What Are You Doing on Your Stage?

Even if you aren’t an NBA fan, there is a player who you cannot help but admire once you begin to watch and listen to him.  His name is Steph Curry, he plays for the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, he was the 2015 NBA MVP, and according to LeBron James, he is, “One of the best shooters the NBA will ever see.”

The basketball talents of this 30-year-old husband and father are not all that fellow NBA players are touting.  According to former teammate Harrison Barnes, “He’s probably one of the most humble superstars I’ve ever met.  A lot of that is based on his faith.  He’s a guy who not only talks it; he lives it.  I think he garners a lot of respect in this locker room because of that.”  Another teammate, David Lee, said Steph played an integral role in his decision to put God at the center of his life.  “It’s something that is a lifestyle for him,” Lee said. “I’ve watched him sometimes from a distance, but I’ve also asked him questions about his faith.  He’s been a huge influence on me.”

Steph Curry has a big stage, and he uses it.  For example, he began his MVP acceptance speech by thanking Jesus for giving him his talents and supportive family, and saying, “I’m His humble servant right now and I can’t say enough about how important my faith is to who I am and how I play the game.”  During his 2014 season he said, “I know why I play the game, and it’s not to score 30 points a night, but it’s to use the stage I’m on.  I’ve been put here for a specific purpose: to be a witness and to share my testimony as I go through it.”

I could share many stories to convince you Steph Curry is the real deal, but that is not the purpose of this post.  The real purpose is to challenge you to think about what YOU are doing on YOUR stage.

Most likely your stage is not as big as Steph Curry’s.  But don’t think for a second that you don’t have a stage. You have a family, friends, possibly a workplace, maybe a role in your community.  Each of these places is your stage.  Do the people who watch you day in and day out know you are a person of faith? Do you ever speak in a way that would reveal you are a person of faith?  And if the answer is yes to both of those questions, my next question then is: How can you do even more on your stage?

You don’t have to be a theologian to let people know you are a person of faith.  It can be as simple as telling someone you will pray for them, sharing stories of when you have felt God’s hand in your life, or simply demonstrating patience, peace and acceptance during challenging times. The people who watch you on your stage need you to witness in this way.  In fact, we all need to experience others living and speaking about their faith, even if we have traveled far in our spiritual journey. Steph Curry, as strong as his faith is, understands this well: “The time I spend with my wife is huge so we can continue to grow and not be complacent with where we are in our walk with Christ.  Obviously, we can all be better at that.”

And to be better at that, we all need each other to use the stages we have been given.