Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—A wonderful way to begin the week following the day on which the Nation honored it's fallen military heroes of the past and present.

 

For our international readers, May is the time of year when America's National Basketball Association schedules playoff games to determine what teams will emerge (or survive) as the Nation's two best professional basketball teams. In June, a champion will be crowned. We already know which twenty-six teams will not end up as this year's champion. One thing we hear said, in terms of the marks of a championship team, is the contribution the "bench players" make to the team. Reserves provide breathing room for the starters and hopefully contribute some scoring punch to the overall point-total of the team. When a team's reserve players sit on the bench and don't get into a game, they don't score points. When the bench players don't score points, greater pressure falls on the starting players.

 

The life of a church is advanced (or hurt) by the contribution (or lack of it) of the lay members of the congregation. No one pastor can do everything that is needed to advance a church. Spiritual Gifts are listed in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4, but the author (the Apostle Paul) did not say that any one pastor should expect to be the recipient of all of the gifts. The truth is that God gives gifts to believers, and gifted believers to the Church. Those who lead growing churches recognize this fact and strive to find gifted believers to add to their leadership team. And we all know this: A "leadership team" implies that more than one person is involved in leadership roles in the organization we call the Church. 

 

Today's "Tuesday Morning" is entitled, "Off the Bench." It tells the story of a reserve basketball player who played on the 1994 NCAA Champion University of Arkansas men's basketball team. You will like this story. It is attached below. Continue reading whenever you are ready, and then ask God to direct you to some little-known "reserve" players in your church, school, or workplace who are ready to join the leadership team. All they need is the time and place of the next "practice." And an opportunity to get into "the game." You may be the catalyst to make this happen. Have a great week.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior "Reserve"

 

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Off the Bench

Tom Barnard

 

n some team sports, they call them the “the pine brothers.” They are the subs—the reserves. They are the players who give up their bodies during weeks and months of practice, helping to fine-tune the performance of the starters on whose shoulders victory or defeat is often determined. They seldom, if ever, get to play in a real game. They sit on the bench, waiting…waiting…waiting for the wild possibility that the coach will call their number.

 

One “pine brother” had his dream fulfilled when he got to play in the title game in the 1994 national championship of men’s basketball. In fact, he started the game. His name was Ken Biley, a senior who hadn’t played very much during his career at the University of Arkansas. Now, in the final game of his collegiate career, it was unlikely that he would play a role in the outcome of the game. He had not played in the semi-final game of the championship, and in the final game he would have even less chance to play.

 

Arkansas was matched against Duke University in the finals. Many sportswriters called it a mis-match. Duke had enjoyed a remarkable season and was heavily favored to win the championship. Arkansas, coached by Nolan Richardson, was thought to have little or no chance to win. When Coach Richardson announced his starting five, he named Ken Biley as one of his starters. The media assumed that Coach Richardson was either crazy or was conceding the game to Duke in advance. Basketball fans were stunned when the game was over. Arkansas had defeated Duke by the score of 76-72.

 

Sportswriter Curry Kirkpatrick, reporting on the game in Newsweek, quoted Richardson as saying,

 

“When I saw that kid’s face after the semis, I hurt so bad I couldn’t sleep. So I decided that Biley would start the final game. It would mean more to him and his grandkids than whether we won or lost.”

 

Commenting on Biley’s contribution to the win, one writer observed, “Ken Biley from Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Davor Rimac from Croatia provided others with rest. Neither contributed greatly, but both were deservedly part of the team.” Three of the fifteen players on the 1994 Championship team later played professional basketball in the NBA—Corliss Williamson, Corey Beck, and Darnell Robinson. Bley did not. But he is still remembered, fifteen years later, as a player that contributed to the team that won—a player that came off the bench when his number was called, and left the game with memories that both fans and players can enjoy for the rest of their lives.

 

Recently, wife and I visited a church in our city that has earned a reputation as a large, dynamic church on the rise. Many of our friends recommended that we visit and see for ourselves how a growing church looks. When we arrived, we noticed there were parking lots for visitors and senior adults located close to the entrance of the church. We were early, and hundreds gathered in groups of twos, threes, and fours inside the huge foyer. The doors to the sanctuary were closed until about 10 minutes prior to starting time. We stood alone for only a few minutes before a greeter spotted us and immediately introduced herself to us. Her husband joined her and she introduced us by name to her husband, who couldn’t wait to tell us about their church, their pastor, and their mission to the city. We were impressed.

 

On the way home we exchanged observations about the service. Actually, it wasn’t all that different from our own church. Great music; pleasant surroundings; friendly people; well-planned worship; excellent sermon; commitment to evangelism; attractive printed handouts. One thing stood out—everyone who spoke to us (and there were many) reflected an uncommon enthusiasm for everything going on that day. We never met the senior pastor, but we didn’t feel cheated. We had met some of the “reserves”—players “off the bench” who were committed to winning friends and enlarging of the witness of the church in the community. Churches like this create a “championship” atmosphere each Sunday a “game” is scheduled. Leaders of churches (of all sizes) could learn a lot by dropping by some Sunday and taking notes.