Pivot, Shoot, Swish and Score!

Somehow, I was able to accomplish these exact, smooth moves a few times while playing basketball against our college students. Yes, I know, your jaw has probably dropped now in disbelief… and I totally understand… no offense taken. If you know me, you rightly know that I am not very good at basketball! But by some miracle in this particular pickup game, I actually did well! I was able to pivot, shoot, swish and score!

I think one reason that I played a little better than normal (besides the college students giving me some extra b-ball grace) was that I learned how to pivot more efficiently. In basketball, pivoting is when a player has the ball and creates space with one of their feet around an opposing player. This allows the player to more easily change directions, pass to a teammate, or shoot and score. As you can tell, becoming a good “pivoter” is vital to the game. However, pivoting is not just useful in basketball – it’s actually useful in all areas of life!

I am always learning how to better pivot around obstacles that negatively interfere with my personal life, family and ministry as such is a never-ending battle. I imagine that you have experienced this same reality and can relate too. So, since facing obstacles is a regular part of our lives, we all must learn how to pivot around them in order to accomplish the goals that Christ has set before us. We all should strive to pivot, shoot, swish and score for Christ!

There are many different types of obstacles that we face which we must learn to pivot around. However, for the sake of our time, I want to home in on one particular obstacle that I know we all have in common. This obstacle is ourselves and own agendas! Let’s be honest, there are times in our lives where we all have become too set in our ways and too rigid to work around. And for my readers to note, I am not talking about areas where we should hold firm like in doctrine; I am talking about areas of life that at best hold tertiary value.

So, when we become obstinate and inflexible in such areas, we can no longer rightly pivot around our stubborn selves; instead, we end up tripping all over ourselves. This unfortunately tends to result in us missing great opportunities to share Christ’s love with others and meet important spiritual needs. A Biblical example that I turn to for when I need to pivot around myself is that of Jude’s. He was a leader who pivoted well into the needs of those whom he was caring for as seen in one verse which can be easily missed.

In verse 3 of his book, Jude writes, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (ESV). As you can see, Jude had initially wanted to write about the common salvation that he and his audience shared together. Likely, such a topic would have seemed easier and more exciting to write about, especially as it compares to what we now find in his small, twenty-five verse letter. Yet, Jude pivoted into the present needs of his audience regarding their need to contend for the faith.

While contending for the faith is another important topic altogether, the point I hope to make is that Jude was able to pivot around his initial agenda for the spiritual sake of his audience. Another way to say this is that Jude took time to observe the spiritual needs of his audience instead of moving past them with his own agenda. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Jude carried on with his originally planned message. One can only speculate, but it seems that he would have missed a vital spiritual need of his audience which could have led to some negative repercussions.

Thankfully, Jude had a soft heart towards the Holy Spirit’s inspirational guidance which allowed him to be flexible enough to pivot, shoot, swish and score for Christ in his impactful letter to them! I hope Jude’s brief example encourages us to be flexible with our agendas and pivot around ourselves when needed. Who knows what kind of impact we may have if we allow our agendas to be set by God’s? And to be sure, God will most definitely encourage us with His grace in the process just as those college students showed some basketball grace towards me. Let us go out and pivot, shoot, swish, and score for Him!