juggling for Jesus

We went to the Upward basketball celebration tonight; Isaac, our first-grader, played a team sport for the first time and loved it. He told me yesterday, after his last game (in which he made his first basket!), that he would play Upward basketball every year until he graduates from high school and goes to college to become a zoo keeper. Zack played Upward basketball and soccer several years ago, and Anna is looking forward to serving as a cheerleader when she is old enough.

Upward leagues are church-sponsored and focus on teaching children sportsmanship, basic skills of the particular sport, and–most importantly–the gospel message. Players memorize scriptures each week, and practice always includes a devotional of some sort. We chose Upward for our boys for all these reasons as well as the fact that winning is kept in perspective: every kid plays an equal amount of time, regardless of skill, and so no one ends up warming the bench. There’s a time when the goal of the team should be fielding the best possible players and winning–but I don’t think elementary school is necessarily that time.

Each season ends with a celebration that includes recognition of players and the adults who help, door prizes, and some sort of entertainment: juggling, unicycles, acrobatics, magic tricks. Performers are chosen not only because they possess great skill and are genuinely entertaining but also because they want to preach the gospel.

Tonight, for instance, a husband and wife team juggled balls, boxes, and clubs. They also did some amazing tricks with scarves–and used them to illustrate how sin separates us from God. As I watched I thought about what a wonderful thing it is to be able to juggle for Jesus, to be passionate about about something and to use that passion to serve God. As much as anything, I hope my children picked up on this idea that serving God and ministering to others doesn’t mean you have to be a pastor; we can use what we love and are good at to advance the Kingdom.

Tagged as: Upward