The Other Jeremy Lin Effect

photo by teamstickergiant

If you are a fan of the NBA and of Jeremy Lin, no doubt you would have followed the numerous amount of articles and videos created about Lin.  Two of the more humorous ones are the Fung Brother's The Jeremy Lin Effect and The Jeremy Lin Effect 2 (Linsanity).

However, as I follow this great story, I can't help but speculate of the other Jeremy Lin effect - the effect it can have on world missions.  Lin is a follower of Jesus Christ and is not afraid to say it in front of cameras.  Combine that and basketball's worldwide popularity and Lin's Asian (non-Caucasian) heritage and we have a great opportunity to start gospel themed conversations.

Having gone to two Asian countries for missions, my experience is that sports is a great common topic to start conversations around.  Most countries are sports crazy and basketball is usually near the top of the list.  With Lin's rise to fame, it can be very easy to talk him and bring up his faith in God and Jesus.

Here are some intros to get the discussion going, keeping in mind that some people are in various stages in their journey of discovering Jesus:

• Jeremy Lin thanks God and Jesus in some of his interviews.  What do you think God and Jesus has to do with Lin's success?
• The general population seems to like underdog stories like Lin's.  The Gospels in the Bible seem to paint a picture of Jesus as an underdog.  Do you think Jesus is an underdog?  How would you describe Jesus; who do you think Jesus is?
• Lin so far has stayed humble and focused on being true to himself during all the media attention.  He attributes it to the reality that his identity is found in Christ (1:50) and not in basketball.  What/who do you find your identity in and does it help you stay grounded and focused?  What would your life be like if your identity was found in Jesus? 

Even though some of the questions people may have no clue as to how to answer (ex/ the last question above), I think they would be great conversation starters, even here in North America.

Other suggestions on how to segue into gospel-themed conversations with the Jeremy Lin effect?  

Whether Jeremy knows it or not, I think his play on the court can increase the opportunities to help others discover Jesus. 

Fearing Complacency

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth

A.W. Tozer, Pursuit of God

In a recent blog, Google, the company, was being compared to Pixar. The comparison came in light of Google transitioning to a mature phase of their core business and strives to expand. Pixar has a string of 11 straight blockbuster hits and shows no sign of slowing down. What can Google learn from Pixar?

It is the fear of complacency that is part of the DNA of the whole company. This results in a continual evaluation process of their work and direction and leadership that identifies new problems to be solved to be discussed openly and in humility. This has great application to all companies and organizations that had some past success. "Success hides problems" and leads to complacency and resting on their laurels.

I believe spiritual organizations having their foundation on God and His Word can learn from Pixar. We are not just organizations, but spiritual movements dealing with spiritual adversity. If complacency is allowed to happen in our personal relationship with Jesus, our spiritual growth is flat-lined, and in some cases even becomes a decline. Tozer argues that we have lost our acute desire for Christ - the worshiping, seeking and longing for Christ and is due to the present state of the church expecting that the leaders do the worshiping, seeking and longing for us.

This directly relates to the effectiveness of the organization or church we work for. If we are complacent in our relationship with God, our organization/church that is founded in God will be complacent as well.

Are we complacent? Do we fear complacency in our relationship with God like how Pixar fears complacency in making animated movies? What do you need to do to guard against complacency?

I need to:

• Make sure I am continually seeking, longing and worshiping God (John 15)
• Continually evaluating, in God's grace, how I am doing in obeying and applying God's word
• Keeping the organization's vision fresh in my memory and actively communicating the vision to all stakeholders
  

Photo credit: VerismoVita