My Plaxico Burress Moment

Getting a call from my friend Nicole telling me that Plaxico Burress was coming to Hampton Roads was a highlight of my day. Burress, a wide receiver for the New York Giants (also a WR on my Fantasy Football League), was coming to help hand out turkey and ham to the Twin Canal residents for Thanksgiving in conjunction with the United in Him (UIH) organization.

http://www.unitedinhim.org/

This would be the first active NFL player I would be meeting and I was excited about the opportunity to be handing out turkey with him, his friends and family, but more so, meeting Burress.

When the day finally came, I was excited and had my camera ready for a photo opportunity. When Burress finally came to the event, there were tones of people, media, police, to mention but a few. I took a back seat to observe this momentous occasion as Burress talked to the media and soon after, began signing autographs. It was amazing to see how some people in the crowd came with bags full of memorabilia for Burress to sign.

As I continued to observe what was going on, I realized that there were three groups of people at the Twin Canal housing developments. Burress’ friends and family, those who knew of him because of his fame as an NFL player, and those who did not know him, would care less who he was-they came to get the turkey and the ham for their meal. It was interesting observing all three groups and seeing how each reacted to Burress being there. His family and friends were not “moved” by the hysteria of his presence-they knew him-they grew up with him. They probably would tell us stuff about him that we would not want to believe because all we were seeing was “The Plaxico Burress.”

Then there were people like me who were excited, not believing that this person we are seeing without a football helmet on was walking amongst us. He was interacting with the crowd, playing with the little kids, giving a hug or two to men who came with other team jerseys, and not his New York Giants jerseys. When he got a breather-which was not a long one, he would have a chat with his family, and then back to being Burress, the NFL player, signing autographs.

The last group-the people who did not know who Burress was, acted accordingly-they did not know him. I saw them come get the turkey and ham, not even glance in his direction, thank the volunteers and head back home. I was amazed-short of screaming, ‘Don’t you know who is standing right in front of you?”

Three groups of people with three different expressions, reactions, and perspectives.

It made me consider three kinds of expectations we have as Christians in perceiving God. To some, God is perceived as “Friend and family;” we love him because of who He is. We have “grown” with Him in our struggles, our triumphs, in our everyday to day life. He has become a Father to us and we are not “moved” by the hysteria because we know Him.

Then, there are some of us who perceive God as a “celebrity.” We are struck by His fame but we do not really know Him, though we feel a sense of connection because we have seen what He is capable of doing. We have our paraphernalia ready for Him to sign. “Lord, I have a financial need, please use your pen to write me a check and I will be happy.” “God, I heard you can heal, I am sick, can you please lay your hands on me and heal me?” When God signs our paraphernalia (of which He does most time because He is a loving God), we are happy, besides ourselves, and we go our merry way, but with just a memory or highlight in our lives, but no relationship with the Father.

Then there are some of us who perceive God as a savior-Nothing more, nothing less-He needs to come to our rescue. If a memo did not go out about God’s salvation, we would still be deep in sin and in need of a savior. However, word has gone out about what He is offering and that is why we came. The need to have Him as savior is legit, however, we are not willing to go beyond the “savior” mentality. For us, it is, “what have you come to give me, because if you do not have it, I am not coming.” Nothing less-No relationship, but an experience of rescue because He can.

Are the three kinds of crowds that came to the “Plaxico Burress” event in question? Absolutely not! Each had their own “legit” reasons of being there. What mattered was Plaxico’s heart and U.I.H. Their heart was to help this community receive something that they would have otherwise not received.

When it comes to the crowds that come to God, is their perception of who God is wrong? Absolutely not! However, we know that God wants us to be a part of His family and to be His friend-a family that knows Him and His heart. He does not want us to just receive salvation and come with a wish list of what He can do for us. He is more than a wish-list paraphernalia signing God-He is a God who has His arms stretched out, wanting us to progress in our perception of His from savior to Father-He is that kind of God.

It was great meeting Burress-thanks to Nicole. I took a few pictures with him-I am glad he gave me something to think about when all was said and done!

What Options Do We Have?

