That Time the Grizzlies Almost Won

Complacency is a familiar concept in the sports world. You’ll have a team that’s been dominant, rolling over other clubs left and right, until they meet a team that they see as absolutely no threat. In these parts, perhaps the most famous game the Vancouver Grizzlies ever played in their very sad and short existence was against the Chicago Bulls during the 1995-96 season. The Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, would eventually win 72 games as well as the NBA Championship. That team is still considered by many to be the greatest team in NBA history. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, went 15-67 in that inaugural season. Truly horrendous. They lost 23 games in a row at one point. But that one night in November, the Grizzlies almost won. They were winning in the fourth quarter. Jordan stank. Couldn’t make a basket. The Bulls had come in assuming it would be a cakewalk and were completely surprised by the Grizzlies’ competitiveness (perhaps as surprised as all 50 Vancouver Grizzlies fans in attendance).

What changed, apparently, was when Darrick Martin, one of the Grizzlies’ little-known guards (essentially all their players were little-known) thought it would be a real good idea to trash talk the greatest player of all time. That would be Michael Jordan, who was sitting on the bench, apparently resigned to losing against this lowly team. That fired Jordan up. It woke him up big time. He subbed back into the game, scored 19 points in the final 6 minutes, and ripped the game out of Vancouver’s hands.

Forget for a moment that the most glorious game in Vancouver Grizzlies’ history was when they almost won a game. To me, this little case study speaks to the dangers of complacency, as well as the wakeup call needed to rouse people from it.

I’ve been thinking about this because, as Paul reminds us in Acts 20, shepherds need to be aware of threats to the flock. At this moment, we see so many good things at The Bridge. We’ve seen numerical growth. On Sundays, this place is full of people, full of joy, full of gratitude. Last Saturday, for the first time in most people’s memories, we had a north shore night of worship that was an incredible expression of Christian unity in our city. We’re welcoming Matt, Rhema and Summer with us this week and are excited about the future of youth ministry here at The Bridge. Other ministries are growing and thriving. This is a really good season for The Bridge. Maybe not quite '96 Bulls good, but you know what I mean! However, as I said, I always want to be aware of threats to the flock. I believe that complacency is near the top of the list of potential threats.

How does complacency get expressed in church life, in ministry? I would suggest that one of the surest signs of spiritual complacency is a lack of prayer, or even a lack of desire to pray.

We all know that when things seem to be going well, we don’t feel spiritual desperation. We don’t experience the need to come before the Lord and seek Him. After all, we’ve got things under control. That is perhaps the most dangerous place to be in as a church, or as individuals, because it is there that we are most vulnerable to the work of the evil one. 

In Acts 20:31, Paul tells the Ephesians that he warned them night and day for three years with tears. This, despite the fact that in Acts 19, we see that during Paul’s stay, the church in Ephesus grew so dramatically, and the Gospel spread so effectively, that “all who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (19:10). God did tremendous miracles and the whole culture of Ephesus was changed because of Paul’s Gospel ministry. And yet he was anything but complacent. He knew the stakes. He didn’t take anything for granted and he didn’t think the Ephesians should either. Instead, he urged them to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Even as we celebrate what God is doing here, let us not become complacent. We don’t need Darrick Martin’s trash talk to wake us up. We only need to recognize that there remain thousands upon thousands in our community who know little about the power and love of God in Christ. We only need to see the contemporary challenges of passing faith in Jesus on to the next generation. We only need to recognize our own inherent shortcomings in this calling. In light of all of that, let us come before God, individually and together, in sincere prayer for Him to do what only He can. Join us for Monday Noon prayer (every Monday at noon, at our church building) if you can. Get into a community group, where prayer is a central component. Let us all beware of complacency. I believe God’s only just getting started with us.