The pandemic has been marked by many things, most notably: the tragic deaths of hundreds of thousands worldwide; amazing health care workers and essential workers; and the term 'social distancing.'
From a streaming service perspective, the pandemic has been marked by two massive hits: Tiger King and The Last Dance. I'll pass on writing about Tiger King...for now...and share a couple of thoughts about The Last Dance.
The documentary, on the Chicago Bulls dynasty in the '90s, was full of never-before-seen all-access footage along with present-day interviews.
One thing stood out more than anything else: Michael Jordan's undivided devotion to the game. The day after the Bulls lost to the Magic in the '95 playoffs in Jordan's comeback year, he started training for the following season. The day after. He pushed those around him to be better and never took shortcuts. He led by example.
The phrase '10% inspiration/90% perspiration' gets thrown around. Jordan had more talent than most but a work ethic that was second-to-none. He was a supreme talent, was tenacious, and was laser-focused on being the greatest basketball player of all time. Which he is. Watch this if you think Lebron or Steph or Kobe or Magic or Bird or Chamberlain or Abdul-Jabbar is. Cause you're wrong.
Not only did Jordan have single-minded devotion to the game of basketball, but it also came at a cost. Other areas of his life suffered and he wasn't particularly liked by a lot of his teammates over the years because of his intensity.
Single-minded devotion characterized the life of Jesus, the One Christians are to follow and emulate. He said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work" (John 4:34) and "Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33).
Jesus was walking with His disciples and someone said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:57-62).
We aren't called to simply believe certain things about Jesus and to act in certain moral ways but to follow Him. There's a call and a cost to following Jesus and how we respond to the call and cost reveals whether our hearts are full of divided allegiances or single-minded devotion to Him.
There have always been athletes with all the skill in the world who didn't have the drive and determination that all the greats had. In the church, there are crowds of people who know the Truth but who haven't become fully devoted followers of Jesus. They know the right stuff and do a lot of the right things but they don't really seem to love Him all that much. They don't fully embrace the call of Christ or the cost of discipleship. If that's you I've got three words for you, Be Like Mike.
The Apostle Paul wrote of his single-minded devotion to Jesus,
"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2)
"I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8)
Now, the beauty of the gospel is that we're not called to be the GOAT but to put our trust in the GOAT. That may be the cheesiest thing I've ever written...but hear me out. This isn't a reflection on The Last Dance that's calling you to achieve like MJ. Christianity is not built upon a bunch of winners who are morally superior and more devoted than everyone else in society. Christianity is built upon the finished work of Christ, acknowledging that we need Him, that we're not the greatest of all time, that we are hopeless without Him, and need rescue.
"In the church, there are crowds of people who know the Truth but who haven't become fully devoted followers of Jesus. They know the right stuff and do a lot of the right things but they don't really seem to love Him all that much. They don't fully embrace the call of Christ or the cost of discipleship. If that's you I've got three words for you, Be Like Mike."
But when we encounter grace, and the Spirit of God dwells in us, and renews our minds and hearts, single-minded devotion to Jesus becomes the mark of true discipleship. For MJ, everything revolved around basketball. Everything. The way single-minded devotion works itself out in our lives is that absolutely everything revolves around Jesus. He informs and shapes everything about what we value, think and do.
This is sometimes referred to as Christian Worldview or Biblical Worldview, seeing the world through the lens of the gospel. Do you? Or are your motivations divided?
"The way single-minded devotion works itself out in our lives is that absolutely everything else is filtered through the lens of Jesus. He informs and shapes everything about what we value, think and do."
I've got one more cheesy line for you. The reward for single-minded devotion to Jesus is far greater than two three-peat Championships. You get Jesus. Forever. Count the cost and follow Jesus with single-minded devotion.