I was a high school freshman squeezing out time on the varsity squad. I was adjusting to the pace of the varsity level, which was much different from splitting traps and making assists as a junior high point guard. (Same adjustment occurs between the high school and college levels, except is multiplied by ten to fifteen times the athleticism, size, and intensity.)  I had just committed back-to-back turnovers when I heard an assistant coach yell, “Gibson! See the whole floor!” The coach then calmly walked over and explained that, as a point guard, I needed to see both where the offense was supposed to be and where the defense might be. Just seeing the offense was only seeing half of what I was supposed to see, he explained. I needed to see the whole floor.

“Gibson! See the whole floor!” Those words continue to ring in my ear very loudly, but for a different reason. I believe that many times, as Christ-followers, we fail to see “the whole floor” of Scripture. We might, like a young point guard, just see one aspect of a passage or book and fail to miss the larger context. Or, we spend so much time focusing on one smaller aspect of Scriptural doctrine and fail to see the larger narrative which supports the larger context. As a basketball player, not seeing the whole floor can lead to tunnel vision. As a Christ-follower, not seeing “the whole floor” of Scripture can lead us to beliefs and doctrines that are either incomplete or not Biblical. So, what do we do?

1. As we read Scripture, we remind ourselves of the larger narrative. The Bible is 66 books comprised in two testaments. Paul told Timothy, “all Scripture is inspired by God.” That means, that the book of Amos is inspired by God just as much as the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus, Romans, or Revelation. All Scripture is to be read and engaged with the understanding that the Old Testament points towards Christ and that the post-Gospel New Testament points back to Christ. We risk selling the story short if we do not seek to understand each verse, passage, and book in its larger narrative context. 
2. We make every effort possible to understand each book in its smaller and larger contexts. As a fledgling point guard on the high school level, I was trying to learn the difference between a shuffle cut and zipper cut. (Don’t understand these terms? Welcome to my freshman year.) If I had mistaken a zipper cut for a shuffle cut while running the offense, I would have thrown the ball where the offensive player was not, resulting in a turnover. We make Biblical turnovers when we don’t work to understand each book of the Bible in its context. For instance, the book of Psalm is meant to be read as a book of poetry and music. The book of Acts is a historical book and meant to be read like you would read a history book. Most of Paul’s writings are apologetics of the faith. Try reading Psalms like you would Acts or Paul’s writings and you might get a headache. Or worse, you might misinterpret the meaning of the Biblical text. 
3. Keep the main thing the main thing. If a team cannot score in a basketball game, they cannot win. If a person reading Scripture does not remember that “in beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” they cannot win in their faith. As John stated, Scripture is about the Word. The word is Jesus the Messiah. The whole of the Scriptural story points to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Without his life, death, and resurrection, the larger narrative of Scripture would fall apart. It’s all about Jesus. 

So, when you read the Bible, remember to see the whole floor.  As you grow in your ability to understand the full narrative of the Bible, much like a young point guard who slowly learns to understand the whole game, the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection will jump off the page at you. 

O God, as we stand in the hallowed halls of this capitol, we pause to say thank you for another day of life. O God, I pray for the men and women of this legislature as they continue to embark on a most perilous journey; a journey to lead this great Commonwealth with justice and righteousness. I pray today that the matters of this hall would be just; that each leader in this room would look deep within themselves to first ask, "Is my heart just?" I also pray that the men and women leading this great Commonwealth would feel the burden of pursuing righteousness as they attempt to make laws. May the righteousness they pursue not be a righteousness of their own, but a righteousness from above so that your will may be done in Frankfort and in the commonwealth of Kentucky as it is in heaven. O God, we thank you for the representatives in this room. We pray for their families. We pray for their health and for their rest so that they may be of clear heart and mind. We pray for their constituents, that they be advocated for and heard. O God, we also pray for the other branches of the Commonwealth's government, that they too would pursue justice and righteousness. And most of all God, we pray that we each take to heart, whether we be a page, an elected official, or someone in the gallery, your command to "Follow me." O God, may we all be followers of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We lift these prayers to you, the Almighty God. Amen. 

We were up by 4 at halftime in the championship game of our conference tournament. My team, which consisted of a bunch of scrappy girls, had by far exceeded expectations for the season. They had endured injury, heartache, and team turmoil and were now on the cusp of winning the school's first conference title in over a decade. My assistant coaches and I felt good about the way we played and our lead. 

The agreed upon game plan was to press the entire first half in order to wear down the opposing team's best player and then to switch to a 3-2 zone defense after halftime. The goal of the switch was to throw the opposing team off by playing a defense we had not played all season (yet practiced extensively). The game plan was going to work. However, as we were getting ready to exit the locker room and head back onto the floor, I looked at my team and said, "Girls, we are going to stay in '100.'" "100" was code for our full court press. My top assistant heard what I said and quickly grabbed my arm, "Coach, I thought we were going to switch to the 3-2 after halftime." My response, "I know, Coach. But, it's working. So, let's stick with it." He urged me one more time to reconsider, "But Coach. We thought long and hard about this game plan." "I know, but '100' is working. Let's stick with it." My assistant reluctantly agreed. As a result, we went back out onto the floor against a team that had made all the necessary half-time adjustments to easily beat our full court press. We ended up losing the game by 12. 

What Can My Halftime Mistakes Teach Us About Following Christ? 

1. Listen to the wise people around you. Proverbs 15.22 states that, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."  My team's plans failed that day because I refused to listen to my advisers. My assistant coach, who had twice as many years of head coaching experience as me, urged me to stick to the game plan. If I had listen to my assistant coach and stuck with the game plan, I believe we would have won. As you follow Jesus, make sure you have a "team" of older and more mature Christ-followers who are discipling you and speaking into your journey. 

2. Leave your pride at the door. Proverbs 16.18 says that "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Sadly, I cringe when I reflect on that halftime experience because, to simply put it, I was too stubborn to listen and too prideful to think my reasoning was wrong. As a result, I had to stand in front of a locker room full of hurting athletes who had worked so hard and endured so much just so they could win their conference tournament. Most of the time, a prideful person not only hurts themselves, but those around them. As you follow Jesus, leave your pride at the door by embracing your weaknesses. Embracing weakness helps us realize that we need others, and ultimately the grace of God, to accomplish anything worth accomplishing, especially Jesus-Kingdom size things.

3. Adjustments often need to be made. I believe that I committed a coaching cardinal sin during that halftime; I made no adjustments. The best coaches are always willing to take a good game plan and adjust to make it better. Proverbs 16.9  states, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." This verse acknowledges the fact that we, as humans, will make plans. Making plans is prudent and wise. (See the ant in Proverbs 6.) However, as we plan, we must always, ALWAYS be open to God's leading and when an adjustment in our plans needs to be made, we follow God's leading.  

If I had listened to the wise people around me, if I had left my pride at the door, and if I had made adjustments at halftime, there would be a conference championship banner hanging from the rafters of my team's gymnasium. Alas, there is not a banner and that halftime will always haunt me.