Stop Selling Your Tickets

After three Game 7s and other tight series, the first round of the NBA Playoffs is over. As we turn our attention to the next set of matchups, there are tremendous storylines and big stars still in the mix.

In the East, many eyes will be on the Knicks and Sixers after 7th-seeded Philadelphia came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the 2nd-seeded Celtics.

Sixers star center Joel Embiid was healthy enough to play in the last four games of the series and was a major difference maker, averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Embiid desires to make a deep playoff run after some disappointing appearances in recent years, and he realizes how important the fans will be as they take on the Knicks again.

Back in 2024, the Sixers lost to the Knicks in a series that included the Knicks fans infiltrating Philadelphia's home arena. They let New York fans in, and before they knew it, they took over and negatively affected the home crowd.

The other day, during his press conference, Embiid made it clear he doesn’t want that to happen again and has a specific request.

"I just have a message for our fans. Last time we played the Knicks, it felt like [Philadelphia] was Madison Square Garden East. We're going to need the support...Don't sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys."

Embiid isn’t mad at Knicks fans for buying tickets, but he's troubled by Sixers fans who are betraying their team and bringing down the whole crowd.

The Sixers franchise is doing everything they can to sell tickets to actual fans in Philadelphia, with their website reading, “Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of the Greater Philadelphia area. Residency will be based on the credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside the Greater Philadelphia area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”

That won’t prevent people in Philadelphia from selling their tickets on the secondary market, though, and that’s where the concern lies. We know how important home court advantage can be, so Sixers fans have to understand what’s at stake.

True Sixers fans will buy tickets and attend the game, rather than sell them to a potential Knicks fan. They don’t want to hurt their team or let in someone who could negatively affect it.

They want their team to win, so they understand they can’t ruin the home crowd with Knicks cheers running rampant. They can’t give the Knicks a voice or a seat in their arena. They need to keep them out.

When it comes to Sixers fans selling their tickets, everyone representing the home team has to take it seriously rather than tolerate, dismiss, or accept it.

Home team ticket holders might think, "I’m just selling one or two tickets; it’s no big deal, a few Knicks fans won’t make a difference."

Or there could be a sentiment that says, it is what it is, people are going to sell their tickets, you can’t stop them, so oh well. 

You may have other home ticket holders who knowingly and willingly sell their tickets and justify doing so, and who don’t consider the potential damage of letting even a few opposing fans in.

Of course, money is the driving force, but how could a true Sixers fan be comfortable selling their tickets and turning their back on their favorite team, knowing it will hurt them and the fan base?  

While preparing to watch this intriguing series and find out whether Sixers fans take this issue seriously or let Knicks fans take over, I hope the parallel to how we treat sin challenges us today.

As followers of Jesus, He calls us to pursue holiness and purity in our lives as we seek to honor and obey God. The convicting question we have to face is, do we take sin seriously, or are we okay letting a little bit in?

Are we comfortable “selling our tickets,” letting sin infiltrate our lives or our families’ lives, and allowing it to take over? 

Also, are we okay with other believers and members of the body of Christ “selling their tickets” and allowing sin to run rampant?

Do we understand what’s at stake and realize the dangers of giving sin a voice and a seat in our “arena”? 

Are we going to be like Joel Embiid and the Sixers organization, and deal with the issues and concerns in our “arena”?

Are we willing to address the problem of “selling tickets” or sin head-on, do something about it, call it what it is, and not overlook, deny, or pretend like it’s not a big deal?

When we tolerate, accept, overlook, or dismiss sin amongst other believers of Jesus, before you know it, the whole arena is fine with “selling their tickets,” as negative attitudes and behaviors permeate the church.

Unfortunately, just as the apostle Paul wrote with concern to the Corinthian church, we still encounter those who acknowledge being believers but blatantly disobey God and embrace “selling tickets.”

Even one person who represents Jesus and knowingly and willingly engages in sinful activities affects the whole body of Christ.

Paul speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (ESV): “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.

"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

The ESV Study Bible notes explain, “By analogy, when publicly known sin in the church is not subjected to church discipline, it will silently spread its destructive consequences throughout the whole fellowship.”

I appreciate Joel Embiid and the Sixers recognizing what was happening within their fan base and imploring them to stop, because it affects the players and other fans and creates division in the arena rather than unity. 

Today, let’s be encouraged not to treat sin lightly or act like it doesn’t really matter, but rather to implore others to stop “selling their tickets.” Let’s build each other up in the Lord, pushing each other toward holiness and purity as we rely on God’s Word, grace, and mercy.

Let’s not be comfortable with sin continuing, but let’s recognize it and not allow it to hold us back anymore. Let’s implore one another to depend on the Holy Spirit’s power to break free.

Just like a full Sixers arena with fans all representing their team and cheering together, let’s be encouraged to live that out similarly as followers of Jesus, described in Ephesians 4:15-16 (NLT):

“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help me to take Your Word seriously and recognize the harm and destruction that even a little sin can have. Please help me speak the truth in love, embrace accountability, and implore those around me to stop anything that goes against the Holy life You’ve called us into. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.