My people are gone and my house is quiet. Super quiet. It’s a great time to think. I’m actually supposed to be pulling my notes together for the prayer seminar coming up two weeks from today, but I can’t stop thinking back to the events of the past few days.
It’s been a big week for NE Ohio. In case you’ve been living under a rock or fasting life, I’ll let you in on the not-so-secret secret. The Cavs won the NBA Championships in the final seconds of game 7.
Now I love football, and I don’t usually follow basketball or baseball. But any time a Cleveland team is playing we give three cheers and wish them well. Go get ’em boys!
Since Cleveland hasn’t won a Championship anything in 52 years, you can imagine the glee, shock, excitement and absolute pandemonium that broke out in my neck of the woods. There were tears and laughter and shouts and looks of stunned and utter disbelief. In a good way.
Yep. it’s been exciting around here for quite some time, actually. For weeks or even months leading up to the the win on Sunday night, Cavs fans were serious about their fandom. They took selfies in their Cavs gear and made it their profile picture with a cool little graphic saying #allin.
They posted before, during, and after every game. With each win, their excitement was contagious. They kept a count of how many quarters they had to play or games to win to get to the finals.
When the Cavs fans sang the National Anthem before game 5 of the finals, well, chills. We felt chills.
During the last game and after the win? I literally thought Facebook was going to break. #allin was trending from all over the world.
There were millions of posts and tweets about the amazing victory of the Cleveland Cavaliers. You can’t spell miracle without CLE. The drought is over. Long live King James. And on and on and on we tweeted.
The Cavs were trending. Trending big time!
People started lining up at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Cleveland at early o’clock Monday morning to get their Cavs championship gear. One guy bought enough shirts for all of his employees to wear to work that day. Dedication.
And then we had the anticipation of the victory parade, which over a million people attended by the way. The mayor of Cleveland declared it an official holiday – so you could miss work without faking an illness to go to the parade.
People traveled up the night before. Gotta get there early. Get a good spot. There were Periscopes and Instagrams and Facebook live chats about attending the parade.
It was actually all very cool. Yay! Way to go Cleveland.
Then I had this thought………
When was the last time Jesus was trending?
When was the last time we posted selfies in our Jesus gear? Or changed our profile pic and added the hashtag #JesusisLord or #allinforJesus?
When’s the last time we stood in line for hours before service started? Or invited our co-worker who is going through a seriously rough time to fill the empty seat next to us in church, knowing they need a touch from God?
We take selfies at ball games and restaurants and the beach and post them for the world to see, but………
So, what if? What if all the Christians around the world on the same day all posted #allinforJesus? I mean there are millions of us, right? Yet rarely if ever has Jesus made it to trending status. What if we added #jesusismylord to our profile pic?
We’re so afraid of looking weird to the world that we’ve forgotten Matthew 28:19 – Go into all the world and make disciples of every nation. Or Mark 16:15 – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
What if we all posted several times a day about our Good Good Father? About the saving, healing, delivering, miracle working God we love and serve? Are we not half as excited about Him as we are about sports?
It’s not bad to be all in for our sports teams. In fact, come August when preseason starts, you’ll find me rooting for my Browns and yelling at the TV. Hopefully high-fiving Alex about a touchdown or two.
That’s not what I’m saying. I’m not suggesting we stop posting about them. Or about vacation. Or about life in general. Hello – there’s this thing called balance, and we’re supposed to have it.
It’s not bad to be all in for the Cavs or whatever your thing may be. But the question to ask yourself is: “Am I MORE in for Jesus? And does anybody know I am?”
#allinMt28:19