Spreading the Gospel thru Basketball

Is it possible to play basketball at the highest collegiate level but also follow Jesus and be a light for him?

Well, we have a blessing today on Truth Talk. I'm Stu Epperson. With me are two college basketball players. I call them the North Carolina Splash Brothers. They are on fire for Christ. They play at High Point University.

Chase Johnson, Trey Bentham. I don't even know where to start, but I know that there were 200 guys this morning that were blown away by your testimony. A hundred percent, man. Yeah, we were super blessed to be able to speak this morning. Just give our testimony a little bit. You know, we talked about identity and the fact that, you know, me and Chase both found our identity in basketball. And, you know, as Romans 12-2 says, do not be conformed by the things of the world but be transformed by the renewal of our mind.

We were so conformed in basketball and what the world had to offer. And it was on a specific day. Mine was November 23rd, 2021. Chase, yours was January.

I don't have a specific date. I guess I would say, like, August 11th was when I texted one of my buddies and was like, I'm on fire for God. But it was a late summer in 2023 where God got a hold of my life.

I want to hear just a quick breakdown from each of you of what happened, what kind of precipitated that. Both of you grew up in Christian homes. I mean, both of you had exposure to the gospel early, right?

Yeah, 100 percent, man. You know, my granddad, both my grandparents were both pastors. My dad was heavily invested with Christianity and just on the entrepreneurial aspect. My mom, all my whole family, man, I grew up in the church and, you know, I would say that I was a Christian, but I did not walk it whatsoever.

And like I said before, it was November 23rd, 2021 when basketball was failing me, I felt empty. And that's when I realized I really do. I don't have a relationship with the Lord, but I need to. And this is something that can, you know, help me live on purpose no matter what happens with, you know, no matter what happens in the world. So, yeah, I grew up in the church, but it wasn't until November 23rd, 2021 when I really went all in with my faith.

Okay, that's the voice of Trey Benham, Chase Johnson. How can, how easy is it to buy the lie from the world that this is all there is? You got to go in for the gusto. You got to eat, drink, and be merry with basketball. Everyone's telling you that's your thing. But then when you get there, it's hollow, it's empty. Talk about that allure that both you guys experienced. Yeah, I mean, the enemy is so good at what he does.

Like Trey always says, it's a great, it's one of those good ones. He says it's the enemy. He shares 99% truth and 1% lie. And that 1% lie is what can, it makes sin enticing and it makes the world look so great. But we learn all over in the Bible, right? King Solomon, he had everything.

He had 300 wives. He had, he was the wisest, the most richest person in the world. But he, at the end of his life, said all is vanity, vanity, vanity. And the thing is, if we put our identity in anything else other than Christ, we're going to fail.

And it's going to leave us short-handed and empty. And no matter what the enemy tells us, no matter what the world has to offer, it doesn't compare to Christ. As Jesus says, if you want to follow me, you must deny yourself, literally die, and take up your cross and follow Jesus. I want to hear about your journey back to Christ. But Trey, add to that, the allure, the world's telling you, go get it, man. Just go step on it, whatever you can, to get to the top.

A hundred percent. I think the verse that comes to my mind is Colossians 3 23, it says, serve wholeheartedly, serve unto the Lord, not man, knowing that you've received your inheritance as your reward in full, serve the Lord Christ. You know, it's so tempting to want to serve ourselves, which is man, and serve others. But in reality, if we serve Christ and Christ alone, that reward will be eternal and it won't be temporary.

Anything that this world has to offer is temporary, but we don't worship the creation. We worship the creator and we remember who he is. And when we do that, we are living on purpose and we have a vision and we go out there and we give it everything that we have for him and him alone. And that is what gives us passion and that what keeps us going back towards him every single day. And we're going to be so on fire for him and on fire for whatever field of work that we're in.

