The Eternal Champion

During the early 90’s I eagerly jumped on the bandwagon of idolizing Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. When they faced the Portland Trailblazers in the 1992 Championships, I remember a growing tension in my household. My father, a lifelong Oregonian, was a faithful fan of Clyde Drexler and our local Portland Trailblazers team. He struggled with my fickle though well-deserved fascination with the dominating success of a team halfway across the country. In my youthful arrogance, I struggled with my father’s allegiance to a team holding much less appeal than the flashy Bulls.  

While I have fond childhood memories of feeling a part of the Bulls' success, I also regret missing out on some of the glory days of Oregon’s only NBA franchise. Though the Trailblazers lost, I often yearn for what could have been. If I had been united with my father’s fandom, we could have shared fond memories as we collectively cheered on the Trailblazers' historic season.

Guest speaker Pastor Tim Saffeels provided this definition of Goodness in a recent chapel. 

“Love what God loves, hate what God hates.”

As the Fruit of the Spirit is rooted in God’s presence in our lives, it stands to reason that our definition of goodness would flow from His character. While this definition of goodness may appear fairly general, it is actually quite prescriptive. As we pursue Him, God graciously provides us with a lens to respond to the world around us. 

After chapel, I met with my small group of 8th-grade boys to investigate this definition further. I asked a simple question: "How do our convictions and actions align with our Father’s nature of goodness?"

God’s Word makes it clear that God is love. If God was giving out grades, many of us may be satisfied with our ability to align our loving intentions with His. But he also washed away our sins and hates when we continue to return to them. His report card for how we sometimes choose to justify, ignore, or excuse evil in our lives would likely not land on our refrigerator door. 

The apostle Paul challenges us to walk in the Spirit daily rather than in the flesh. God’s goodness is perfectly holy and opposes all forms of sin. God clearly loves us despite the sin that plagues us, which He hates. Much more critical than mismatched household NBA allegiances, how does God’s nature of goodness align with what we celebrate and not tolerate? When we choose to release God’s goodness in all areas of our lives, we join the team of the eternal Champion.