Happy Basketball and the Importance of Fundamentals

Hi, my name is Rick Bloodworth. This is the Common Sense Christian channel. And I want to tell you about an event or a series of events that began, I believe about the year 2000. And it involved two of our basketball coaches by the name, I'll just tell you, their first name's Gary was our boys basketball coach and Jacinda. Well, the girls basketball team had been having pretty good success for a number of years. And our boys. Got to the point where they actually made the state basketball tournament in the year 2000, and it was shortly after that that Gary and Jacinda came to me and a few other people in town, and they asked us if we wouldn't start a program. It was called Pips. It was one that was a nationally run organization where you paid them a certain amount of money and, and they came in with a basketball program with t shirts and basketballs. And then they had a very specific set of skills that you would teach the kids and then the kids would play basketball. perform at halftime of high school games and even college games from time to time. And so I really admired their thought in that when they came and presented it to us, the idea of teaching the kids fundamentals. And it was especially impressive with these two because the kids age that we were starting with was really about eight. kindergarten, first grade through sixth grade. And so the fundamentals that we would be teaching these kids wouldn't show up in the high school programs for a number of years yet. And yet these two, Gary and Jacinda, had enough foresight to realize that the fundamentals that the kids were taught when they were young would accrue benefits later on when they became older, and since they were serious about growing a good basketball program, they wanted to make sure that the little kids were having a chance to learn fundamentals, those who wanted to do so. And so we did that program, I guess for, oh, nearly 20 years, and it was really a pretty good program. Now, the neat thing to me was that Since high school coaches don't stay very long typically in the schools that are as small as ours, Gary and Jacinda knew that they probably wouldn't be the ones who would reap the benefits of it. It would be some other coach down the line, but they had enough Concern and and care about the basketball program here that they wanted that to be built and and they really did build a fine program Even though sure enough both of them took positions in bigger schools with a little bit better opportunities for they and their families very shortly after that and they never got to see the results of these kids. They did get to see some of them actually compete themselves in state basketball tournaments. Oh, some 10, 15 years later. And so I wanted to talk just a little bit about that. The importance of fundamentals. In basketball, it's something as simple as starting with the pivot foot, and you teach the little kids to nail their left foot to the floor, and then you have them move around in circles all the time, trying to keep that toe on that foot nailed to the floor, and they would just go round and round until they perfected to where they weren't picking it up or dragging it, but they were in fact keeping their pivot foot planted. And then after that you taught them all sorts of dribbling skills, some that they certainly would never use in a ball game, such as just real fancy dribbles between their legs. One called the spider where it went so fast, it was like a machine gun. And you'd certainly never use that in a game. But what it did was it developed fundamental skills That allowed them to learn how to, how to handle the basketball. And, and that's really important, obviously in, in basketball, but it's important in everything, isn't it? I can still remember when I was a little kid probably, I don't know, kindergarten, first, second grade. We always seem to have flashcards that we take home for practice for our math classes and they might start off with just the numbers and recognizing that and, and then they would be simple things like addition and subtraction, and then they would slowly move up through the years to the multiplication and even division, but they would show that flashcard and you were to as quickly as possible come up with the answer. And so by the time we got to the point where kids learn their multiplication tables, we knew that 7 times 8 was 56. We didn't have to think about it because we had done those flash card drills so long. We had learned the fundamentals. And, and, as you observe different people, whether it's the one making change behind the cash register at your local McDonald's, or whether it's watching some high school kid on the basketball floor, you can tell who's got the fundamentals, the basics of things like mathematics, or the basics of things like dribbling if we're playing basketball. And so we see that, The fundamentals are the tools that you use, the foundation or the building blocks that you use to become proficient in different areas of life. There's no, no place that fundamentals are more important than in our relationship with nature. There are so many people who just think whatever they want to think about God, and, and they're convinced that whatever they think about God is the way that it is because they've had thoughts on the matter. They've never learned their fundamentals, and because of that, They're all over the board when it comes to things like character and virtue and, and other important Christian characteristics that we all need to have that are fundamental to our faith. 