You know, me and Chase, we're still in basketball season right now, and we have a fire for basketball unlike we've had before because we know it's not for us. We know that we serve others. The Lord did not come down to be served, but to serve others. When we do that, we're able to be a disciple and to be a light. Wow, and I want to come back to Trey and hear about his journey to rededicate his life to Christ. A rough injury that happened right after that, but first Chase, you had a big brother really be big brother to you.

It wasn't comfortable, but tell us how you got there to that moment when first John wrecked your life. Yeah, so I come home from college and just living in the world, thinking I'm a Christian, claiming Christianity. As a lot of us can do, we can claim Christianity, but it's one thing to talk it, it's another to walk it. And so I get home talking with my brother who had a similar testimony, and he just asked me how I was living my life. And we were talking, and my brother is a role model to me, and when he speaks, I listen, and God knew that. And so he spoke through my brother to me and told my brother how I was living my life. And my brother was like, dude, don't go around proclaiming the gospel, posting things on your story, wearing a cross on your neck. We're in Christian bracelets, because right now you're living a life that's leading you to hell. And a couple days later, he sends me a devotional on first John, as I'm a little awestruck of what he told me. My pride's kicking in, my flesh is telling me I'm great. And I come across first John one six in the devotional that says, if you say you have fellowship with the Lord, while you walk in darkness, you lie and do not practice the truth. And that's when the scales were removed from my eyes, and I saw Christ for who he really was.

By God's power created in me, and in that moment, I surrendered my life to the Lord and gave back to him what is really his to begin with. Our lives were bought with a price. Until we understand that, we can live out true joy, true freedom, true hope. A lot of people think that if they come to Christ, that they're not going to have fun in this world anymore.

But it's actually the complete opposite. Before we have Christ, we are not living in fun. We are living in miserable. We are being miserable. We are living in a life that's leading us to destruction. Wow, and Trey, you can identify with posing, putting it on thick, having the right answers, having the right little sermon as for Christian that's growing up in the family, but your heart drifted and you were following a whole other God. 100%, man. I think the biggest thing for me was I didn't want people to know the truth of my situation.

I was really down bad whenever basketball wasn't going my way. And I think the biggest thing that Christ did for me was he allowed me to be exposed to the reality of what's real. And kind of what Chase was saying is when you serve a false God, reality is not reality. Real is not real because it's counterfeit. It's not real life. It's not a real God.

That's why it's called idolatry. It's not real. And so basically when you completely submit to Christ and Christ alone, you are being vulnerable enough to accept reality and to live out what is actually real, and you live out what actually is truth. And I think that is essential for everyone to understand, for everyone to renew their minds daily on truth so that they can walk in the freedom that truth will give.

The truth will set you free and that's 100% real. Wow, Chase Johnson, Trey Binnum, two high performing athletes at the college level, Division 1, High Point University. They're on the same team as my nephew, David. I'm so proud of you guys. I love your team. Coach Huss is doing an amazing job. All your coaches are off the charts.

Your assistant coach, Clayman, just got a nice recognition to be a top 100 power lunch. So many good things happening, but keeping Christ number one. I want to come back after this quick break and ask you guys what you would say to your younger self and what you'd say to so many young athletes out there that look up to you, and how would you encourage people to get on the right track in terms of identity. You all have a whole talk you do on identity that we've touched on a little bit, but we haven't got into it.

So when we come back on Truth Talk, we'll ask you guys that question, wrap it up, and be sure you get this podcast and download it and share it with everyone, especially someone that's searching, struggling, trying to find hope in anything but Christ. Chase and Trey, two of the best three-point shooters I've ever known, and they are lighting it up at High Point University. There's nothing like that feeling of watching a three-point shot drop right in the hole.

I mean, the shredding of the net and the cheering of the crowd, and I love it. I'm a shooter. Well, maybe I should say I used to be a shooter. I probably haven't touched a ball in 20 years.