Adding or Dropping?

Fantasy Football: 2 of 3

In my previous article, I had shared about how I got involved with Fantasy Football and how one of the lessons I learned through playing the game wass that projections do not matter as much as the actual points at the end of the day (please refer to the article entitled “Projections Verses Actuality”). Well, I learned another lesson from Fantasy Football that got me thinking and I thought I would share it with you again.

One of the many features on the Fantasy Football team page is the “Add Players” and “Drop Players” options. The purpose of those two features in self-explanatory; if you have a player on your team that is not performing to your expectation, or if they get hurt and cannot play for the rest of the season, you drop them, hoping to add a player from the “Add Player” feature who can compliment your team, and who possibly, is available. I had my share of adding or dropping players, especially at the most important position, the quarterback position.

Such in not the case in the real world that we live in: We just don’t add or drop players!

There are certain people I would love to add to my team in my life on any given day and there are certain people I would like to drop from my life-what a beautiful world that would be. Needless to say, such is not the case in this Kingdom called Christianity. God has a way of sometimes aligning us with all the players we want to drop in order to teach us a thing or two about life, love, forgiveness, and patience.

Please allow me to describe what kind of players in my life I would love to drop:
¨ Those who are so needy-like a leech
¨ Those who are ungrateful and always complaining-never seeing any good in anything
¨ Those who were born to make your life miserable
¨ Those who are so critical and bitter about everything-always fault finding
¨ Those who are so proud-you can smell them from a distance

Before we get too excited and begin to identify the people that match these descriptions, just wait a second! We could well be the person being described above and we are about to be dropped from the league of Christianity-well, not really- you and I both know that that will not happen even though mankind wants to drop us!

What kind of players do I want to add on my team? Now this is the Fantasy of all fantasy dream teams:
¨ Those who are free-spirited and are not needy
¨ Those who are so grateful and never complaining-always seeing the good in everything and people
¨ Those who were born to make your life on earth like heaven
¨ Those who are so complimentary that it makes you uncomfortable sometimes of how complimentary they are
¨ Those who are so humble-makes you want to do anything for them

Sorry to disappoint you-such a team is only found when you die and you go to heaven and meet up with Jesus. Welcome to the harsh world of reality-where the people you want to drop cannot be drop and the people you want to add, cannot be added because they do not exist-don’t get me wrong, the add-on described above somewhat exist, but not in totality. No matter how loving, peaceful, forgiving, your add-on players are, there is always an opportunity in life when you want to drop them because they have “failed you.”

I believe God takes pleasure in seeing to it that the players we want to drop are a part of our lives to bring about transformation, if we let them. We are “forced” to run back to God and cry, “HELP” because this person is driving me insane. Proverbs 27:17 states, “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another” (NRS). What better way to be sharpened, but by the people we least care about and most times, the people we care about the most-now that hurts!!!

You see, the dilemma we have in this league is that we look at ourselves as individuals, but God looks at us as one unit, a body. It would be absurd if you heard someone say, “my arm is giving me problems, therefore I am going to drop it and find another arm to add to my body.” If the arm is really bothering us, we will do everything we can, seek medical attention if need be, to bring about the intended relief. Why don’t we do that for each other? Go the extra mile and want to make things work?

Paul, in I Corinthians 12: 1-31 admonishes us on this idea of being one body:

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit…But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (verses 12, 13, 24-26)

We are one body-broken, hurting, wounded, critical, bitter, unforgiving, yet we still need each other to survive and make it in life!

Flashback-If I were Jesus, probably the three disciples I would have dropped from my team would have been Peter (talked too much-borderline schizophrenic), James and Andrew (way to selfish-wanting to sit next to Jesus and forget everybody else). However, from those three, two made it into Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus did not drop them-He worked with them, as evidenced by Jesus seeking out Peter after his denial of Him. Look what happened at Pentecost with Peter! If only we could give people a chance in life, what would this world look like?

