Joke:
Robi (my wife) to Trey (my 9 year old son) – “Hey Trey, did you know that when
your Dad was in college he was a better basketball player than Michael
Jordan?  Trey: “No way, he was that
good?”  Robi: “Actually no, when
your dad was in college Michael Jordan was 13.” 

 

Ba-dump
BUMP!   Thank you very much…I’ll
be here all week! 

 

The
joke may or may not be true. 
Michael Jordan might’ve actually been better than me even when I was a
college player and he was a junior high kid.  The truth is, even though I had a dream to be an NBA player and
had a practice regime that matched the dream; I never made it, or certainly
never even got close to being as good as Jordan.  Let me explain. 
Regardless of how much I practiced I would never be 6’7” (I’m 6’2”),
never have a 7’ wing-span, never have hands the size of catchers mitts and
never have the jump reach Michael Jordan had (although the last one is where I
was probably closest – they called me “Sky Walker” in college – no,
seriously.  At least try to imagine
me with a sweet fro and mad hops).

 

All
that to say, I am not a strict egalitarian.  There has been much discussion in my end of the world about
flattened leadership models – mostly coming from literature like “The Starfish
and the Spider.”  While I do believe
in an egalitarian approach to life in race, gender, worth, value, etc., I join people
like C.S. Lewis who don’t buy the idea that everyone is equal in ability or gifting.  The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t
exist in the real world: neither physically (some people are bigger, faster,
stronger), nor intellectually (though I see myself as fairly bright, there are
disciplines that I will never be able to “dunk” in no matter how hard I try or
commit myself) and I don’t see it Biblically either.  In fact, to press for a strict egalitarian approach, I
believe that it de-ascents the wonder, beauty and strength of spiritual gifting
(Romans 12) and key leadership functions (Ephesians 4 and the APEST).

 

When
it comes to ministry, we must honor each person as equal (Galatians 3:28), but
we must realize that it is not wrong or unbiblical to acknowledge and celebrate
the giftings God has put into individuals to use to assist the community of faith
to grow strong, to become mature and to act like it is supposed to in the
world.

 

Oh,
even though I did not reach my goal of playing in the NBA, I still dream of
dunking on people often – a dream that is sooooo sweet that I don’t want to
wake up.  I do have some issues.