I mean, honestly, I'm getting so old. But these guys can really light it up, and one of them is the left-handed sniper. The other one just shoots it from the right. And your range, like, we're at Truth Network world headquarters right now.

Like, I'm thinking if you stepped outside the door of my office here, you could probably just drop a bucket anywhere. Yeah, I mean, Stu talks us up a big game, but, I mean, me and Chase love to go out there and just shoot anywhere on the court, man. We practice from half court. We'll go out there.

We'll try to hit, like, five in a row from half court. We have fun with it, man, but, you know, kind of what we were talking about earlier, you know, like, if you find your identity in something, even if it's something that is really good, because in reality, God has given us His creation to be stewards of His creation if we realize that we put Him first. You've got to worship the Creator, not the creation. So anybody that is out there, specifically younger men or women that, you know, play sports, or, honestly, anyone that works at anything that they do, there's a temptation to find your identity in what you do rather than find your identity in who you are. We are sons and daughters of Jesus Christ. That is who we are.

No amount of worldly gain will ever give us truth. The only thing that is true is that we are adopted into Jesus Christ's sonship and daughtership. So I would encourage you guys to go out there and to remember who you are. Remember to renew your minds every single day. Remember to put your focus on Christ. Since then, we have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

That's Colossians 3.1. I would encourage you every single day to remember who you are. That is the key to this whole process is to remember, because if you remember who you are, you will walk in authority of who you are, and you will remember that your identity is not found in what you do, but who you are as sons and daughters of Jesus Christ.

That's such a good word, Chase. What would you say if you went ahead and took the role of the older brother who came into your life and gave you some tough love that ended up being transformative because he exposed you to the gospel and it really turned your life around, that connection with Christ through your big brother. Be a big brother to everyone out there. What would you say to everyone out there about getting real with Christ and what's really important? I would say to understand that this life isn't about you. It's about Jesus, right? And Jesus says it in Matthew 20 in his word.

He's talking to his disciples, and he says, The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. But we go throughout our days, and even my younger self and the younger athletes out there and younger generation, we can think this life was about us and thinking that we have to do all these things and earn all these things. But at the end of the day, it's about surrendering your life to Jesus, living out your calling for what he has for you. And you can only do that by surrendering and putting your faith in the one who gave up his life for you, lived the life we couldn't live, and died the death that we deserved.

That's what truly matters. And when we have that perspective, which is an eternal perspective, then we can go out and we have more passion and we have more drive to serve others, to attack our jobs or to attack the sport that we're going in because we've removed self for serve. But when you have self first and serve last, you're going to be miserable and you're not going to succeed the way you want to because you don't have God on your side. And without God, you can do nothing. And Romans reminds us of that. 8, it says that with God, all things are possible.

All things are possible, right? If God is for me, who can be against me? And so I would just say to the younger people out there, man, put your faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for your sins.

Understand that this life is not about you and that you can have more success and more joy and more hope and freedom in whatever you're doing in life when you have Jesus Christ as your king. Trey, you talk about coming to Christ. Both of you guys really rededicated your life to Christ. Now you're both upperclassmen playing at a great university, playing at a high level of basketball. What do you say to maybe younger teammates?

You guys have started a team Bible study, which is awesome. But what do you say? I mean, these kids come on this campus. They're dropping buckets, dunking the ball. They've got fans everywhere. They've got good-looking girls interested in them that they never got.

In middle school, they wouldn't like that. Now all of a sudden, temptation is coming like crazy. A lot of people are unfaithful to their future wives. There's a lot of sexual sin, a lot of drinking, partying, part of that allure. What do you say to people, athletes, non-athletes, about growing and dealing with that temptation with the Lord and keeping Him the focus?

Yeah, 100 percent, man. I think the devil, all he really wants to do is just distract you, man. He throws out so many distractions. And I'm going to keep it really simple because the answer is really simple. It's conforming your mind. It's not being conformed, but to transform your mind every single day.

