The Danger of “Over-Celebrating”

With their backs against the wall in a must-win Game 6, the Indiana Pacers pieced together their most impressive performance of the NBA Finals thus far, dismantling the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday night.

Gutting his way through a strained calf injury sustained in Game 5, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton contributed 14 points and five assists in 23 minutes of action, giving his team an emotional boost to propel the franchise within one win of its first-ever NBA title.

Though the electricity and excitement of Thursday evening's victory were palpable, the Pacers are attempting to ensure that they avoid falling into the trap of over-celebrating their Game 6 win as they prepare for the most crucial game in franchise history.

Speaking after the win, Haliburton remarked, "We've got to control what we can. So much of these games has come down to who is going to start the fight from a physicality standpoint, take care of the ball better, and rebound the ball better. Those are the important things that we need to focus on. I don't even want to say, celebrate this one tonight, and move on. It's done with. We did our job to take care of home court, and we have to be ready to compete in Game 7."

As great as the feeling of last night's win was for the Pacers, it would be detrimental for them to focus too much time or attention on how well they performed in Game 6.

It’s good to be thankful for the win, but they can’t dwell on the Game 6 win and lose sight of the more important prize of an NBA Championship in front of them.

After all, a Game 6 victory doesn't ultimately mean very much if you drop the ball in Game 7. It’s all about the Championship, even though Game 6 was a nice win.

As followers of Jesus, there are undeniably times in our lives when it is appropriate for us to celebrate the "victories" and blessings God gives to us. The Bible speaks at length about the importance of thankfulness and gratitude in the lives of believers.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV) states, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

While thankfulness should be a hallmark characteristic of believers' lives, we must also acknowledge the temptation to over-celebrate good things or moments in our lives, which can be detrimental to us. We must remember that our “Game 6 wins” are nice, but ultimately, it’s all about God.

In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul speaks at length about some of the characteristics of unbelievers. In verses 24-25 (ESV), he writes, "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."

For unbelievers, one of their great sins is that they worship the things that God has created rather than worshiping God himself. In other words, they dwell on the Game 6 win and lose sight of the more important prize of an NBA Championship in front of them.

Sadly, however, even followers of Christ can fall into the trap of committing the same sin if we lose the right perspective.

God has given us countless gifts and blessings for which we ought to be thankful. But at the same time, we must always recognize that God blesses us and gives us good gifts for the ultimate purpose that those things would draw our attention and worship back to Him.

We are called to worship the giver of the gifts rather than the gifts themselves.

Over-celebrating can also prove detrimental to us in other ways when it distracts us from maintaining an appropriate attitude and mentality as we navigate through life.

For example, when we experience a level of victory and success in our battle against sin, we can sometimes be tempted to let our guard down as we "over-celebrate" the previous wins in our lives.

Though we can and should be grateful for the work of sanctification God has accomplished in our lives, we must always take care to ensure that our gratitude doesn't lead to complacency or a lack of eagerness to continue growing in our faith and fighting against sin.

Today, let's take a moment to thank the Lord for all the wonderful things He has given us and done in our lives. At the same time, let’s also ensure that our thankfulness ultimately leads us to worship God and glorify Him with our lives more earnestly.

I'm Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for all of the amazing ways that You have blessed me. Please help me to always focus my attention and worship on You and not on the things You graciously give to me. Give me an ever-increasing hunger to know and glorify You in all I do. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.