A Tradition Like No Other

Within my christian conversation circles a negative, even sneering, tone of voice often accompanies the idea of tradition (or traditional). Tradition refers to human ideas, not divine. Tradition regurgitates the old rather than celebrating the new. Tradition reflects yesterday it doesn't anticipate tomorrow. Tradition binds and limits us. To meet the challenges of today's world we need to break free from the traditions of yesterday. Innovation, not tradition, provides the key to the future.

Sports are no different from the rest of the world. No one uses tennis racquets with wooden frames just because Rod Laver did in the 1950's. Golfers always look for the latest and greatest material for to help them hit longer and straighter. While drivers today are still referred to as "woods" they're often made of advanced metal alloys.

While golfers embrace new club and ball technology the sport still retains a reputation as a generally quite conservative. The sport has generally done an excellent job of embracing both tradition and innovation. Nothing encapsulates this creative tension better than The Masters.

Masters Tradition

• The tournament is always at the Augusta National Golf Club.
• Previous champions and events at specific holes are referenced frequently.
• Each of the holes is named after a flower.
• The club carefully manages sponsorship and media presentation. According to Wikipedia.com the coverage itself carries a more formal style than other golf telecasts; announcers refer to the gallery as patrons rather than as spectators or fans (gallery itself is also used), and use the term second cut instead of rough.
• For the first 40 years of television coverage, CBS was forbidden from broadcasting from the front 9 holes.
• The Masters requires caddies to wear a uniform consisting of a white jumpsuit, a green Masters cap, and white tennis shoes.
• And of course, the Green Jacket Ceremony as the previous year's winner hands this year's winner their Green Jacket symbolising their membership of the August National Golf Club. (There's a trophy too.)
• You'll find another good list of traditions HERE.

Masters Innovations

• The over-under (+/-) to par scoring system now standard around the world was first developed at the Masters.
• The Masters was the first golf tournament to be televised, starting in 1956.
• In 2014 The Masters provided 5 internet channels totaling 125 hours of additional tournament coverage.
• Over the years, the Masters has frequently adjusted the course. In 2006 the club lengthened the course by about 500 metres. Fairways and greens have also been narrowed over the years to increase the "bite" of the course. A good graphical display of the changes can be found HERE.

Now About the Church...

Churches have always struggled with maintaining appropriate degrees of tradition while responding innovatively to cultural movements around us. Some churches seem so traditional they've almost lost all relevance to their neighbours. Other churches are so innovative and rethink so many methodologies and teachings that they isolate themselves from other churches and seem sometimes to emphasise their innovation rather than the life-changing Good News of Jesus.

The vast majority of churches undertake the same quest: to present the timeless message of God's Good News in culturally relevant ways. 

This statement sounds simple, but churches often disagree about what is methodology and what is message. We all agree that corporate worship plays an important part in the life of a Christian and we mostly agree that music styles represent methodology rather than message, but the history of "worship wars" in the church indicate that this distinction is often lost.

We all agree that reading and studying God's Word is vital to spiritual growth. Yet it is so easy to start a large-scale debate by championing or criticising a particular translation of the Bible. Why? Often it's just because we like the translation with which we're most familiar: a tradition.

I'll close by illustrating the tension and value of tradition using the celebration of Easter.

Easter undoubtedly represents a tradition. The Bible never commands an annual resurrection celebration. Most churches celebrate communion throughout the year as they follow Jesus' instructions at Last Supper to remember his death and resurrection. So celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday is something almost all churches will do whether they call it Easter or not.

In a very real sense Easter is not really a separate celebration, but an amplification of existing practices. I personally find the practice of pausing throughout Holy Week to remember what Jesus was doing at this exact time the week of his death and resurrection. As I write this on Thursday night Jesus was probably in the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples. Although the exact date of Passover moves around the calendar I can (in the Northern Hemisphere) approximately experience the same weather as Jesus experienced. I can look at the same stars. I can feel the same winds. History was forever changed on this day!

Easter adds a level of intimacy to the Lord's Supper. We can celebrate the Lord's Supper any Sunday in Summer, or Winter. But only on Easter can we say "This was the day the tomb was found empty." The rest of the year we have to say "This was the day of the week the tomb was found empty." For many people that distinction is significant.

How do we balance tradition and innovation around Easter?

