Hi!  My name is Dan. 

I’m a sports fan and I have a West Coast bias.

It was a great Holy week and Easter and throughout this glorious and moving week, I was able to watch some of the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament.  (This is one of my favorite seasons of the year!!)  And of course, as I watched, my West Coast bias reared its proud and ugly head.  I don’t care who was playing, if there was an East Coast team, I wanted the West to win.  Midwest, Southwest, Northwest… it didn’t matter!!  If they were playing an East Coast team, I wanted the East Coast team to lose.   Oh, to hear that wonderful, rhythmic, “music to my ears” phrase of….

“Down goes Duke!” 

How very sad that I have this condition.  I admit I have West Coast bias.  I admit that it can get ugly when the calls start favoring East Coast teams.  I need help and I can’t rid this bias on my own.

At one point during the tournament, I was watching two East Coast teams play.  Was it a waste of time?  No.  The execution, the skill, the style, the determination, the heart was all there.  It was a wonderful and actually beautiful game to watch.  It was nice to see two teams play defense!!  I didn’t invest too much emotion into the game and I was actually able to watch the game through unbiased eyes.

Each child of God, each disciple of Christ has unique gifts and talents to offer the Body of Christ.  There are members of the church who have their own style, play the game in their own way, and make contributions to the church that only they can make.  They share their insights, gifts or talents at just the right time.  It may not always be the way in which “I” would have done it, or in the manner “I” would have done it, with the attitude “I” would carry, and yet, whatever needed to get done, gets done.  When this happens, it’s as if God had it planned the whole time.  And that’s the point, it is God’s plan.

To be church, is not to have everybody be church “my” way.  Yes, there is emotion in being church and this is a good thing.  We should be passionate about being church.  But when that passion and emotion get in the way of seeing what God is doing in church, maybe we should watch a couple of “East Coast churches” being church so we can remember and see the beauty of church.  For at the very core of church, is God and God’s activity and God’s incarnation. 

Have a Blessed April,

Pastor Dan
Contact Pastor Dan at: pastor@mtzionelca.com