This past Sunday, during the Elite Eight round of the Women’s NCAA tournament, it was discovered that the three-point line on one end of the floor was nine inches shorter than regulation. The error was discovered during warmups. Both teams decided to play on it, as it was, instead of delay the game while they re-marked the floor.
 
A meaningful reflection of Jesus happens as we do our best for those who tend to get less.
 
Over the past few years, there has been a bright light shone on the differences between the Men’s tournament and the Women’s tournament. Repeatedly there have been occasions that paint a picture of a profound difference between the quality of what was available for the guy’s teams versus the girl’s teams.
 
There is a lot of stuff that goes into what is spent on the various tournaments and trying to make sense of it all is the not the purpose of this post. The purpose of this post is to realize there our groups of people in our lives, right now, who regularly get the short end of the stick. And we have a great opportunity to express the love of Jesus to them.
 
Two Quick Thoughts About the Floor situation
 
1. The error wasn’t an amenity, it was fundamental.
The error of the mis-marked floor was fundamental to the game. The NCAA messed up what everyone would agree is a fundamental right of the game. To express the love of Jesus we don’t necessarily have to do something that is way out of the ordinary, we need to make sure we insure quality in the fundamental expressions of love towards others.
 
2. The NCAA blamed the manufacturer.
The NCAA said the error occurred at the factory where the third-party company builds the floors. Instead of taking responsibility, they threw the contractor under the bus. If not careful, we do the same thing by explaining away why we don’t step in and help those around us. And we do it through blaming someone else.
 
Each of us right now, have someone in our lives who doesn’t have it as good as we do. What if we stepped in to their situation and sought to express love through doing something of great quality and excellence?
 
Keep Reflecting Jesus!