1. Proclaim the Gospel and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus.
2. Ensure the celebration includes communion.
3. If people with barely a passing interest in the things of God will come and hear the Gospel presented at sunrise... then have a sunrise service. Innovate.
4. If people with children will attend a church service so their kids can gather Easter Eggs afterwards... then hold an Easter Egg Hunt. Innovate.
5. If Up From the Grave He Arose is a traditional Easter song... then sing it. 

Successfully integrating tradition and innovation will always provide a challenge. Easter gives us a great opportunity to practice both extremes at the same time.

Sure, the first century church didn't celebrate Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday the way much of christendom does today. But I'm confident that each year when Jewish Passover rolled around the church paused and remembered the events of that Passover week not so many years earlier.

The great challenge for the church is to avoid confusing the events, the message, and the significance of the last week and hours of Jesus' life with the traditional celebrations many churches practice today. Take away Palm Sunday. Take away Maundy Thursday. Remove Good Friday from the calendar. Turn Easter Sunday into Regular Sunday, and the message of the Gospel is just as true and powerful as it has ever been.

If we create some new traditions in a children's play, a breakfast before worship, a sunrise service, or even an Easter Egg Hunt the Son of God on the cross still carries our sins. Perhaps in the future these traditions will be replaced by a new innovation, a new way of remembering, but the tomb will still be empty.

If the Masters can demonstrate that tradition and innovation can coexist, the church should be able to balance these competing values also. Our greatest responsibility remains to continually preach Christ crucified, resurrected and reigning today.

Excommunication

This week the Philadelphia Eagles released their top wide receiver, DeSean Jackson, who was coming off the best statistical season of his career.

The Washington Redskins quickly signed Jackson to a three year deal.

So why did the Eagles let him go? Did they do the right thing?

The Eagles have not yet explained their reasons for letting Jackson walk out the door. The timing of his release closely followed a report on NJ.com linking him with "gang connections". But that's not the whole story as the team had allegedly attempted to trade Jackson since the trade period began.

Predictably, there are those sympathetic with the Eagles who believe locker room cohesion is important to team success. Since Jackson was apparently a distraction through his attitude and off field behaviour, the team is better off without him.

Others believe the team should have shown Jackson the same patience and grace they've given other players who found themselves in trouble off the field.

Seahawk player, Richard Sherman, even went so far as to accuse the Eagles of treating Jackson harshly because of his skin colour. He did go on to make the valid point that many people raised in the inner-city will have "ties" to gangs because that's the environment in which many of them were raised.

Finally, some people are concerned about what Jackson's treatment for alleged "gang ties" means for other players when teams decide they don't want to keep a player. Will this become the new catch-all accusation that allows teams to void contracts?

Churches often receive criticism for the way we treat people as they go out the door, or when their behaviour doesn't live up to God's expectations. Every situation is different and motivations are seldom clear.

In some ways it's nice to see football teams struggling with the same issues:

• How much grace should we show the individual?
• What's most likely going to help this person make the necessary changes?
• Is the individual or the church/team more important?
• How will this person's behaviour effect others in the church/team?
• How will this person's departure effect others in the church/team?
• Is the church/team being fair about this, or is there an unspoken prejudice?
• Has the church/team consistently applied these standards, or are some shown favoritism?
• Has the person done anything wrong, or are they just hard to get along with?

The Bible makes clear that some sins require that a person leave the church as long as no repentance is demonstrated. It also warns that not everyone should be welcomed into the church because some people will never accept the teaching of the church and will actually actively undermine core beliefs. Yet we're also told to love our enemies and be willing to forgive as many times as we're asked.

Paul gives his apprentice Timothy this sage advice regarding how to deal with Christians opposing his ministry, "Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:25-26)

God wants us to adopt a "gentle" posture when dealing with sin and disruptive people in the church. It's also clear that the goal of this correction is always repentance and restoration. I really hope these goals are carried out more often in our churches than they are among sports teams.

So DeSean Jackson. May this departure from Philly provide a wake up call. If you need to make some life changes, I hope you do so. If you need to adjust an attitude, I hope you do so. And if the Eagles acted hastily and without grace, they'll sure miss you on the field next year!!

Trading Places

The National Hockey League trading deadline was very busy for goalie Jaroslav Halak. Players who are traded move from one team to another. In Halak's case, he was moved twice: once from the St. Louis Blues to the Buffalo Sabres, then, less than a week later, from the Sabres to the Washington Capitals.

