A personal game-within-a-game I play when watching basketball games is to guess in the split second between the time when a player shoots a jump shot and it comes down in or near the basket whether or not they felt their shot or flung the ball.
If they felt it there is a high probability it will go in the basket. If they flung it there is a high probability it is not going in the basket. I do not keep a tally, but my impression is that I am correct more than half the time.
When players are desperate to make a basket, and their mind and body are not in appropriate alignment, they fling the ball as if throwing up a prayer. When players feel a shot, and their mind and body are in appropriate alignment, it is often a thing of great beauty to experience as the ball often hits nothing but net.
I am always amazed at the shots taken from the corner of the court where the backboard is not in sight to aid in depth perception. Those are some of the best felt shots. Also, 35-foot three-point shots that hit nothing but net amaze me. There is no way to measure that distance accurately. It is felt. Of course, it also comes about by many hours of practice. Repetition that seeks to learn from each felt shot often hardwires the experience.
Many players are able to visualize the arc and path of the ball from their hands into the basket. They feel with their heart the journey of the ball, and do not just throw the ball up hoping it comes down in the basket. Often the players themselves know when the ball leaves their hands whether or not the ball is going in the basket. You can tell by what they do next.
While it may be a stretch from your perspective — but not from mine — I believe that authentic Christian worship where the Triune God is encountered and experienced is like feeling a shot in basketball. Too often Christians are desperate for a deeper relationship with God, or a quick spiritual fix, or their desired answer to a prayer, that the praise and worship of God is a desperation shot or at least a shot not felt.
As you watch March Madness I dare you to think about anything you want to about an authentic Christian lifestyle except whether or not a shot is felt or flung, and whether or not your relationship with the Triune God in Christian worship is forced or experienced in joyful praise. I dare you!
This idea of felt or flung has other applications for an authentic Christian lifestyle. Sunday school or other small group experiences are felt or flung. It works like this. Connecting with and attending a small group or class is a task to complete or an experience to have. Flung or felt? It is flung when it is an experience, an obligation, a habit, or an escape. It is felt when it is an experience to treasure — both in the relationships present and the learnings that are anticipated.
More than 20 years ago in my denomination of heritage a 13-week study of the book Experiencing God became popular. There was an urban legend that circulated that said that a layperson upon completion of the study said to his pastor, “Well, I finished that study. What’s the next study?” What he was saying is that he did not experience God. It was simply a course of study flung at him that he never felt.
It does not mean there was anything wrong with the study. It is often more the person and their attitude and preparation to feel what they are experiencing that makes the difference. It is also the attitude plus the mental and physical preparation of the basketball player that helps them feel their shots.
Many other similar studies are characterized the same way. Even a process I sponsor and champion called 100 Days of Discernment using Dialogue and Prayer Triplets is felt or flung. I can tell the difference in individuals, triplets, and the entire church as to whether for the majority of the church it was a felt or flung experience.
When an authentic Christian lifestyle is felt, it is a thing of great beauty. When it is flung it is a task or obligation that involves going through the motions, but may actually be wasted effort. How is your Christian lifestyle? Felt or flung?