Well, they pulled it off. The Lakers managed to secure the franchise's 15th NBA Championship title in just five games relying on excellent play from, among others, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, and Kobe Bryant and being commanded by Head Coach, Phil Jackson. This is the 10th time Phil Jackson has coached a team to the title, a new record for ANY of the four major American sports, (Basketball, Football, Baseball and Hockey).
What struck me most about this whole series however was something that Stan Van Gundy, (Head Coach for the Orlando Magic who lost the series to the Lakers), said in a post-game interview after a gut-wrenching loss in game 4. An interviewer asked him to comment on the importance of experience in a Championship series like this, alluding the the fact that several Lakers players have been in Championship contention before but none of Orlando's players had been. He responded by saying the experience had nothing to do with it. He said it was "too chiche" to say it has to do with experience and that this was simply just another basketball game. I wonder if the fact that this was HIS first time to the NBA Championship Series had anything to do with that opinion. I also wonder if he'll be saying the same thing if he gets there again in the years to come. Something tells me that the more times he coaches a team to the Championship, the more he'll come to realize just how important experience is.
I think many young and new Christians, (especially Christian leaders and professional ministers), have the same problem as Stan Van Gundy though. Right now the Church as a whole is in the middle of a paradigm shift. New voices are starting to be heard and even sought out within the Church. This is a fantastic thing. It happens every few generations and is important to the survival and growth of Christianity. But, as it often happens, many of these "new voices" are blatantly critical of the "old voices." What an remarkable tragedy this is. It is 100% unBiblical, 100% counterproductive, and 100% ignorant. It makes absolutely no sense for someone to criticize and berate those who came before them and claim they didn't do anything right when they, themselves, would not be where they are in their faith had it not been for the very people he or she is criticizing. In other words, If yesterday's Church couldn't do anything right then their wouldn't be a Church today.
Don't get me wrong, I'm am by no means saying there is nothing to improve upon. I believe wholeheartedly that the Church has dropped the ball in many ways and hope we can pick it back up and start making the difference God calls us to make rather than the difference we think we should be making. But we have nothing to gain by pointing fingers at those who came before us. In fact, we should be honoring them and even seeking their council. At the church I am currently serving in there are many who have been loving God and loving people for longer than I have been alive. I have learned to listen when they talk. I have learned to seek out their opinion. I have learned that there is wisdom in experience. I may not follow their advice to the letter. I may not do exactly what they think I should do. Often times I will reinterpret their thoughts to meet the needs of those I mean to minister to. But there is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that comes from age and experience, (just read the book of Proverbs if you don't believe me), and I don't want to be like Stan Van Gundy and deny that while I lose. Because the Church losing is just a basketball game. It means people miss out on a life changing message that brings them closer to God now and forever. Please, lets reinvent the church for the emerging generations. Lets see their needs and adjust our methods without adjusting our message. But let us not forsake the experience of those that came before us. Let's take advantage of it. Let's leverage it for the betterment of our endeavors for God. Because experience is wisdom. And we could all use more of that.
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