One Last Chance
Of all my hobbies, college basketball is my favorite. This time of year my brain gets caught up in “bubble teams,” “seedlines” and “cinderellas.” Of all the great sporting events, I can’t think of any that comes close to the madness that is March.
The brackets come out on Sunday, and 65 teams will be happy, while the rest (over 250) will know they didn’t make it to the “big dance.” A small committee of former coaches and current athletic directors will select the teams that will play in the NCAA men’s basketball championship.
This week, however, teams can take their selection out the hands of the committee. By rule, conference tournament winners get into the NCAA tournament. Teams get a second chance.
Watching a few games this week (I’ve been holding a singing school at night, so I haven’t seen much), it is obvious which teams need these wins. They had a bad season, or ended poorly, and know they must win their conference tournament to make the NCAAs. Teams like St. Louis, California, Illinois and Florida State won very important games yesterday to give themselves a chance.
As I watched a game yesterday, I heard former coach Steve Lavin say (paraphrased): “These teams have hope. These tournaments give them second life.”
These teams play long conference seasons (either 16 or 18 games), but it’s the tournament champion that gets in the NCAAs.
Does that not sound like a lot of people you know? How many people have lived their entire life for themselves and then, as life begins to slip away, realize they need God. Often, we try to teach older people the Gospel because this is their last chance.
We don’t need to stop that practice. Some think that “deathbed repentance” doesn’t really work. Our job, however, is not to question motives. How often have you and I been driven to our knees before God because we had a tragedy occur in our life?
Many teams use the hope of the second chance to get into the NCAA tournament. Infinitely more importantly, many who are nearing the end of life need to turn to God. Let’s give them that chance to taking the Gospel to them.
