How to be the best

With full apologies to my peeps at The Gathering who will most likely hear the following quote multiple times in the near future, allow me to share with you something I heard recently that rocked me to my core.

A columnist asked Kobe Bryant if he could follow him around for a day and write an article about a typical day in the life of Kobe Bryant. Kobe told him that was fine, and said to meet him at the gym the next day at 4:30a.

No, the early start to the day isn’t what rocked me. Hang with me.

The columnist showed up at the set time, and was surprised to see Kobe already in full sweat. Seeing the surprised look on the man’s face, Kobe Bryant responded, “Do you know why I’m the best basketball player in the world? I never get bored with the basics.” — Kobe Bryant

That’s the part that rocked me.

He never got bored with the basics.

Sorry. I’ve got to write that one more time because my inner ADHD child is still trying to fathom it.

He never got bored with the basics.

What a reality check to the American brand of Christianity that leaves one boring church to go to a less boring church in hopes of finding the never-boring church (which doesn’t actually exist).

Hear me out. He didn’t say he only wanted the basics. He just said he never got bored with the basics. He understood that the basics were the foundation that supported everything else.

He wasn’t trying to make impossible shots for TikTok and YouTube at the expense of being able to make layups and free throws.

Did his commitment to the basics pay off? I’d say it did. He won five NBA championships, was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.

There are moments in our lives that are flat-out amazing. The moments we journal about, talk about and post about. The healing of a leg, or the reconciliation of a relationship. A packed altar full of people responding to the grace of salvation, or a brand-new worship song that hits all the right chords and has everyone in their feels.

We should never do away with those moments, or think that God isn’t glorified in them. But we should never think that we no longer need the basics, or, even worse, grow bored with time in the Word, or in quiet time alone with the Father, or any of the other spiritual disciplines that lay the foundation upon which those moments are to be sustained.

So, what do we do when we feel ourselves getting bored with the basics? How should we respond when we sense the joy of the simple gospel slipping away?

We respond the same way King David did when sin had dulled the joy of knowing Yahweh: we repent and ask for God to restore our joy.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.”(‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT, emphasis mine)

He didn’t ask God to provide him with a really awesome worship service with smoke and lights and video screens that could distract him from his guilt. He didn’t ask for God to provide a super cool, younger prophet who could use culturally relevant memes to communicate God’s messages.

He simply asked God to restore his joy. The joy that is found in the basic truth that we are saved.

I can picture Kobe Bryant in a gym while it’s still dark outside, shooting a mid-range jumper for the 1000th time, reminding himself over and over again, “I get to do this. I get to put in the work, and soon I’ll get to reap the reward.”

You and I will, too, in life and in faith, and it all starts by refusing to get bored with the basics.

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