People can be very funny…one thing I have learned in this public situation with fans of the Heat and fans of Lebron, is this…there are people who follow the personality and those who support the “team” regardless of the person. I see the same thing in the church world. You have people who follow their “popular” preacher and those who support the bigger picture which is the Kingdom of God. Ironically, not only do you have church folk who have the bandwagon mindset you also have pastors that wont speak to certain “new” pastors unless you are the hottest one or you are getting some recognition from several circles of influence (living witness). Further, many of us also pick our spiritual fathers based on popularity, honorarium size, facilities or crowd size and not the one who was not on TV, radio, or had a billboard BUT had impeccable private integrity, marriage fidelity, impact in the community or their treatment of the poor and less fortunate (when no one is looking). We put folk on flyers and invite them with the same personality and bandwagon mindset only to stay connected for a while but disappear when the wheels fall off…knowing that you never were in the spirit when making the choice or shunning those that were there in our early years who were great in the spirit but small to the undiscerning human eye.
While I am not a Heat fan nor Lebron James fan I can at least say that I respect him MORE for “reconnecting with his FIRST covenant” especially when there are memories of hurt with overreactions by the owner and fans by writing letters, burning jerseys and effigy’s…through all of that and even a separation, there was still the possibility of “RECONCILIATION” and he took it. While it was no doubt a financial and family decision it was also the right choice to return to those that first gave him his opportunity and also had everything he needed to supply those things as well. That takes a high level of maturity, and the team will be stronger because of the honor and humility given especially when he didn’t have to.
Good Job Lebron, you have given the church world a great example.
~ Pastor Andre Martin
#ministryofreconciliation #lebronjames