Someone who thought about these trades in terms of their impact on Halak would have contemplated an emotional swing. Halak was moved from the Blues, a playoff team with a very good chance to contend for the Stanley Cup. It must have been disappointing to go to the Sabres, a team that was one of the bottom feeders in the 2013-2014 season. Disappointment would then have given way to a better hope, when Halak was traded to the Capitals, a team that has struggled this season to find its identity but might be poised to make a run after shoring up its goaltending.

Someone who thought about these trades in terms of their impact on the teams involved would have thought very differently about these trades. Each team orchestrated a trade in an effort to improve itself and better their chances for the future. The Blues believed that they needed to upgrade their goaltending in order to win, so they went after the one goalie (Ryan Miller, acquired from the Sabres) whom they believed would improve the team. 

The Sabres, in return, were focused on rebuilding their team and wanted to move an asset (Miller) at the right time, when they could extract the most for him from another team. In return for this trade, the Sabres received Halak, a forward, and a prospect. But they weren't finished. To continue upgrading the team for the future, the Sabres flipped Halak less a week later, without him even playing a game for them. They traded him to the Capitals in exchange for another goaltender and a young defenseman.

For the Capitals, acquiring Halak was meant to be the last piece of a puzzle designed to push them into a playoff run.

One player, three teams. Each team moved or received the same player in an effort to upgrade and improve their team. Halak's story is perhaps the most interesting of all the trade stories that happened at this year's trading deadline. There were many moving pieces as teams worked hard to improve before making that final rush to the playoffs. And yet, of all the teams involved in trades, including the three that were involved with Halak, there is only one team that can win the Stanely Cup at the end of the playoffs. The rest will fail to reach this goal.

At the end of the season, despite all the work, all the effort, all the maneuvering and all the attempts to improve, almost every team will fail to win the prize.

The letter to the Romans is a fascinating letter. In this letter, Paul writes to a church that is a blend of Jewish and Gentile believers. There is tension within this group. There is jealousy. There is competition. The Jewish believers thought the Gentiles were depraved johnny-come-latelys who had all the opportunity to know God but arrived late to the party. They were too corrupt to observe the law properly. Yet, the same Jewish believers, Paul said, were unnable to keep the law themselves, showing themselves to be corrupt when they judged others for not observing.

Both groups proved the rule Paul established: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Despite our own efforts to improve, to play by the rules, to observe the law, we find ourselves in the same position. God's glory is in front of us, but we are all sinners. We are enemies of God (Romans 3:23; 5:8, 10). We try to improve, we try to get better, but ultimately, like hockey teams maneuvering in the last hours of the trading deadline, only to come up short in the playoffs, we still fail.

Our attempts to improve our standing before God are futile. We are made right with God not because we earned it, played the hardest, or made the best move. We are made right with God through the gospel. We are justified by faith. As Paul wrote, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (5:8). Later, he added, "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (5:10).

God showed his love for us through the death of Jesus. We were reconciled to him by the death of Jesus. Our efforts to improve our lives before God are futile apart from his love that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (5:5). 

God's gospel saves us and teaches us about God's love for us apart from our own ability to earn it. God loves us and saves us. Let us stand firm in that.

Jeremy Hoover is the minister at the Otisville Church of Christ in Otisville, Michigan. His website is at www.jeremyhoover.com. He is an avid sports fan who enjoys biographies about athletes and books by coaches. His favorite sports are hockey, where he roots for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and football, where he pulls for the New England Patriots.

It's Lonely at the Top

As a Colts fan, the big football news this week is the arrest of the Colts owner, Jim Irsay, for driving while impaired. It seems his impairment was due to improper use of prescription pain medication. The police also found other pain pills in his car without prescriptions. He now faces four drug related felony charges.

As expected Irsay checked himself into a rehab facility following his release. Hopefully this represents genuine effort on his part to address his problems and not simply to curry favour with the judge before his next court date next week.

Irsay's arrest really puts the NFL under the spotlight. Over the last few years players have complained regularly about commissioner Rodger Goodell's harsh treatment of player indiscretions both on and off the field. Now, how will the commissioner treat one of his employers?

Because of Irsay's wealth there's a tendency to say that he's not a criminal, he's a competent person struggling with an addiction. This should be treated as a health issue, not a legal one. But a player caught in the same situation would likely face suspension in addition to mandatory treatment.

The legal system faces the same scrutiny. Again the perception exists that a rich white man with expensive lawyers will find a way to avoid jail, while a poor black man in the same situation would almost certainly spend several years behind bars.

Time will reveal how this plays out.

