Being a Better Person

On January 20, 1968, the Houston Cougars beat UCLA in a basketball game that has been called “The Game of the Century,” and ended a 47 game UCLA winning streak that extended over two seasons. (If you’re not a basketball fan, please stay, this will only take a minute.) Elvin Hayes was the outstanding power forward for Houston, and Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) was the center for UCLA. 6’9” Hayes managed to block three of 7’2” Alcindor’s shots, out scored Alcindor 39 to 15, had 15 rebounds, and he scored the last two points of the game which gave Houston a 71-69 victory over UCLA.

Beyond this game, Hayes was an outstanding basketball player from high school through his NBA years. Hayes averaged 31 pts and 17 rebounds per game during his colllege years. His first year in the NBA he led the league with over 28 pts per game and also averaged 17 rebounds.

How did Hayes manage all this (and more?) He wanted to; not in the way that a lot of us think we want to do something but don’t really try that hard to accomplish it. Hayes gave himself over to basketball. Even in his pre high school years Hayes would spend eight hours a day practicing basketball, shooting, dribbling, defense against others. Most of us have eight hour work days and rue the time, but we have to. Nobody made Hayes practice basketball. He lol was driven.

But Trying to Walk is not about basketball, it’s about God, and it’s about Christianity. When Christianity is lived as described in the Bible, there are no better people than Christians, so what we are looking at here, is being a better Christian, and our question is, “Are we ready to approach ‘being a better Christian’ the way that Elvin Hayes approached being a better basketball player?”

As Christians our dedication is on a much higher level than a game; it is to Jesus Christ. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world,” Galatians 6:14. Our dedication is to, and our glory is in, the sacrifice Jesus made being crucified on the cross. This is a great irony, because crucifixion on a cross was meant to be a thing of great shame.

But while Jesus died in His sacrifice on the cross, we are called to make a sacrifice, not of death, but of our lives. “ . . . present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service,” Romans 12:1. Paul explains how this works in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

These verses are saying that though I am still living, I have given myself over to Christ. My only glory is in what He has done for me, dying on that cross. I will sacrifice myself as a living being. My decisions will not be made on the basis of what appeals to me as a physical, carnal person, because I gave that up when I died and was buried with Christ. “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4.

My decisions are made on the basis of what appeals to Jesus as the Lord of my life. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps,” 1 Peter 2:21. Those “What Would Jesus Do” bracelets should mean more than a rubber band with letters on them. This is what Paul meant when he said, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Acknowledging the above is the easy part. The difficult part is the actual giving up your own life to let Christ control how your life should be. The hard part is,”the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.” So we have the general idea of how we become better people and we see that it is a challenge. The real challenge is in implementing the thousands of decisions and actions that we will make and take in making our “newness of life” a reality. Let’s consider a few examples and then pray we can broaden the scope to cover our lives.

Our speech is an example of a part of our lives that should be given over to Christ. When we do that, here’s what we will find. Our speech will be “always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man,” Colossians 4:6. “Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another,” Eph. 4:25. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may administer grace unto the hearers.,” Ephesians 4:29. I would say that these cover non-verbal communication as well. There are many more verses - so many verses, so little time and space.

What about charitable giving? “ . . . Steal no more . . . but . . . labor . . . that [you] may have to give to him that needeth,” Eph. 4:28. “But whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth,” 1 John 3:17. “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away,” Matt. 5:42. Yes, those are the words of Jesus who makes your decisions for you, if you’re “being a better person.”

What about your overall demeanor? “But the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men . . . patient . . . in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves,” 2 Timothy 2:24. “Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others,” Philippians 2:3-4. “And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also,” 1 John 4:21. Jesus offered - love God and love your fellow man - as the two greatest commands, Mark 12:30-31. 1 Corinthians 13 is an entire chapter that explains what love is and how love operates.

These are not even the tip of the iceberg - so little time and space. Don’t just read this article, study it. Contemplate applying it to your life, and while you’re at it, here are some other passages that apply. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21 are just two of many passages that approach this subject from a negative standpoint, i.e. telling us things we should stay away from as we follow Christ. Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 4:8, 1 Peter 1:5-7 are three of the many passsages that list positive things that should be part of the Christian life.

Other passages that don’t just list, but discuss Christian characteristics that we should develop are: Romans 12, Ephesians 4:20-32, Philippians 2:1-16, Colossians 3, 1 Thessalonians 5, James - the whole book, it seems to never stop offering practical means of satisfying God’s desire for your life. These are scriptures that come to mind, almost without thought. While I know I am leaving out many passages that would make a good study, if you are serious about being a better person, the listed Bible references above will keep you busy for a while.

But remember, Elvin Hayes gave himself over to basketball, practicing 8 hours a day when no one was making him. How do we compare? I’m disheartened when I hear good, well-intentioned people apologetically tell me they just don’t have time to read these Trying to Walk articles. There is not a one of these articles that would take over 10 minutes to read. Of course, I would hope people meditate on them as well, but compare 10 minutes each week to 8 hours each day.

I realize Trying to Walk articles are not required by God. But I will tell you that writing them definitely is a growth experience for me. I hope that reading them can be a growth experience for you as well. This article points to several scripture references that can promote growth. Let’s all give ourselves over to “Being a Better Person.”