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Posted: June 26, 2008 - 21:23 CT
This blog entry will expand on some comments received from a
reader in response to our recent
Boston Celtics article. The primary themes from this article was perspective and
priorities. It is certainly acceptable to admire the
abilities of great athletes (and men and women of other
professions), but we must not follow the sports writer's
habits of ascribing deity on them. As I'm writing
this, the Dallas Morning News published a picture of the
women gymnasts who had just qualified for the Olympic games.
Above the picture in big bold letters stretching across the
page was the headline "The Anointed Ones".
In 1998, the world watched as Mark McGuire, Gen Griffey Jr
and Sammy Sosa were all on pace to break the Major League
Baseball single season home run record (60 home runs) set by
Roger Maris of the Yankees in 1927. The media
spectacle increased as the lead swung back and forth almost
daily. Griffey dropped out with an injury and McGuire
eventually claimed the record with 70 home runs (broken four
years later when Barry Bonds hit 73) with Sosa finishing
with 66. This was very exciting to watch, but I
couldn't help making a comparison. One man hits a
cowhide covered ball over a fence and we cheer wildly.
Another comes from heaven to be born in a manger, live a
perfectly sinless life, die on a cross for our sins so that
we can have eternal life, is physically resurrected, ascends
back into heaven to sit at the right hand of God to make
intercession for us... and we often yawn. Where are
our priorities?
Now, I love sports and think sports can teach some valuable
lessons, but we must keep our activities in perspective.
God has blessed a fortunate few with great athletic talent
which can be further developed through hard work, however,
we must keep in mind that God blesses us not so that we can
go on permanent vacation (Lk 12:16-21) but so we can pass
the blessings to others. We are called to be good
stewards of our time, money and activities. A great
example of this is former tennis star Andrea Jaeger.
At age 15 in 1980, she became the youngest seeded player in
Wimbledon history, and the youngest U.S. 0pen semifinalist
just a month later. Her professional tennis career, in
which she was ranked as high as number two in the world,
came to an end just four years later due to injuries and
burnout. During this short span, as she traveled
around the world, she spent much of her time away from the
court visiting sick children in hospitals. Unlike many
athletes who leave immediately after the camera filming the
charity commercial is turned off, Andrea would stay for
hours. In 1990, she used her winnings from her tennis
career to create the Silver Lining Foundation in Aspen,
Colorado, where she was now living. SLF brought groups
of young cancer patients to Aspen for a week of horseback
riding, whitewater rafting and other activities. As
donations came in, a medical facility and technicians were
added to attend to the children's special needs. For
children who could not travel, SLF provided money for family
campouts, college scholarships, medical internships and
other programs. Other athletes involved included John
McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and NBA star David
Robinson.
I'm not advocating that all athletes retire and go into
full-time ministry or charity work. God may want us to
stay in our sport (or on our jobs) in order to financially
support other ministries. If this is God's will for
our life, we'd be accepting second best to go into full-time
missions. Another reason for wanting
us to stay where we are is for witnessing. The church
has been trying to get their message into the workplace for
years, but we as individual Christians are already there.
Regarding competition, I believe it's ok to celebrate
athletic achievements as long as we compete with the right
motivations. Christians (with good intentions) often
tend to minimize the ability and accomplishments of humanity
in order to give greater glory to God. As we've said
before, we must keep these achievements in proper context,
but God is not intimidated by them. God does not
require protection from our competition. Human
greatness actually testifies to the greater glory of God.
A good example is the Stradivarius violin. When we
speak of the name Stradivarius, we're speaking of ultimate
quality in a violin. While we admire the violin
itself, how much more do we admire Antonio Stradivari, the
creator of the violin. Thus, when we speak of the
greatness of a human, how much more do we admire the great
God who created us.
One final reason for competing with the right motivation for
the glory of God is
that it protects us from our pride. The
Scriptures consistently warn us of the danger posed by our
pride. Pride caused the original fall of
Satan, attempting to become God. In a sense, we attempt to
become God when we attribute to our own
abilities the success that He has given us. All pride,
however is not sinful or harmful. It is not
wrong to be proud of that championship, the good grade you
made in school, the raise you got at work for good performance as long as we have a proper
motivation and give the credit to the One to Whom
it belongs.
So, with all this in mind, see you at the game.
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