It's simple. It's something that you just have to remember, man. It's every single day.

It's not once saved, always saved. It's every single day you renew your mind. You wake up, you pray, you read Scripture, and you just ask for God's hand to just protect you.

Because in reality, when you pray, it draws you so much closer to the Lord, which will further you from the distractions of this world. And the devil is going to try to distract you. He's going to try to lure you in by something that's not real. You got to remember that it's not real. It's counterfeit.

It looks real. The devil uses, like me and Chase talk about all the time, the devil uses 99% truth. And he twists it with his 1% lie to make you agree to partake in a distraction that will lead you down a path that you will never even realize you would ever go down.

That's how he gets you. It's one little step at a time, little one distraction after another. And it starts with scrolling on social media.

It starts there, and it just escalates all the way to, you know, unheard of things you never think you'd do. I would say every single day, dedicate your day to Christ. Pray, read the Bible, memorize scripture.

Seek after him, Matthew 633, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will be added unto thee. Everything else means anything that you think you need or that you want. In reality, all you need is Christ. Everything else, God will give you exactly what you need. You do not need the distractions of this world, man. I'm telling you, it'll lead you down a path you never thought you'd go down. Just remember who Christ is. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about.

Such a good word. And you're getting married. Congratulations, man. You're getting married at the end of the season. But it's also an important reminder that even guys on your team and other people and kids in college, whoever's listening to this right now, if you're single, don't cheat on your future wife or your future husband, right?

100%, man, 100%. Ephesians 5 25, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, willing to give himself up for her. Are you willing to sacrifice everything that you have for your future wife?

If you are, which you will be able to because of Christ's love for you, he did that, his sacrificial love. You participate in his sacrificial love. You will remember that you're able to sacrifice for your future wife. I think that is super beneficial on getting married June 1st.

Me and my fiancé, Bailey, we talk about it all the time. Not our will be done, but God's will be done. When you ally God's will for your relationship, it will remove you from your fleshly desires within your relationship. And you can do that as a personal level if you're not in a relationship, man. There's an opportunity for you to set your hearts on Christ, what will surpass any distraction of a worldly, fleshly temptation that is counterfeit.

It's not real, man. You got to remember that it's going to lead you down a path that you never thought you would ever go down. And it was going to lead you empty. It's going to leave you broken and not satisfied. The only thing that will ever be able to satisfy you is Jesus Christ.

Wow, Chase, what's your word on that? Staying in the Word every day. You're getting up early. I called you one day and I was thinking, you know, he's going to roll out of bed at 10 a.m., maybe get in the Word a little bit, do a quick devotion. And he's like, no, Stu, I'm up before seven and I'm in the Word. I've already been in the Word an hour.

I'm like, wow, I need him to mentor me in that. But talk about the importance of, you know, kind of echoing what Trey said about staying focused on Christ, getting in the Word, especially with all this milieu of temptation, just throwing itself at you guys. And it's everywhere.

You don't even have to go to a frat house to be tempted. It could be on your phone. Yeah. The verse that comes to mind in that is 1 Peter 5a, right? It says, be alert and sober-minded, for the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking to devour you. And how do you be alert and sober-minded? Well, you have to renew your mind and God's word daily. How do you renew your mind and God's word daily? You have to surrender your life to Jesus and put your faith in him. And when you do that, you have the power of the Holy Spirit living through you.

See, the thing is, we fall to temptation and we fall to the desires of our flesh and sin when we try and control things on our own. And for the unbeliever out there that doesn't have Christ, you're going to fall every time because you don't have the Holy Spirit to give you discernment to flee from it. But for the believer, you have discernment. You have the Spirit to dive into God's Word and read the truth, that we know the truth and the truth shall set us free.

John 8.32. And so just renewing our mind daily in the Word, that's got to be the first thing you start with. Diving into the Word every single morning when you wake up. Going into prayer, presenting your body as a living sacrifice for that day and every day that God gives you because every day that you have is a gift from God by his grace and mercy. We aren't promised tomorrow, so be intentional with today.

