About every other month, our church has a “Men’s Breakfast”, where we gather, have a great breakfast, fellowship, sometimes sing, and listen to a speaker. The speaker on this past Saturday was a theology teacher from Denver Seminary by the name of Dr. Rod Cooper. In his speech, he told the following story, which I’ve repeated for you here. This story made a profound impact on me, and I have added some of my comments below.
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He is 7 feet tall and 255 pounds of pure muscle and athleticism. He is know as one of the best centers to have played and to be playing currently in the NBA. He has led his team to two back-to-back world basketball titles. He is known as the hardest working big man in the NBA. He is a perennial all-star, having been in 10 All-Star games. And he is not even from this country. In addition to English and French, he speaks four other languages.
I was watching Roy Firestone on ESPN’s Close-Up program where, on this day, he was interviewing this particular person. Firestone asked him this question: “Why do you work so hard? Your teammates tell me that every time you step onto the hard wood, you give it 110 percent. They tell me you practice spin moves and fade-away jump shots by the hour. They tell me you run wind sprints until you can’t anymore, relentlessly pushing yourself. They tell me that even in a scrimmage, you go for every rebound and every loose ball like you are in the finals of the NBA. Why? You don’t have anything to prove. You have made it to the top. Why not just take it easy?
The question intrigued me, but the answer this person gave blew me away. He said, “Roy, I do not count what I do on the basketball court as work. Every time I step onto that court, I am not playing for me, but for Him. you see, the reason I work so hard is because basketball is not work…it is worship. It is my way of thanking God for His goodness to me.”
His name is Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.
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As Dr. Cooper spoke, I kept thinking about this. What if, I thought, I treated my job, not as work, but as worship? What could I accomplish? What if I treated my workouts, not as a drudgery, something I had to do, but as worship? What if I treated my marriage, not as an obligation, but as worship? What if I treated my parenthood, not as an activity, but as worship? What if I treated my friendships, not merely as relationships, but as worship? What if I treated my hobbies, not only as fun things to do, but as
worship? What if I treated community service, not just as a good thing to do to
help others, but as worship? What if I even drove my car, not merely as a way to get from here to there, but as worship?
What if I treated everything I do, everyone I meet, everything I say, as though it is an act of worship? How would that transform my life? What could I accomplish in my life? Who would I be able to touch and reach and attract to Christ?
I decided on Saturday morning that I was going to attack my life, not just as life, but as worship. My family, my job, my activities, everything, I am going to give 110%, because I’m not just doing it for myself anymore…I’m doing it for God. I’m doing it to give Him thanks and praise.
I’m doing it as worship.
David Barnett
Barnett2000@juno.com
Send David an email and let him know what you thought of his story!
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David Barnett is a Christian, husband, and father of three, in that order. He founded the Daily Prayers ministry, and the Bible By Email ministry. For more information on these ministries and how you can receive bible verses, prayers, and complete Bible chapters by email, send a blank email to DailyPrayers@phenomenix.com . In the near future, the ministry will be adding bible study, book studies, Christian support groups, and discussion groups.
(* Hakeem gives a great example of how we can worship God in everything we do. However, I wish to note that Hakeem is a Muslim, not a Christian, and as such, does not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Despite this, I was inspired by Hakeem’s attitude to write this essay from a Christian perspective, as I feel we can all be inspired by his attitude toward worship.)