I am doing, but cannot because of their health? Do I think about the fact that “church” is not something to which I go, but something of which I am supposed to be a vital and active part?
Once I have arrived at a comfortable building (another blessing denied to so many in our world), I wonder about what I do. For example, do I…
- Stand and sing? Do I do the best I can with the limited ability that I have to express my love and appreciation for my Creator and my Savior as I sing the words of a hymn that has been selected? Do I mumble through the words or “…sing with the spirit and with the understanding…” (1 Cor. 14:15)? Do I realize that my singing is also designed so that I can join others in “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs…” (Col. 3:16)?
- Open and read (or possibly leave closed and let somebody else read to me)? When God’s Word is read, do I acknowledge it as such? Do I give it the reverence it deserves? Are the words being read by another person or by me “…a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105)? Do I consider the words of my Lord to truly be “…the words of eternal life” (John 6:63)?
- Sit and listen? Is that all I do when a man is presenting material from God’s Word that has eternal consequences? Do I seek to find ways to apply the message to my life? Do his words cause me to do my own study? Do I look for ways to share that message with others?
- Reach and take the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine? Has that become merely a ritualistic exercise for me every Lord’s day (cf. Acts 20:7) or do I think about my Savior on that terrible cross? Do I, in the words of a song we sometimes sing, “See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow
and love flow mingled down?” Do I even think of the unbelievable amount of love the Father has for me in sending His Son so that he could do that for me? - Put in and pass? When “that plate” comes around, do I find a dollar bill or two that I really had not planned to use for anything else, put it in the plate, and pass it along to the next person? Am I satisfied as long as the church’s budget is being met? Am I satisfied even when it is not? Do I ever consider the fact that my giving is not merely about the church budget? Have I ever thought about the fact that the Bible refers to act of giving as a proof of the amount of love we have for the Lord and His work (cf. 2 Cor, 8:24)?
- Bow and close? Are the times when we are being led in prayer by one of our brethren a time for me to merely assume the “proper prayer posture” by bowing my head and closing my eyes? Is this a time when I can quietly think about where I might go to eat later or make other plans? Do I ever think about the fact that, collectively and individually, we are being granted the privilege of sharing our hopes, our petitions, our desires, our gratitude, and our devotion (among other things) with the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God?
In order to please God, my worship needs to be a regular part of my life. At the same time, I need to guard against anything that would cause it to become merely a routine.
A recurring theme in Psalms is that worship and service is to be done “with my whole heart.” It is difficult to understand how anybody with this attitude would ever develop a “catch and shoot” mentality on Sunday – or on any day.
To Receive Every Article from A Legacy of Faith through Email for Free, Click Here
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