Don't think that you have time to get into the Word later in that day. Die to yourself in the morning. Pray. Renew your mind.

And then if you want to do a deep dive later, do it. But start your day in the Word and remember and reset your heart of what truly matters to go out and be a servant of Christ and a disciple of Jesus Christ. One thing we haven't hit specifically, but I think our listeners and I have witnessed it firsthand is the importance of Christian fellowship. Iron sharp and iron, Proverbs 27.17, building each other up in the faith, brothers and sisters in Christ. We're out of time, but how critical has that been even in this friendship right here?

Oh my gosh, it's unbelievable. And the cool part about it is it's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our intercessor and it brings us so close together. And I think what is awesome about fellowship is whenever you call each other out according to the way Christ calls us up, right? We're not calling each other out. We're calling each other up to a higher standard.

That allows us to really grow. And I think true fellowship starts whenever we remove ourselves from the equation, allow the Holy Spirit to work. You know, Galatians 2 20 says, for I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

So now I live in this earthly body, trusting in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. When we remove ourselves from the equation, we allow the Holy Spirit to move within our relationships, within ourselves, literally the sky is the limit. Like you never know what could happen, man. Like God is always moving.

And you know, it's like a domino effect. When two or three are gathered in thy name, there I am. Like you got two or more, whenever they start going after spiritual strongholds, you're able to see real revival within, you know, that's what we're praying for at High Point. We're praying for revival and we believe it's gonna happen.

And I believe that it's gonna be 100% the power of the Holy Spirit, has nothing to do with our human flesh, has everything to do with us just being vessels for God to work through. Wow, and that's a prayer. Everyone pray for these guys. Pray for Trey. Pray for Chase as their witness with the team and everywhere they go as God's using them to bring Christ in every situation, the reality of the kingdom.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Chase, is it good to have a brother in Christ like this guy here? It's the best.

It's life changing. God puts these people in your life for a reason. Trey's a brother of mine. He became a brother of mine very quick.

And we just sharpen each other daily, just every day. Fellowship is so important and I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't be growing in Christ how I am today without Trey in my life, so. Well, and you guys are great mentors and brothers in Christ to guys on that team. You know, Andrew, Liam, all these guys. You know, my nephew, David, he's on there. All these, you know, Bodo, you got a great group of guys and y'all are wonderful leaders and so many opportunities there to encourage them. And as I introduce you this morning, I'm going to say goodbye. I introduced you guys this morning, you know, when they called Steph and they called Clay the Splash Brothers, you know, when they won the world championships out there with Golden State. I call you the North Carolina Splash Brothers because both of you guys are dropping it from long range. But you're splashing people with living water. As you just said, if you drink that water, you'll never thirst again because that's what it's about.

Because long after you're my age, you can't shoot or can't hardly do anything anymore. You got the Lord and that's all you need, right? That's a hundred percent, man. I completely agree.

I think Chase would agree too. A hundred percent. Bible verse, get out of here. Give us your Bible verse. You may have already given it. Real quick, each of you, a quick verse.

Get out of here. I would say my grace is sufficient unto you for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness so that Christ power may rest on me. That's 2 Corinthians 12, nine.

And so I think that's huge. Just being a vessel, man, being a vessel for the Lord to work through. That's what it's all about. Keep it simple, man. Remove yourself from the equation. Allow the Holy Spirit to work through you. All right, what's your verse? Psalm 16, 11 says, you make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy and at your right hand is presence.

I mean, and at your right hand is pleasures forevermore. I love it. Trey and Chase, you guys have been a blessing to me. Thanks so much for hanging out today on Truth Talk Podcast. Everyone share this. Maybe this could be something that could encourage one person today to grow closer to Christ, to try to find their true meaning in life, because in his presence and only in his presence is fullness of joy.