a Greater Glory

Lane Kiffin is funny.  He’s funny because he is so god a manipulating the media.  He gets free media coverage better than any other coach in college football.  Yesterday Lane Kiffin offered a scholarship to a 13 year old.  Here’s the article from ESPN if you want to read it. The best part about all of this is that ESPN and just about every other major news source picked it up and will talk about it and discuss it for the next 2-3 days.  That means Lane Kiffin and USC will be repeated at least a million more times in the next 2-3 days.  Kiffin is brilliant.  College football is over right now, but everyone is talking about USC.  They aren’t talking about the signings that they made, no they are talking about the fact that Kiffin signed a 13 year old.

For Kiffin though it doesn’t really matter, in the end offering a scholarship and giving an actual scholarship are two different things. If the kid turns out to be the real deal, then USC will have the first shot at him.  If he doesn’t then it is easy for USC to walk away and just say they thought it was in good fun.  Kiffin may not be liked by many, but you have to respect the fact that he is better than Mike Kryzewski of Duke at getting free publicity.

Good post from Jon Acuff over at Stuff Christians Like.  Jon talks about smoking and what our view is as Christians.  My question is simply this, should it matter whether you are a Christian or not?  To me it doesn’t matter if you are a Christian or not.  Smoking is smoking and whether you want to come to grips with reality, IT’S NOT GOOD FOR YOU!  Then again I had a college professor who always said, “Knowledge in and of itself does not change behavior”.  My how true this is.  Here is the link to the blog post at Stuff Christians Like.

Usually July 10 isn’t really an important date.  Maybe it includes some summer picnic-ing, finishing those soggy hot dogs from 4th of July, or watching that famous summer blockbuster (let alone Public Enemies which was terrible).  This year is different because it is the 500th birthday of John Calvin, famous theologian and inspiration for a famous comic book…yes, that little kid peeing on car windows was named after one of the greatest Christian minds of the last millenia.  Also, I couldn’t pass up a chance to write about this man, especially since both Sean and I are Reformed.

Although I’d love to write about TULIP for 4 hours, I’ve decided to stick with the sports’ theme of this blog.  So in rememberance of Calvin’s life, I’d like to propose the 5 greatest teams of destiny – chosen before the beginnings of the world to succeed in a particular year.  One quirk about this list is that it only includes teams since the time of my birth, so squads such as the 1980 United States Hockey team will be excuded.  So here are the teams that have been “chosen” (in order):

1.  2001 Patriots – I would think that anyone would put this team at the top of its list.  Look at the road this team took to their Super Bowl victory:  losing starter Drew Bledsoe early in the season only to be replaced by a 6th round nobody out of Michigan; losing Tom Brady in the playoffs only to be replaced by Bledsoe; having the “tuck rule” implemented to overtake the Raiders in the divisional game; and being 14 point underdogs in the Super Bowl to the mighty Rams.  Above all, their victory was in the midst of the 9/11 attacks - only a fitting outcome that the “Patriots” should come through.

2.  2004 Red Sox – Although I hate to put this one high on the list, it is true.  The Red sox over came 86 years of misery to achieve baseball’s crown.  They finally put aside Bill Buckner, Bucky Dent, and Aaron Boone to capture baseball immorality.  Being a team of destiny always involves the improbable which, in this case, was the ALCS against the Yankees.  Being down 3-0 in the series, the Red Sox used Dave Roberts, yes, a player to seemingly have an average career, to spark the eventual World Series champs over the Bombers.  And to do this agains the best closer in MLB history in Mariano Rivera, is storybook-esque.  Side note:  can anyone remember who closed games for that Red Sox team?  Keith Foulke…who is now doing what?

3.  1986 Mets – I was too young to hate the Mets so I guess I’ll include them.  Have you ever seen the 1986 World Series on ESPN Classic?  It’s an interesting Series to watch, put aside the Buckner factor.  The Red Sox needed one more out in Game 6 to win the World Series and couldn’t get it.  This all happened before the Buckner incident, remind you.  Mookie Wilson, Keith Hernandez, and Jesse Orosco still pulled this win out for New York.  The best part of the Series:  those vintage Mets’ uniform.

4.  2007 Celtics – I almost didn’t want to put this team on the list for one reason:  Kevin Garnett’s interview after the Celtics Game 7 victory.  Embarrassing.  I got by that fact and remembered the off-season this team had the summer before.  For the simple reason of acquiring Garnett and Ray Allen, commentators were already putting them in the Finals.  Sometimes teams don’t follow up on their lofty expectations (i.e. the Mets every year), but the Celtics didn’t flinch, even dominating the favored Lakers in the Finals.

5.  2003 Lightning – I make this pick for two reasons:  1) There are no hockey teams on this list yet.  2) As I watched the Lightning play the Flyers in the Conference Finals that year, there was no part of me that thought the Flyers were actually going to win the Series.  Although the series went to Game 7, it was like watching Roger Federer against Andy Roddick – a mere inevitability.

