It was the first round of the Intramural Tournament.  The game was scheduled late, 10:00pm.  As I arrived I glanced at the opposing team.  I recognized them from a precious game.  We had beaten them convincingly previously.  If I remember correctly the Intramural mercy rule came into effect.  As I moved to take my seat I saw we had lots of people who had come to watch the game.  The opponent was present, the spectators were there, but where was our team?

We had three faithful players warming up on our end of the court.  If at least one more player didn’t show up we would have to forfeit the game.  An almost sure victory would be a defeat.  No one else showed.  I was told that many had gone to a concert and wouldn’t be coming.  We forfeited. 

The opponents were pleased.  The spectators were disappointed.

As I thought about our witness to the campus, I thought on a grander scale about a much more important game.  The ultimate opponent of this life is Satan.  The battle is every day.  The opponent seems to always be present.  Those who are watching are always present.  Sometimes the believers just don’t show up.  Our life gets distracted from the game.  We forget our commitment to the team and basically go and do whatever we want.  What we want seems good at the time.  It might even be enjoyable but not for the team.  What do we learn?  God is counting on us.

In the grand scheme of things an intramural basketball game is pretty insignificant.  In the grand scheme of things faithfulness to our Lord is really all that matters.  The game is played every day in class rooms, in dorms, on the job, shopping at Wal-Mart.  What God expects is our willingness to serve and represent Him.  In 2 Corinthians 5 we are called His ambassadors who have been given the ministry of reconciliation.  It is as thought God were making His appeal through us.  An ambassador is one who makes good relations with people on behalf of someone else.  We are Christ’s ambassadors.  We have just got to show up.  We represent the king.

P.S.

Thank you Ryan, Brandon, and Zach for not letting us down.