Shoot Your Shot

So I have an embarrassing story to share with you…

I was playing in a basketball game years and years ago, and I don’t really remember much from it other than this one specific moment. 

I was so excited at one point during this game and could not believe how open I was to take a shot. I was looking around, thinking, “Man, y’all slow today!!!” So with determination and a smile on my face, I went up for a layup and made it!! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!!!

And the crowd cheered! But then I realized… it wasn’t the right crowd. I had just scored for the wrong team. I had just made a basket in the wrong hoop.

And the sad thing is… some of us do the exact same thing. 

We think we’re scoring in the right areas of our lives, but we’re not.

We score, and the crowd goes wild. But then we realize the people we just impressed aren’t the people who actually matter.

We can’t be so focused on impressing the wrong people. On shooting our shot in the wrong basket. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go my whole life being all in with the wrong things. I don’t want to stay at half-court, never once crossing over to go shoot my shot in the right basket. 

If we want to see revival, if we want to see miracles take place, if we want to see people healed from sin and bondage and deep pains, we as a generation have to score in the right areas of our lives and be all in with Jesus. 

We have to do what He calls us to do. And there’s no better way to do that than getting into the Word, so we’re going to read Jesus’s final instructions to His disciples. Check out Matthew 28:16-20:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So at this point in time, these disciples - these 12 followers of Jesus - who have had a front row seat to His miracles, His healings, His teachings, and His death and resurrection, they doubted Him. They weren’t perfect people. It said they literally doubted. 

But Jesus still wants to use them. Those imperfect people full of doubt. And He still instructs them to go out and make disciples. These broken, messed up, doubting people. His closest followers.

And some of you are broken, messed up, doubting people. Have you ever doubted Jesus before? Yeah? Well you’re in good company. But what’s beautiful is that even after our doubts and our failures, He still gives us an assignment. Because He believes in us. And He doesn’t give up on us. He’ll help us work through the doubt. He’ll help us be disciples who make disciples.

But I don’t want to be a disciple who makes disciples that don’t score in the right areas of their lives. Who don’t truly reflect who Jesus is. I don’t want to score in areas of my life to impress people who don’t really matter.

Sadly, I’ve made mistakes in my life just to impress those people. Boys, older kids, the popular group, social media followers… the list goes on. I’m sure you probably have too. 

But even when I was failing, when I was in places I shouldn’t have been, God still called me to go be a disciple. To teach broken, messed up people just like me and tell them about Jesus.

I just want to tell you in this blog - because I wish someone would’ve told me then - you don’t have to fulfill a societal norm just to do what everyone else is doing. You don’t have to feel guilty or feel like you’re missing out when you stay in on a Saturday night. You don’t have to score in the wrong areas of your life just because everyone else is.

You don’t have to.

You don’t have to give into him or give into her. You’re not a freak because you want to wait to have sex until you’re married. You’re not weird because you won’t send those pictures. You don’t have to score in those areas. Because if you are, you’re scoring for the wrong team. And the crowd might cheer now, but it’s only going to turn into mockery and pointed fingers and deception. And it will leave you humiliated and hurt and broken.

But if we as a generation focus on scoring in the right areas of our lives, if we become true disciples who go out and make other disciples that truly reflect who Jesus is, we will bring a revival like we’ve never seen.

Get this: Ninety-five percent of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ.

Being aware of who Jesus is just simply isn’t enough. Even the enemy knows who Jesus is.

It’s time to start scoring where God wants us to score. It’s time to start fulfilling the great commission of being disciples who make disciples.

And some of you are saying, “How do I do that? How do I make disciples? How do I be a disciple?”

Well first of all, ask God. Ask Him to show the areas in your life that you need to be scoring in. Ask Him to remind you whose team you’re on. 

Ask Him to define you, refine you, and assign you. Say, “God, who am I? Define me. God, what things do I need to leave behind? Refine me. God, where do you want me to go? Assign me.”

When you say you’re going to pray, actually pray for someone and believe that God hears you and cares about what you have to say! When you say you’re going to church, actually listen to the message! When you read the Word, don’t do it to cross off something on the to-do list. Ask God to speak to you through it, to show you what you need to learn.

Be ready to go wherever God calls you to. Be ready to give up whatever God asks of you. Be ready to speak up with whatever God puts on your heart to say.

Replace that bad, dirty music with worship music. Unfollow those toxic social media accounts. Delete those terrible text messages. Let go of those things that have a hold on you. 

Stop having sex before marriage. Stop getting blackout drunk. Stop cussing. Stop lying. Stop cheating. Stop smoking. Stop vaping. Stop being mean. Stop judging. Stop persecuting.

Ask people to pray with you. Out loud. With you and them together. I asked my husband to do that with me one night while we were both in college, and it flipped a switch for our relationship, and we began to score where God wanted us to.

Don’t straddle the line of being halfway in with Jesus and halfway in with the world. Don’t sit around at half court, too scared to go shoot your shot in the right basket. 

It’s not going to be easy. You might get fouled. You might miss a couple shots. You might have a couple of jump-balls. But it’s going to be so worth it!!!

I give you all the permission to stop scoring in the wrong areas of your life right now. And to start scoring in the right ones.

You’re gonna mess up. You’re gonna fail. Some people may get mad at you. But I want you to be so set on fire for Jesus Christ that you can’t help but go out and tell people who Jesus is and what He has done in your life.

Jesus tells us to go out and make disciples. He doesn’t tell us to go get rich. Or to get famous. Or to have our names be known. He tells us to go out and make disciples.

So will you do it? I used to write bucket lists when I was younger, and on there I would put, “Bring at least one person to Jesus.” I’m telling you right now that we have the ability and the opportunity to reach hundreds… thousands… millions.

Revival will begin when we go all in. So will you do it?

Some of you feel too broken. Too hurt. Too let down. Too doubtful. But God isn’t finished with you yet. He’s still in the healing business. He’s still in the miracle working business. He’s chosen you for His team, put you out on the court, put the ball in your hands, but now it’s up to you on where you’re gonna shoot your shot. 

I hope we all decide to start scoring for Him.