I’m not a University of Kentucky fan.  Those that know me best (or even know me casually) know that I am a fan of another group of Wildcats.  Nevertheless, I learned some interesting things during March Madness about the University of Kentucky basketball team, and many of those things have some direct application to church life in general and FSBCA in particular.

Here are some of the reasons Kentucky won, with applications for the way we “do church” at FSBCA:

They played as a team. Frankly, I had my doubts about how well they would do.  In the crazy world of college basketball, the most talented teams frequently lose to less talented teams with better teamwork.  Kentucky’s ability to work together without any one player dominating the team made them a great team, not just a collection of great individuals.  The same is true in church life.  Our ability to love each other and work together for the good of the team is absolutely necessary for us to be a great church.

They downplayed themselves. Anthony Davis could have been the high scorer in the championship game if he wanted to be, but instead he worked hard to contribute to other players’ success and to the team’s ability to win.  In church life it‘s the same.  It‘s not about making me or my ministry look good.  It‘s about contributing to the glory of God and the success of the church as a whole.

They did the little things with excellence. They played great defense.  They passed well.  They made free throws.  They blocked out and rebounded well.  They hustled.  They ran hard every play.  They executed their plays well.  They limited turnovers.  They blocked shots.  Most of those things won’t make anyone’s highlight reel, which are reserved for massive dunks or buzzer-beater-three-pointers, but all of those things contributed to the championship.  Successful churches do the little things well.  They greet people well.  They pray often.  They have great classes and groups.  They proofread their bulletins.  They make a difference in their community.  They find ways to meet new people.  They love and show it at all times.  And it‘s often the little things, not the obvious things like preaching or music, that lead churches to greatness.

They did it now. They acknowledged that many of their players were “one-and-done” and would be leaving to the NBA by next season, so they adopted a “this is the year” mentality.  They didn’t have the luxury of a four-year-plan.  They had to make this year count.  Successful churches have a “this is the Sunday” mentality.  We may have long-term plans, but we’re not going to have a four-year-wait for excellence.  We are going to serve, preach, sing, teach, love, greet, minisiter with excellence this Sunday, because we haven’t been promised another chance next Sunday.

In the big scheme of things, college basketball isn’t all that important.  But the lessons we could learn if we live the same way championship teams live could be life (and even eternity) changing!

PS.  Next year, when I write about the championship team, I will be writing about a different group of Wildcats!