Disqualified!

One of the low-lights of these Olympic games so far was the disqualification of eight badminton players for intentionally trying to lose, in order to set themselves up for a better draw in the elimination rounds. One of the teams was the number one ranked team in the world expected to win gold. Their efforts were so bad that the thousands watching were consistently booing them. To many people what these athletes did may come as a shock, but trust me, it happens more than you think. In tennis it was known as "tanking" a match. A player who wanted a better draw or who just didn't want to play, simply tanked. Sometimes tanking can be very hard to detect, yet at other times, such as with these badminton players, it's pretty obvious. Now think about this for a moment. Can tanking actually take place in the life of a believer? I think it can and does. There are many Christians who simply go through the motions with their walk with the Lord. Colossians 3:23 encourages us by saying, "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men..." Doing something heartily means doing it "without constraint, exuberantly or vigorously." Obviously these Olympians didn't compete heartily compared with most of the other Olympic athletes. But as a Christian do everything heartily! Do everything as unto the Lord! Don't let it be said that you were disqualified as a Christian because of your lack of effort and tanking. Live as we're called to live, full of live, exuberance, excitement and passion :)