I loved Kobe Bryant.
His death was very heart-wrenching for me.
I still remember watching Kobe Bryant give an interview when I was still just a kid living in Italy, and all of a sudden, the interviewer asked him about his upbringing in Italy and Kobe started saying a bunch of sentences in Italian, I was in shock and obviously I was hooked. As someone who grew up in Italy and is now heading to Italy as a missionary I had an instant connection, he became my favorite player. Later after moving to southern California, I became even more obsessed with Kobe.
I had to own his shoes, I had to own his jersey, I wore number 8 in every sport I ever played. Let’s just say that everyone knew I was a Kobe fan and I wasn’t shy about making that known.
As I matured in my relationship with the Lord, my thoughts about Kobe changed as well. I was still his self-proclaimed number one fan, but instead of idolizing him, I began praying for him and for his salvation. My admiration for his basketball abilities never waned.
He was the greatest player I had ever seen and no one could convince me that anyone was better or more of a winner than Kobe Bryant. And, up to that point, I had never seen him play live.
On January 22nd, 2006, Kobe Bryant did something beyond incredible. He scored 81 points in a basketball game. Only Wilt Chamberlain scored more, but he was over seven foot tall–taller than anyone on the court–so in my biased mind Kobe’s feat was so much more impressive.
He was shooting from far beyond the three-point line with three guys on him and was just beyond unbelievable.
And. I. Was. There!
My wife (girlfriend at the time, obviously this was a sign that I should merry her!) found out pretty early in our dating relationship that I loved the Lakers, so she bought random tickets to a Laker game against Toronto. We were way up in the cheap seats but I was ecstatic. Little did I know that I would witness this historic moment live.
You should have seen me.
I became a full-blown Kobe Bryant evangelist.
January 22nd, 2006 Outside the staples center the night Kobe scored 81 points
I instantly called my high school basketball coach who had played in the NBA to tell him where I was. I told my high school teammates. I called anyone and everyone. I told random people everywhere. Almost 15 years later, I still use it in sermon illustrations, and I am bragging about it to you right now!
It was such an incredible evening that I absolutely cherished, and it was so easy to tell people about it. I’ve often thought about that event. And how easy it was for me to share that experience with so many people.
We all have stories that are similar. We all have subjects we’re excited to talk about. We all met someone, saw something, or did something extraordinary that we love to share with others. We’ve all been tempted to embellish stories. We’ve all “caught a fish” that was actually much smaller than we let on, and when retelling the story our arms have spread further than they should. But if you know Christ , there is one story that you cannot possibly exaggerate. It is impossible to embellish how desperate you were for salvation before coming to Christ. I mean how dead is dead? (Eph. 2:1-3) Mostly dead only works in the movies.
You cannot possibly exaggerate the distance between you and the Holy God, He isn’t just a little holier than you, He isn’t a lot holier than you, He isn’t even immensely holier than you, He is infinitely holier than you. You cannot possibly overstate the miracle God did when He caused you to be born again. And despite the infinite grandeur of the event that took place in our life, we become sheepish when thinking about telling people about it.
Even though the day that I saw Kobe score 81 points was incredible and a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life, what occurred when God gave me life and a new heart is something I will cherish for eternity. The ease with which I talk about Kobe should be far exceeded by the ease with which I talk about my Savior who died on the cross in my place.
Sadly, many of us struggle with this. We talk about everything and anything, but the one thing that matters most we get tongue-tied about. The one story we can’t embellish we minimize and get reluctant about.
Kobe’s death, for me, is just a reminder about the fact that I loved talking about a man; that even though I didn’t know, I truly cared about, but that ten thousand years from now, his 81 points will mean absolutely nothing, and the only thing that will matter is the glory of the God who created everything.
I loved Kobe, I hope that He truly knew Christ, and I desperately want to tell everyone with as much excitement and fervor that I can muster about the incredible blessing of knowing Christ. May Christ be on our lips more than anything and anyone!