Saturday night lived up to the hype, but unfortunately for Duke fans like myself, it didn’t go as planned. Watching Duke lose to their archrival UNC and witness Coach K walk off the court for the final time, with a loss, was painful. It wasn’t what I expected, that’s for sure!
UNC has been on an incredible and impressive run throughout the entire tournament, and tonight they have the opportunity to win another National Championship as they face Kansas.
With huge performances from Caleb Love, sharpshooting from Brady Manek, and domination on the boards from Armando Bacot, UNC has been playing amazing basketball. Head coach, Hubert Davis, has also done a phenomenal job of preparing, motivating, and coaching his guys.
But what stands out to me the most, especially what was evident during one of the biggest matchups in college basketball history against Duke, is how UNC has played free and relaxed without fear or pressure.
Before the game Hubert Davis told ESPN’s Reece Davis, “And we get to play against Duke. That’s not pressure. For fans and for other people, they think that’s anxiety, that’s pressure or that’s a trump card — there’s no pressure, Rece. There’s joy and excitement that, ‘Wow, we put ourselves in a position to be able to experience that.'”
In this tournament, UNC has found itself in a unique position as a powerhouse program that was overlooked, questioned, and doubted based on a season of brutal losses, underrated players, and a rookie head coach. They had to fight hard to even make the tournament and they were given an 8th-seed.
All of this has allowed them to play loose without heavy expectations, stress, or weight placed on them. That freedom has never given UNC an excuse to play poorly, as they’re always held to the UNC standard, but rather it has motivated them to play outstanding basketball.
The Athletic’s Brian Hamilton wrote, “This was a group no longer bound to odds or percentages or reason.”
Of course, there’s always pressure on UNC to beat Duke and the weight of that game on Saturday was immense, but Duke is the team that carried most of the pressure and weight.
Duke was the team filled with highly recruited players, deemed more talented, hoping to revenge their last loss to UNC at Cameron Indoor, and playing with the weight of it being Coach K’s final season.
In reality, anything less than a National Championship would have been viewed as a disappointment for Duke and so the players had the pressure to perform for Coach K. That has to be tough to handle for 18 to 21-year-olds, and ultimately, Duke wasn’t able to do enough to give their retiring head coach a storybook ending.
Instead, UNC’s ability to play with freedom, joy, peace, and minimal pressure, allowed them to hit clutch shots, get stops on defense, and grab crucial rebounds which resulted in a humongous win.
As followers of Jesus, our outlook, approach, demeanor, and way we live our lives should reflect very similarly to how UNC has played in the tournament. We can live free and relaxed with peace and joy instead of stress and fear.
That’s because, when Jesus went to the cross and rose again on our behalf, He took the pressure off of us to perform and carried the weight and wrath of sin so that we could experience freedom from it.
Rather than being bound by our previous mistakes or expected to do everything exactly right to prove we’re good enough, Titus 3:5 (NLT) explains, “…He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy…”
Romans 6:14 (AMP) tells us, “For sin will no longer be a master over you, since you are not under Law [as slaves], but under [unmerited] grace [as recipients of God’s favor and mercy].”
Galatians 5:1 (NLT) reminds us, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”
We now get to experience the joy and excitement of life with Christ and the peace that comes from knowing our eternity is secure because of Him. The freedom we have doesn’t give us an excuse to “play poorly” or live sinfully, because we’re still held to a standard as believers, but rather it motivates us to pursue holiness and go “hit clutch shots.”
Galatians 5:13 (NLT) says, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
Today, let’s embrace what God has done for us and the freedom we have in Christ. Let’s stop living uptightly, stressed, and worn out with the pressure to perform…and enjoy the wins along the way to our eternal life with Him.
As Romans 6:22 (ESV) puts it, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to pay the punishment for my sin. I thank You for the freedom I have in Him and pray that I would live more freely. Please help me to understand that the pressure to perform has been removed. Thank you for Your grace and mercy. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
- How would your life look differently if you lived with more Christ-centered freedom?
- What is preventing you from living with more peace and joy and less stress and pressure?