2 Peter chapter 1 puts it this way. Starting in, in verse 5, the Apostle Peter, through inspiration, says this, For this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to your goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self control, and to self control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. Do you see how it progresses from the very basic to the more complex? He, he says, add to your faith. Faith is the basic, isn't it? Usually we develop our faith when we're little children. We, we learn about God and we learn about Jesus and, and we just, we have a a ready belief. Now, we believe in other things, too, when we're little, and so it takes the years to mature to see what's true and what's not true, because we all know that little kids believe in a lot of things that just aren't so. But I also see an awful lot of adults that believe things that just aren't so, because they never really learned the fundamentals. God does not stop with faith, although many people do. He says, add to your faith goodness. Some, some versions say virtue. There has to be a basic goodness to us to want to be servants of God and to want to learn the things that we, that we need to learn. It's just like in basketball. If you have no desire to play basketball, then there really isn't any, any need to be learning the fundamentals because you're never going to use them. And that's the way it is with Christianity. Sometimes there are some people who really maybe shouldn't be practicing Christianity because they never had the interest to learn what, what it meant and what was required there. And a big part of that was because they never had good goodness. They never had a virtue. They were just maybe being Christians because everybody else was, and it seemed to be the thing to do. So after your basic faith, that, that belief, we have goodness. And then it says add to goodness, knowledge, and, and think about that. There, there's a lot of people who have very little knowledge when it comes to God, and, and therefore they have very little knowledge of what God expects. And they have very little knowledge of what's right and wrong. And so, it really does take not only a belief, but a certain goodness, an inherent goodness, or one that, that you work on to make you want to find out what God has to say, because you know it's the right thing, and then do what he has to say. But this is knowledge, and the, the source of knowledge. is only from the Bible. It's true that we parents and, and teachers and preachers can pass along knowledge, but it has to be from the source, the one true source of of the Word of God. And so our knowledge comes from the Bible and as we get older, we need to stop trusting so much to the things that we were brought up to believe and, and be searching the scriptures ourselves. But again, you see that, that progression, that, that growing, it's like going from recognizing your numbers to addition and subtraction to even multiplication and division, you're getting a little more complex, you're adding a little bit more to your fundamentals so that you can be something that's worthwhile. And, and then the idea of self control. This is one of the missing things today. People lose their temper. People have no control over their, their lusts and their passions, or their, their their appetites. And, and as a result of that, we see them plunge headlong into all sorts of destructive things. And so we need self control. And again, that's a little bit more mature than faith and goodness and knowledge, because now we're starting to put our knowledge into practice and our faith in God and our goodness into practice. For the reason that we, that we do want to please God and then perseverance, because it's important for us to continue to do these things. It's like, it's like somebody who's dribbling. They've got to, they've got to keep the fundamentals all the way up the court, or they're going to lose that basketball, or they're going to be called for some violation that turns it over to the other team. You need to keep doing. the fundamentals. And then to perseverance, godliness. Godliness goes beyond just virtue and goodness. It becomes an imitation of God. Not that we think that we're like God as far as his authority and his power. It's not that type of delusional thinking, but the godliness is to imitate the perfect model. And, and that's God and Christ. And so we have that godliness, that God likeness that we're trying to be holy because they're holy. And then it talks about after that, brotherly kindness. I see this sadly lacking among a lot of people who profess to be Christians. It seems like they just cannot suffer fools. And by that, I don't mean that they go along with people who are evil, but by that, I mean that they just have no patience for anybody that thinks differently than them or who, who is struggling to, to mature themselves. It would almost be like if, if we held our, our kindergartners who are just learning to dribble to the same standards that we might hold an NBA player to, that's just not fair. And it's not right. They haven't come to that point yet. And, and we need to have a little brotherly kindness to have that patience to allow people to grow. And we also need