NBA and I knew him not

It had to happen eventually . . . I am a Brit and a self-confessed numskull about US sports. I grew up with soccer, rugby and cricket, and after almost 10 years in the US I still don’t totally “get” baseball, football and other staples of America. So it comes as no surprise to me that when I was asked to “help a guy move some drums” I had no idea who it was. Sure he seemed tall, and I even thought “this guy should play basketball”, but it was only when I asked him “So what do you do?” that he announced he had just retired from the NBA. Slightly awkward silence followed and I mumbled something incoherent about being a stupid Brit, and not understanding US sports. We finished moving the drum kit chatting happily, and I wandered back to my office and called my friend … asking him to warn me next time a pro-basketball player was coming in.

It was after that I recognized how parable-like my experience was for me. I was “doing life” without a correct understanding of NBA, and of who this guy was. As a consequence of this wrong NBA theology, a pro “Was in this place, and I knew him not.”

It got me wondering how often I do the same with Jesus. I recognize him in many areas of life, but I yearn to see him as he is, present in every part of all I do. Perhaps it is my incomplete understanding of the incredible power and presence he brings that causes me to say sometimes “He was in this place, and I knew him not.”