On Buzzer Beaters

As an assistant sports information director, part of my job responsibility is keeping statistics for our college basketball games. Last night, we had a great game as our guys' team defeated visiting Covenant College 76-74. It was a tie game with six seconds left, when one of our players made a shot with half a second left to give us the victory. It was pretty awesome.

I remember one time in my life when I made a buzzer beater shot. I was 10. We were playing the Pacers. I remember specifically because they had a boy that looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Don't laugh. This is serious stuff. It was double overtime, and I was at the wing when the ball got passed to me. I took a shot over T-Rex boy and made the winning basket. My coach picked me up on his shoulders, and we celebrated the victory. It was any 10 year old's dream.

As I saw the game-winning shot last night and reminisced about my one moment of glory, I thought about how much people pay attention to the person who had the game-winning goal. It's that way in any sport, really. Crowds of fans, teammates, and the press flock to whoever scored the last goal.

When you think about it, though, isn't every shot just as important as the last one? I mean, after all, if someone didn't make a shot 5 minutes into the game, then the score wouldn't be set up for the game-winner. We would've lost. So, essentially, every basket made is equally important in the final outcome.

What we do in life is much the same way. Certain deeds that we do are famously celebrated or hailed as being great, like giving a lot of money to the church, or starting an amazing ministry. Many of us long to be able to have that moment where we do something "great" for the Kingdom of God. However, in God's eyes, as long as we're working for him faithfully, our deeds are all equal. We are cautioned by Paul in Colossians not to compare our works to other believers, but instead, we are to compare what we do to the requirements set forth by Scripture.

Similarly, Jesus strictly warns us not to seek men's praise for what we do for God. He scolded the Pharisees for praying on street corners or giving a bunch of money in front of a lot of people. If we seek the praise of men, we might get it, but we will lose the reward of pleasing God.

So don't seek glory. Buzzer beaters are nice, but everyone forgets them by next week. Instead, work steadily and faithfully for the Lord. Earning his appreciation and pleasure is the greatest satisfaction we could ever receive.

It's even better than beating the Pacers.