a Greater Glory

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”

A couple days ago, Sean posed the question, “Is our love of sport as humans a result of us wanting to find joy or satisfaction in a fallen and imperfect world?”  Needless to say, I didn’t have a response to answer such an intense question.  Honestly, I was ready for a question about Ochocinco’s new facial tattoos or whether the WNBA will cease to exist in 5 years.  However, after some thought, I feel that this is one of the quintessential topics for athletes – especially for this generation, in this country.

Happiness (definition): a state of well-being and contentment.

The goal of humans, when you break it down, is quite simple and blunt.  All individuals who ever lived have tried to seek out happiness in one way or another.  Whether it be religion, family, food, drugs, or money – we’ve tried to gain the almost unattainable.  We are programmed in such a way that we deeply long for an experience that is beyond our mental capacity.  This is no different with sports.

I can testify to the joy that comes with playing a sport – namely baseball, which I played through college.  Through my first two years of college ball, you could have mistaken my E.R.A. for the weight of a new born.  Things were turning ugly and I wasn’t receiving much joy from a sport that I had always loved.  Through hard work and discipline, I was able to regain some dignity my final two years.  The point here is, happiness was fleeting.  Although I became very attached to the game, it could never satisfy my deepest desires.

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemed Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, delves deeper into this subject in his book The Reason for God:  Belief in the Age of Skepticism.  Keller states the following in one section titled “The Personal Consequences of Sin”:

“Identity apart from God is inherently unstable.  Without God, our sense of worth may seem solid on the surface, but it never is – it can desert you in a moment…If anything threatens your identity you will not just be anxious but paralyzed with fear.  If you lose your identity through the failings of someone else you will not just be resentful, but locked into bitterness.  If you lose it through your own failings, you will hate or despise yourself as a failure as long as you live.  Only if your identity is built on God and his love can you have a self that can venture anything, face anything.”

Keller is right on point.  We were made in the image of our Creator.  Aside from Him, nothing will ever completely satisfy our need for happiness.  Not even our deep love of sports.  We were made for something far greater.  Jesus tells us in John 15:11 that by His love our “joy is made complete.”  Anything aside from that is pure exhibition.