to have a brotherly kindness to where we're not always continually infighting and, and criticizing and gossiping and doing all the rest of these sinful activities that literally tear the, the, the church apart and, and separate brothers. And then after brotherly kindness, love. The greatest virtue that we can have, the greatest Christian characteristic that we can have is, is that love. Remember the two greatest commandments. The first is to love God with your heart, all your heart and soul and mind and strength. In other words, that love for God has to be with every fiber of your being. And then we love our neighbors as ourself. And we keep first things first. We don't love our neighbors so much that we permit them to do evil. without some sort of encouragement from us to stop. But, but we do love our brother enough to encourage them to do good and, and to, to leave evil things and to be concerned about them when they have needs and, and burdens that they can't possibly carry on their own. That brotherly kindness and love, that's really the, the penultimate of, of our growing in the fundamentals of the faith. And it is interesting to see how that works, isn't it? You, you, you add to your faith goodness and, and then knowledge and self control and perseverance. And it continues on until we get to love. And so now like that little child who has learned his numbers first, but now he can, he can do complex problems and, and, and do wonderful things with, with the math in areas like maybe building a bridge or, or a tower or something impressive. They're, they're, they, they've achieved an excellence from, from adding to their fundamentals to the point where now they're, they're being able to do important things. And for us, we need to do important things for God. And then this verse finishes this way, after it tells us to add to our fundamentals, for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, in other words, you're continuing to grow. They will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's a lot of people who know technically what the Bible says, but they've never advanced beyond that. And they certainly haven't gotten the perseverance and the brotherly kindness and, and the love down. And, and so at some point they're, they're progress becomes something that, that, that is no longer effective for God. And they become very ineffective in what they're doing. Sometimes they become counterproductive for God because they're not continuing to grow, add these virtues and increasing measure. And, and then it says this in verse 10. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. In other words, you need to keep growing for God in order to make it sure, not because you're somehow earning that your salvation, but because you are doing the things that God wants you to do. You're, you're growing every day. And then it says this, for if you do these things, you will never fall. If you do these things, you'll never fall. Here we have a guarantee of heaven someday, but it is contingent, isn't it? It's contingent on learning the fundamentals of God, of Christianity, and then putting them into practice. and ever growing with them because, because you are motivated by your love for God and your love for your fellow man. And you want to please God. And this says, if you continue to grow in these things, you will never fall and you'll receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, heaven someday. Go back to the example we started with. We, we have the, the, the two coaches that are, that are just excellent coaches. They've, they've achieved some pretty impressive things and yet they want the program to do well. They want the school to do well, the community to do well. And so they want the basics, the fundamentals taught. to their children. Even though they may not be personally around to reap the benefits of these things, they can see the benefit. They're farsighted and, and they're not selfish to the point where they want to just keep the good to themselves. And so you think about that in your own life and, and building the fundamentals. It's so that you can be a better servant of God. It's so that you can be a better neighbor, better father, better mother, better, a better citizen. And you do these things because you can see, because of the goodness that's inherent now within you as you continue to grow, the need to do so, and then someday there will be heaven. Just like someday for those basketball kindergartners in first grade, there was state. And in Texas, being a fairly big state, it was a fairly big deal. Can you imagine what heaven will be like? The greatest deal, if you want to put it that way of all. Well, that's the lesson for today. I just thought that little story was interesting. It was true story. And it's one that I got to, to witness firsthand and really enjoy watching the benefits of. people learning the fundamentals and then being able to apply them in such a way as to do great things that were also a lot of fun along the way. And that's the way Christianity ought to be. Appreciate your listening today. If this is something that helps, do me a favor, hit that like button, share it with others that maybe it'll help them too, if you think of anybody that would be helped by this. But again, until next time. Next time, I pray that God will richly bless you as you do your best to serve him, including learning the fundamentals. God bless you.