In all honesty, aside from this article, it’s amazing that we remember a man born 500 years ago.  To make that kind of impact on Christian theology and philosophy is quite an accomplishment.  I wanted to find a sports’ quote by Calvin, although they weren’t hitting baseballs or throwing footballs in 16th century Europe.  Still, I’ve leave you with this (the best I could do; insightful though):

“A dog barks when his master is attacked.  I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.”        – John Calvin

The past couple of weeks have been difficult for a number of people.  With the recent death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and the funeral services of Michael Jackson there have been many tears shed.  However, one thing has come to the forefront of my mind.  In all of the publicity surrounding these two events it is interesting to see the reactions of people and the media.  On one hand you have Michael Jackson who was a pop icon.  His music was known around the world, but so were his exploits.   On the other hand you had Steve McNair generally thought to be a good all-around guy by his teammates and fans.  A former NFL MVP and a four time Pro-Bowl quarterback. Here is where these two stories get interesting.

In Michael Jackson’s case much of what Michael had done in the past is now being forgotten.  His various religious experiences, his trouble with possible child molestation, dangling children over railings, and his multiple plastic surgeries and other cosmetic surgeries.  Much of this has been forgotten.  Instead, what is now being remembered is that Michael was a strong black man who even managed to make Magic Johnson “a better point guard”.

For Steve McNair what started out as a tragedy, is quickly turning into a digging up of his hidden past.  McNair had a 20 year old girlfriend while still married (I guess it would be considered a mistress).  This crime is now being reported as a murder suicide.  While the media digs up and relives McNair’s past the talk of how great of a man is now disappearing.  Right after the death all of the talk was about how great of a man McNair was and how he donated his time and money to charity.  As details have emerged now there are rumors abounding that he was possibly seeing another woman which caused Sahel Kazemi to become despondent.

While the way that each of them died is different it is amazing to see how the media portrays people.  The media has the ability to latch on to what they believe will garner more attention from the media.  In Jackson’s case the media was smart enough to realize that Michael Jackson story lines had been beaten to death, whereas a murder-scandal investigation makes for bringing more readers in, in the case of McNair.

What is important for Christians to remember in both cases is that while nobody is perfect we must remember that we will have to give an account for the way we lived when we die.  Romans 14:10-12 states it this way:

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

To leave a lasting legacy on this earth that glorifies Christ should be the goal of each of our lives.  However, one thing that we must remember is that no matter how we may be portrayed or looked at by the world, when it is all said and done we will stand before God and give him an account of our lives.  I know when I stand before him on that day that I want my life to be as glorifying to him as possible.

Sports commentators love to make bold assertions like, “He is the greatest to ever play the game” or “Nobody is more dominant than him.”  When I hear these bold proclamations, I often laugh and then I kind of shiver.  The shivering isn’t because I am cold, instead it’s because that is a scary thought.  The greatest there ever was, really?  One of the first things that I learned about sport was that there is always somebody who wants to knock you off of the top and they are working extremely hard to do that.

If we had a time machine and I could go back to 1972 and watch and listen to the sports commentators talk about Jack Nicklaus, I could sit there and chuckle to myself.  I am sure at that point in time they would have been calling him the greatest golfer to have lived (and up to that point, they could possibly be right).  The reason I could chuckle?  I know this guy who will be coming up in the near future and will take the golf world by storm, you know, that Tiger guy.

These same claims are starting up again as Roger Federer goes for his 15th championship.  This is a record in tennis and is a feat that should be loudly applauded, but does this mean that he gets the title of “The greatest tennis player to ever live”?  In the sports world there will always be somebody who is going to be the next big thing.  it’s crazy to say, but in 15-20 years we could be sitting and looking back at Roger and Tiger and be remarking how they were good, but so-and-so and so-and-so are leagues ahead of them.

The coolest part about all of this, is that within Christianity the idea of the greatest, is completely backwards to that of the sports world.  Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 18:1-4:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus never wanted the person who was the best, the person who was the most popular, or the person who pumped their fist and banged their chest.  Jesus took the cast-outs, the neglected, and the people who humbled themselves like children. What if the commentators based their “Greatest Player” ideas on the players who not only played well, but were outstanding people?  It’s likely we would be praising a bunch of guys who for the most part we have never heard of.  Sure you hear of the more prominent ones (i.e. Mariano Rivera, Kurt Warner, etc.), but what about the guys who lived their faith and evangelized in their leagues like there was no tomorrow, then we could call them “The Greatest”

This is a welcome post to “a Greater Glory”.  This website will hopefully connect sports, christianity, and discussion into a glorifying means for both men and women.  We welcome you and would love for you to take a look around.  Be sure to check back soon as we will be updating this site quite regularly.