Granted, some players will have to be dropped from our lives. Case in point-Judas Iscariot (betrayed Jesus), Demas or Alexander (I Timothy 4: 9-15)-Deserted Paul because they “loved this world…and did me much harm.” There was a criteria to dropping them, they deserted the faith. I believe that could be one of the only criteria’s we have in “dropping” people from our lives-deserting the faith-however, praying for them so fervently that they be restored back to the Lord. For all else, we need to pray to God for grace to work with each other and see each person with the eyes of Jesus. In the end, may we be the add-on players who will make a change in the lives of people around us!!!!

Projection Verses Actuality

Fantasy Football-Part 1 of 3

I recently got involved in Fantasy football and I love every bit of it, well, as long as my team is winning. Defined, Fantasy Football is, “a fantasy sports game in which participants (called "owners") are arranged into a league. Each team drafts or acquires via auction a team of real-life American football players and then scores points based on those players' statistical performance on the field.” That is fantasy quite alright-having a made up league with real players-doesn't get any fansier than that!

I have won seven games and lost three; not bad for a first time Fantasy Football Player. One of the exciting features I love about Fantasy Football is matching up my team against the other team I am playing. If my team has a higher “projection” in points compared to the other team I am playing against before game day, I feel confident in winning the match that week-my projections give me hope. However, if the other team has higher scoring projections than mine, I have the option sometimes of changing up my main player(s) with my bench players so that I can counteract the strength projection of the opposing team.

What is interesting though about the “projections” of the scores is just that-A projection-what one in anticipating to see happen. When all is said and done however, the “actual” results make all the difference-the only reality in fantasy football. My team could be projected to have higher points before the game and only get half of the projected points when they have played because they performed poorly overall. The opposite is true with the team I am playing against. If the team has a low projection before game time, but on the actual game day performs greatly, they get more points than my team, even though my team could be one of the greatest teams in the league. Isn’t that unfair? Somewhat, but not really because projections are projections and actual is actual. Only when projection leaves up to its expected reality is it worth celebrating.

I have learnt a thing or two from fantasy football in this regard: projected points do not matter, only the actual points matter. Please allow me to indulge you with my reflections as I compare fantasy football with real life.

How often in life, have we seen people project a certain kind of aura only to discover that when they play the game of life, their actual points yield a different result? Maybe we are the people who have given others a projection of ourselves when in actuality what we are exerting is contrary. Could it be that we make promises that we know we cannot fulfill? Could it be that we project confidence, but when the occasion to exercise that confidence arises, we pull back and become fearful? Could it be that we project a strong spiritual presence to others, when in actuality we do not even spend time in God’s presence, as we need to? Could it be that we project an aura of financial stability, when in reality we are up to our necks in debt? Could it be that….(fill in the blank), when in reality….(fill in the blanks)?

Jesus encountered such a dilemma in a parable He told:

And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, `Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' "And he answered and said to him, `Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.' “(Luke 13: 6-9)

The fig tree gave the projection that it could provide when in actuality, it could not. It gave a false sense of security. Truth be told, when one is in need, the last thing they need is to go talk to someone or seek assistance from someone who projected that they had the answer, but actuality spoke louder than words-they did not have the answers. In the parable, we see the master getting impatient with the fig tree because it was not living up to its expectations.

There are times I am tempted to drop some of my players because they are like the fig tree giving me a false sense of victory and when I need them the most, they do not perform to their projected strength! That can be frustrating.

The author of life makes it easier for us to understand one truth about projection or actuality: Abiding in Him and obeying what He has laid before us allows us to live in the actual. Doing what we want to do and them pretending to obey what He said gives the world a false projection of who we are. Unless the projected results are in harmony with the expected results, we live wasted lives. There is hope; the author of life states:

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. (John 15:16)

How do we bear fruit that will last, yielding the results necessary, realizing He chose us and not we ourselves?

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. (John 15:4)

"…If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8: 31-32)

In as much as fantasy football is a fun sport, stroking our egos every now and again, it is not based on actuality. Likewise, we as Christians cannot base our lives on some kind of fantasy or false sense of security. Instead we need to base our actuality in Jesus, who He is to us, and what our mission on earth is-until we see that what He has projected in us becomes actual-if we let Him. There is no fantasy life in His world!