Fools and their tricks...

Last week when my wife was out of town, I found myself on a screwy schedule. Dinner at 9 or 10 pm most nights, and then on Friday night I went to workout around 10 pm. I did some cardio and lifted weights and then ended the night with a little down-time shooting hoops in the gym. That was when I saw him.

"Hey man, you wanna git a game of 2 on 2 goin?" He was wearing Umbro-like shorts and some black, Keds-like, low-top, K-Swiss shoes. Weighing in at 5'10" 220 ("Ding!"). Approximately 20 years old.

I said "No thanks man. I can't. I'm not wearing my basketball shoes. I'm just gonna shoot around."

"So? What's wrong with the kicks your wearing?" he said. (I was wearing some Adidas running shoes). "Look at what I'm wearing- I wear these and they do just fine."

(From judging at his body type and his outfit I was betting he was right. He probably didn't push it too hard on the court. At his speed and skill level, Flip-flops would have probably worked just fine too.)
I said, "I need my basketball shoes because I broke my ankle not too long ago."

"How?"

"Playing basketball."

"Well," (as he spread out his arms and looked down at his body), "I've never broken anyting playin hoops."

I believed him.

He finally conceded and said, "Alright cool. You mind if I shoot around wit you?"

Though I was really looking forward to some down-time shooting hoops I said "Sure" and soon we were shooting hoops together.

Well, sort of...
As I was shooting, out of the corner of my eye I kept seeing him do these odd basketball tricks (like he was trying to do some And1 Streetball tricks). He was obviously making them up as he went along. He would pretend that he had someone guarding him and then he would do some "sweet" trick and then put up a 10-foot jumper. Airball. Over half of his jump-shots were airballs.

"I used to be a killer shooter," He told me. "I used to be able to make 8 shots in a row behind the 3 point line." (He looked at me for approval and a "wow" facial response.)

I said, "Well that's pretty good!"

"Yeah, but I ain't played in like, 2 years. So, that's why I ain't makin as many today."

"Cool." I said.

After about 20 minutes of shooting around I said, "Alright "Matt", it was good to meet you. I'm headed home. See you around." I started walking off the court.

"Hey man! Before you go," he said, "can I ask you one question?" He had a smirk on his face.

"Sure thing."

"Has anyone ever shown you a basketball trick?"

"O this is too good to be true!" I thought to myself. "No! Whatcha got?" I said.

"Check dis out."

He then proceeded to get down on the floor, with ball in hand, and tried doing some sort of crabwalk-flipparoo pass-the-ball-between-your-legs while on the floor spinning around like a drunken breakdancer, then getting back up on his feet and trying to kick the ball and cup it in his hand and then pivot move and fake pass. When he finished, he looked a bit dizzy and had a "what now?" stare and then he said "I used to do that move all the time win I played on da streets. It was crazy!"

I said, "Really? Wow. Did they not call you for a travel or a carry?"

He shook his head yes and then said, "Yeah, exactly." (With a very satisfactory look on his face.) He had no idea that a "travel" or a "carry" was a bad thing in the game of basketball. He was very proud of his move that he just pulled off. He thought he was the most incredible basketball player, but as I walked off the court it was clear to everyone else that he was a fool.

I know many people who claim to be Christians but their lifestyle doesn't fool anyone. They are clearly posers and nothing more. They don't need to become better, they need to be born again. They have no hope of improving their game unless they are given a new nature. Just like that kid's game betrayed his talk, there are too many people whose lifestyle betrays their confession. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

How much will you allow the culture to shape you and your family?

Over the past few weeks I have asked the church this question: How much are you going to allow the culture to shape your family?
Last Sunday I cried (yeah, so!) when I talked about how I felt when I was at the gym and was watching a whole slew of tv's that were showing what to me appeared to be degrading. There was a heaviness and inner pressure I felt as I watched a music video of a former Disney Princess. It was a music video of Hillary Duff and I was saddened by how common it had become for everyone to see a woman singing and dancing suggestively in short shorts and in tight dresses (that's right- Hillary Duff!). I had a hard time explaining how it made me feel that everyone was on their own treadmill (going nowhere, mind you), watching entertainment that had zero redeeming qualities about it. I run the risk of seeming legalistic here, but we cannot settle for that to be normal in our lives!
I ran across this blog from John Piper, and I feel like here he is able to capture with ease what I was trying so hard to say on Sunday with tears.
I'll give you a short excerpt from it, and if you want to read it in its entirety, then go for it. You'll be better for it.

There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them.

I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father...

To check out the rest of his blog, and to see why he has not owned a television in 40 years, click here.