Linsanity.  Super Lintendo.  The Mighty Lin.  Linvincible.  Linspiration.  Linning.

In the unlikely event that you haven’t read a newspaper, surfed the Internet, or watched SportsCenter on ESPN recently, let me introduce you to Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks point guard who has lit up the Big Apple and mesmerized sports fans across the nation over the last few weeks.  Lin’s story is so fascinating and inspiring because it beautifully demonstrates the power of perseverance by an athlete with a heart that has refused to be beaten down or defeated by setbacks, reversals, dismissals, and oversights in others’ evaluations of him. 

Even though Lin led his high school basketball team to a state championship in California in ’05-’06, he received no scholarship offers from big-time college programs.  Lin was a two-time All Ivy-League First Team member during the four years he played at Harvard, but still went undrafted by the NBA after graduating in 2010.  He signed with his hometown Golden State Warriors, played in the NBA’s D-League, was claimed and promptly waived by the Rockets last December, then was picked up by the Knicks on December 27. 

When the Knicks sent Lin down to the D-League’s Erie BayHawks, he responded with a triple-double (28 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists) in a game on January 20.  Three days later, he was back in New York and got his chance, which he has maximized, to say the least.  Among the most amazing feats on Lin’s increasingly impressive highlight reel was the 38 points he dropped on Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on February 10.

Like Tim Tebow, Lin is very open about his Christian faith, although he hasn’t yet inaugurated a signature prayer posture (and hopefully he won’t!).  He is a humble, hard-working, team-player who can dish the ball just as well as he can score (he had 14 assists in the Knicks’ victory over my Dallas Mavericks on Sunday). 

While I’m grateful for this “feel good story of the year” in the sports world, the most Linspirational part of it to me is the fact that Lin’s beliefs, character, and talent are exactly the same as they were when hardly anyone knew who he was. 

As God’s children, we are called to walk in faith, integrity, and holiness, regardless of whether everyone is watching us or no one is.