The NFL Draft and Being Wanted

The NFL draft is one of my favorite things to watch. Being from Cleveland, it is always our Super Bowl and one we routinely screw up. But then there is always next year. There is much to intrigue me about the draft:

• There is strategy to figuring out when someone is available or who might take someone
• There is drama as the names are read out
• There is disappointment as some are chosen and some are not
• There is elation as dreams are made true
• There is data and analytics to support the draft approach and strategies

As part of this, there are always a few people that inevitably slide. This year it was Laremy Tunsil and Connor Cook. It is very painful to watch as these guys are scrutinized as to why their draft stock keeps plummeting. Some for known reasons (Tunsil and the hacked social media which is a whole other story) and some for unknown reasons (Cook and his questionable leadership attributes).

The draft comes down to individual guys being wanted. We all want to be wanted. When I was in 7th grade, we had just moved to New Jersey and I went out for football. Hard to believe, but I was actually small for my age and when they held the draft for football, I was way down at the bottom. I played sparingly and this carried on to high school. Even after a growth spurt in 9th grade, I never went out for football.

Most in the NFL draft have relative value. In other words, the player is only wanted if another player of equal or greater value is not available. The only exception is Jared Goff, the number one player selected. Every other player's value is graded relative to others. Do you really think that if Philadelphia had passed on Carson Wentz that San Diego would not have taken him instead of Joey Bosa. And so on and so forth.

I am really glad that God does not look on us as those that are worthy only on the relative scale. God says that "He predestined us as adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to God according to the kind intention of His will" (Ephesians 1:5). These words are everything. Our drafting was not free. The draft picks were very costly. They cost God everything - thus the words "through Jesus Christ". God made what would be viewed in the football world as a stupid trade. He sacrificed the perfection of His Son to move up in the draft to take you and I in the top spot. Amazing. Further, our career merited nothing of this move up the draft order. We had no performance to merit it and in fact had Tunsil and Cook type question marks all over the place.

But God also sees our potential. Once on the team, there are expectations. The Browns drafted "character guys" that had the potential of being high performers. As the players were announced, it was amazing how they immediately identified with their new team. So also in Christ, my identity is reformulated around my team and my mission (2 Cor. 5:17).  In fact the word Christian means "little Christs". God pulled the mega-deal to get us, but now there is a team and a mission.