Several years ago I was invited to be one of the main speakers at a large week-long youth gathering. I was more than a bit nervous and weeks prior to the event I had already begun to work myself into a state of self doubt. I would be the youngest of the speakers, I was the only one who had not been published, and as is often the case at Christian conferences, I was the only woman preacher. These facts, combined with my own nagging insecurities, put me in a state of thoroughgoing self doubt.
The night before I was scheduled to speak,my fellow speakers and I joined together for dinner. It didn’t take very long for the four of us to enter into a rather intense theological discussion. While I am actually quite theologically savvy, what I added to the conversation that evening was something along the lines of “I’m not sure what to say except that I just love Jesus and I know that he loves me.” I knew even before the words came out of my mouth that my response was too simple for my surroundings. It was confirmed by the fact that one gentleman responded with “Really?”. I felt so small and silly and my insecurities, seeing a weak point, rushed in and tried to take me out.
I managed to hold it together for the remainder of the dinner because I didn’t want to be seen as both silly and emotional, two accusations that are often wielded against women. But as I walked to the car I knew my insecurities had won the fight and that a good cry was coming. I called my husband in the midst of my hysteria and he tried to console me enough so that I could speak. He asked me what had happened and I told him that the man had said, “Really?” and he said, “Gees wife, stick your elbows out and make a little space for yourself.”
“What?” I said through the sobs. He replied, “Stick your elbows out and play a little zone defense.” I had no idea what he was talking about and through the dwindling sobs asked for clarification.
“Think about basketball,” he said, “When the coach puts you in the game, he puts you in because of what you are, not because of what you are not. And when you’re playing zone defense the coach gives you a zone on the floor that’s yours to defend. Stick your elbows out and make a little space for yourself.”
Some wives don’t like sports advice. I happen to think it’s brilliant.
So often we think about what we’re not. So often we think about what we don’t have. So often we define our lives by the skills we do not yet possess. And because of this tendency when the call to action comes our way we say, “No” because all we can see is how inadequate we are for the task. But the Coach puts us in the game because of what we are, not because of what we're not.
You and I have resources that God wants to use in this game. Maybe you’re not that smart, but you are a great friend. Maybe you aren’t very strong, but you are smart. Maybe you don’t have money, but you are so good at offering an encouraging word. Maybe you haven’t been published, but you love Jesus so much. God wants to use what you have and he’s not all that concerned about what you don’t have; He has other people to play those other positions.
God picks the team and so often that I, just like the rest of the world, question his draft picks because I have been told that everyone needs to be a “franchise player”. Truth is, the people God has used throughout history have often not been the ones that seemed the most resourced or most equipped. There is a reason for this, a reason that is made so clear in 1 Corinthians 1:2-29.
God picks a team that will need to play together in order to win; each one bringing who they are to the zone they're asked to play. God picks a team that can take very little credit for their own individual success, a team that knows that they’re lucky to play at all, so they play with deep gratitude for being selected. He picks a team that declares to the world that God will work with and through anyone as long as they are willing to stick their elbows out and play the position he puts them in.
