More Than Basketball

My friend Eric and I were at a large gathering a few weeks ago and he sought me out after the event to tell me a compelling story.  Eric works for the Salem Police Department and as he walked into the stadium, he met eyes with a familiar face that he couldn’t quite recognize.  The man glared at him and it quickly dawned on Eric how he knew this person.  Eric had been called to the man’s home the previous night on official police business!  His wife, a dancer at a local strip club, was standing next to him along with their 10-year-old son.  Even though Eric was a bit concerned about the icy stare of the father, wondering if he had intentions to start a conflict, he was deeply impacted by the emotions he felt toward the young son.

 Eric is a committed follower of Christ, and he shared with me how difficult it is for him to see children in homes that are ravaged by drugs, violence and instability.  Eric remembered seeing this child the night before, standing in the hallway with a look of fear on his face.  His heart broke for the little boy, knowing the challenges he was facing at home.  But this night, standing in a stadium with 2,000 other people, Eric had an altogether different response to seeing this young child.  He felt joy.  He felt hope and a sense of peace that physically affected him.  A smile came to his face, and he knew he needed to tell me his story as soon as the event was over.  What caused this drastic change in the way he felt toward this 10-year-old boy?  Eric was standing in the Salem Armory at the Upward Basketball Year-End Celebration, and this child was wearing an Upward jersey!

 Upward Basketball is so much more than a basketball league.  This vital ministry gives us an opportunity to come alongside young children (and their parents) and show them what it means to follow Christ.  We coach them in character development, we affirm them for their strengths, we help them address their growth areas and we teach them about what life looks like when it is built upon the firm foundation of Jesus Christ.  Eric was instantly aware of the fact that this young boy had just spent 3 months in the Christ-centered, prayer-driven, Church-led, affirming atmosphere of Upward Basketball.  Over the past 12 years, we have enrolled 9,077 students in the Upward Ministry.  What an opportunity we have to transform our culture as we teach, motivate and inspire these children with a Biblical Worldview that will guide them long after their basketball playing days are over!
 --Pastor Jeff

What does a win look like?

In business, and in sports, it’s easy to know when you’ve won.  Nike can tell if they’ve had a good year by looking at their financial statements.  A sports team simply needs to look at the scoreboard when the game is over to determine if they have won or lost.  The numbers tell a story, and numbers don’t lie.  When it comes to ministry, however, what do we look at to determine wins and losses?  What is the bottom line that tells the story of victory or the agony of defeat with in the church setting?

 

Upward basketball is winding down its tenth year of ministry at Salem First Baptist, and to a certain extent, the numbers are quite revealing.  Over 7,000 children have registered to play.  Approximately 2,300 of those children come from homes that have no church affiliation.  Nearly 300 decisions to follow Christ have been made over that span of time.  Those numbers tell a great story, but there is a subplot that is left untold if we rely solely on this numerical data. 

 

This past week, I had a chance encounter with a gentleman named Steve that left an indelible imprint on my heart that no numerical metric could ever convey.  His story doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet, but the few moments I spent with him proclaimed victory as powerfully as a game-winning three pointer at the sound of the final buzzer.  

 

Steve was talking to the owner behind the counter as I was browsing around the store.  I overheard him mention that his daughter had an Upward game coming up, which caused my ears to perk up!  I introduced myself and told him that I had 3 children involved in Upward as well and I asked him how his season was going.  He proceeded to tell me that life has been rough for him since his divorce three years ago.  His faith had grown cold over that time and he wasn’t always a good example to his daughter because he was angry, bitter and depressed.   He stopped talking about spiritual things with his daughter because he felt like a hypocrite, and he knew his daughter was worse off because of it.  His face lit up as he uttered these words, “I am so grateful for the Upward ministry because it has gotten both my daughter and I on track spiritually”.  He proceeded to tell me almost verbatim what his daughter had been learning during her mid-practice devotion time.  He had no idea that I was the director of the ministry…and I’m glad he didn’t because it made his story seem so much more authentic.

 

What does a win look like?  It’s a 5^th grade girl who learns about honesty, kindness and patience from a basketball coach who loves Jesus.  It’s a dad who has his faith restored as he eavesdrops on his daughters Bible lessons week after week in a church gymnasium.  It’s a church that gladly invests time and resources into a basketball ministry that does more than simply transform jumpshots….it transforms lives.

- Pastor Jeff Poush