What Matters Most
It is always interesting when your avocation and vocation collide. Many of you know that for the last 15 years or so my avocation has been coaching basketball, from Jr. High girls to High School boys. In coaching, I have always tried to put my best foot forward, both interpersonally and strategically. Developing strategically is a joy, as I am both a student of the game and a fan. Along the way I found a kindred spirit in basketball writer Jonathan Tjarks.
As a professional basketball writer, Tjarks was insightful, concise, and had a gift for breaking down personnel and analyzing strategy in a way that both fans and professionals alike could appreciate. But the real connection with Tjarks came as I learned of his conversion to the Christian faith. Coming out of a deeply secular background, he was quite literally snatched by God from a life of destruction (think Ephesians 1!) and placed on a Gospel path. Vocationally, he found himself in a very secular media outlet as a Christian, a topic he shared some observations on with The Gospel Coalition.
This feel good story took a seemingly dark turn a couple of years ago, when shortly after the birth of his first child, Jonathan was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that would tragically claim his life earlier this month. Prior to his passing, Tjarks spoke openly about his faith and the role that his church community was playing in his life, and that he hoped would continue to play in his son's life. He wrote a piece for the Ringer that was incredibly moving, speaking to the ongoing role of community entitled "Does my Son Know You?.
In an interview with David French and Curtis Strange on the Good Faith podcast, Tjarks talks about the role of the church in bringing him to faith, maintaining his faith, and sustaining him through his trial and beyond. I can't imagine what his wife and young son are going through right now, but they must be proud of the way that their husband and father faced his disease, and they too can find comfort in the truths that sustained Jonathan.
Watching this story play out has been an occasion to reflect on many things: my own mortality, the nature of the community that we are building here through Christ Church, the foundations that are being erected to withstand the day of trial, the sometimes unexpected junction of faith and work, the graciousness of God to turn even the hardest lives around, etc... As we continue our journey through Ephesians 1, Paul culminates the glories of God with a marvelous highlighting of the inheritance that is ours in Christ sealed by the Spirit. It is the kind of truth that sustains the Tjarks and brings life to us all.
Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash