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I’ve been following Jeremy Lin since his first game as Knicks starter against the Nets on Feb 4. For an undrafted player, he’s just amazing. Today marks a personal history for him, 38 points against the Lakers - with Kobe scoring 34 points. I’d say that’s an amazing achievement. Now, maybe it’s easy to lose your calm when you get to this sudden burst of fame in a matter of 8 days, but I sure hope Jeremy doesn’t lose his calm. And, I really do mean that. 

I’ve collected all his highlight videos from the four games he played as a starter until today. If you haven’t watched them or if you haven’t heard of him, I highly recommend you watch these videos. Even if you’re not a big basketball fan - I’m not, I prefer soccer - you’ll still be able to appreciate and agree that he was amazing in these games.

Right now, I am officially a fan. 

But, there’s more to him that intrigues me. From the three interviews that he did after the games (as shown in the videos), he clearly states that the win was not because of him - but because of the great teamwork that the Knicks have shown, and that he would appreciate if people would start to see the Knicks as a team - and not just one person - has grown magnificently over the course of the week. It’s a bit strange for someone who’s in a spotlight to say something so selflessly. 

As a fan, I’ve visited his Wikipedia page twice today. And, I think because of his recent game against the Lakers, his Wikipedia page just got a lot of updates over the course of 16 hours. And today I found this sentence on his Personal Life section: 

Lin grew up in a devout Christian family and would one day like to be a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either home or abroad.

That’s interesting. He loves basketball, but he knows where he’s going in the long run. And, attached to that sentence are three citations to three different sources on the net. I checked them all, and here are what I found.

First, an interview he did with NBADraft.net back in Jun 16, 2010. 

NBADraft.net: If you couldn’t play basketball what would be your profession?

Jeremy Lin: I would be a pastor. It is something I think about doing when my playing days are over.

Then, this interview with Sports Illustrated back in Jul 26, 2010. 

But he will also have to reconcile his beliefs with the NBA lifestyle. A non-denominational Christian, he speaks openly of playing for the glory of God, of one day becoming a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either here or abroad.

Lin said that when he showed up to play in the Mavericks’ mini-camp, he was handed a jersey with the No. 7, God’s number, which represents Divine completion.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that’s interesting,’ “ Lin said. “Deep down inside, that was God’s way of reminding me he was there with me.”

But Lin also has heard the stories about the NBA — reckless spending, women and drugs.

“I know there is a lot of temptation out there and I have heard about the NBA lifestyle,” Lin said. “I am not saying I am better than anybody else, but I am going to try to live the way I have always lived and try not to change just because I am in the NBA.”

Finally, this long interview he did with Patheos back in Mar 3, 2010. (It’s quite a long interview, but I highly recommend you to read ‘em if you really want to know who Jeremy Lin is).

My parents also took me to church ever since I was a little kid. I grew up in the church, but I didn’t really become a Christian until I was a freshman in high school. That’s when the gospel really started to make sense to me and I was ready to give my life to God.

Then, Christianity didn’t become a significant part of my approach to basketball until the end of my high school career and into college. That’s when I began to learn what it means to play for the glory of God. My parents had often talked about it and told me that I should play for God’s glory, but I never understood quite what that meant. That was something that really boggled my mind. My parents hadn’t gone through what I was going through, being an Asian-American basketball player in America. I thought, “I want to do well for myself and for my team.  How can I possibly give that up and play selflessly for God?”

Slowly, God revealed more to me. I started learning how to trust in Him, not to focus so much on whether I win or lose but to have faith that God has a perfect plan. For me to put more of an emphasis on my attitude and the way that I play, rather than my stats or whether we win a championship. I learned more about a godly work ethic and a godly attitude, in terms of being humble, putting others above yourself, being respectful to refs and opponents. There are really so many ways you can apply your faith to basketball.

This “playing (selflessly) for God” theme seems to be a recurring theme for Jeremy Lin. I’m pretty sure that it’s not just a one-of thing. He’s really into it. He’s living it. If it seems hard to believe, hold on - ‘cause there’s more to it. Not just playing (selflessly) for God, but Jeremy Lin also tries to be humble (consistently). It’s going to be hard when the spotlight is on him.

We as Christians are called to be humble.  And if we really understand the gospel, we will be humble.  We should be humble, and understand that everything that is good comes from God.

I’m a Christian, and I’ve been trying very hard to be humble. It’s not an easy thing. But, I pray (now, more than ever) that the LORD would give me the strength and capacity to be humble and surrender wholeheartedly to the LORD. And I pray that He would give Jeremy Lin the strength and wisdom to stay humble while being very successful in his career. 

There are times when I’m out there on the basketball court and it feels like I’m not even controlling my own body.  It’s almost as though someone else is using me as a puppet.  There are things I do, that, when I look at them afterwards, I wonder how I did that.  In moments like that, I realize that there is something more to what’s happening around me, something supernatural about it.

Right now, he’s a real role model for me. And, I hope he can inspire others as well. As the media will dig more on him - and as (I believe) his career would succeed even more, I sure hope the LORD stays with him, blesses him, and uses him so that a lot more people would be drawn to HIM. Now, that’s what I call a real-world ministry, when “playing (selflessly) for God” really brings glory to the LORD.

I would leave you with one of Jeremy Lin’s favorite verses from the Bible, taken from his YouTube video (that he and his friend made back in Nov 12, 2011). 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for human masters. - Colossians 3:23 (NIV).