When it comes to justice God has a lot to say. In our summary of the last few centuries of Judean/Samarian history we often just say, "They turned away from God and worshiped idols so God allowed the Assyrians & Babylonians to destroy them and take them into captivity." In actual fact, not only did they turn from God religiously, but God sent prophets criticising a whole slew of social ills that arose as they left Him.

Amos 5 follows the form of a trial against the nation of Israel with God acting as the prosecutor. The charges are laid out in verses 7, 10 and 12. Verse 12 contains this summary,

For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Then Amos gives this advice,

Seek good, not evil,    that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,    just as you say he is.

15 

Hate evil, love good;    maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy    on the remnant of Joseph. 

I don't know how the Jim Irsay situation will play out. I'll be surprised if he does any prison time. I wouldn't really hold it against him if he doesn't, I presume he play the system fairly, just with greater resources.

But Irsay's circumstances remind us that we need to make justice part of our life values. We need not to throw away the key for someone because they're either super rich, or super poor. God expects that his people pay as much attention to ensure that the poor and underprivileged received justice as we do the rich and famous.

Amos 5 ends with a famous description of  God's dream for his people in verse 24,

"Here's what I want: Let justice thunder down like a waterfall;

let righteousness flow like a mighty river that never runs dry."

The Voice

Free Agents

I love the headline I read this morning on a local news website. "Byrd signs with Saints; Bills resign Carpenter". Here's what it really says, "The top free agent safety left the Bills, BUT Buffalo keeps its kicker." WOOT  When life is dark we hang on to the smallest glimmers of hope.

Yesterday at 4pm the NFL Free Agency period began. It's the time of the year when players without a contract can sign with other teams. For good players it represents a large payday as teams compete for their services. For some players it represents the end of their career. They don't hold a press conference and announce their retirement. They don't get to tour the stadiums and receive applause for a career well played. For many players their careers just fade away as no one offers them a new contract.

When a great player leaves the fans left behind sometimes turn on him. They remember shortcomings and amplify them. "There was that game when he...." "I never really liked him. He was overrated anyway."

Other fans recognise the allure of the large wads of cash being thrown at him. They admit that they'd probably leave too for all that money. It hurts, but it's understandable.

But sometimes it's not about the cash. Sometimes a player just decides he needs a "change of scenery". It will be better for both of us he says. Sometimes he suggests, "You're a loser, and I want to play with a winner." And that hurts.

It hurts because the player is looking for a shortcut: to win on the back of work others have already done. It hurts because he views his current team as having no value. He's given up on them. He regards them as incompetent at best and inherently beyond help at worst. It hurts because others are left behind and he doesn't seem to care about them anymore. It hurts because he's saying that anywhere else is better than here. It hurts because it seems personal.

And often it is.

I have a couple of friends in the middle of filing for divorce right now. It hurts.

In sports we understand how the system works. Players come. Players go. Sometimes the team releases the player. Sometimes injury forces the player to retire. Sometimes the player ditches the team. We know how rare it is for a player to spend his whole career with one team.

In life and marriage we expect greater permanence. We expect people to honour their word. We expect people to stay. In an era of tremendous transience, we still expect marriage to mean something. But when marriage vows have no more meaning than a football contract... it hurts.

It hurts because a person is looking for a shortcut: unwilling to do the work it takes to succeed. It hurts because someone views their current spouse as having no value. He's given up on her. She regards him as incompetent at best and inherently beyond help at worst. It hurts because children are left behind and it doesn't seem to matter anymore. It hurts because divorce says that anywhere else is better than here. It hurts because it is personal. It hurts.

I'm not at all suggesting that the pain a football fan feels from a player leaving is comparable to the pain felt when a marriage disintegrates. Rather, I'm sharing how the conversations around this year's NFL free agency  prompt me to remember and pray for my friends. The concepts are similar even if the emotions are worlds apart.

When life is dark we hang on to the smallest glimmers of hope. It's my prayer that in all of my friends' lives they will see God as one of those glimmers. It's easy to place God in the darkness. It's easy to blame him for the way life has collapsed. But where they are now is not a place God ever intended for them.

I know words seem empty to them. I know the church can't bring their loved one back. I also know that the church will still be there for them when no one else will sign them to a contract. When no one else wants us, God longs for us. I know words can't turn darkness to daylight, but maybe they can provide a glimmer...

Psalm 88 is a lament that contains a cry of desperation and no simple solution. It's devoid of hope as the writer describes their darkness. EXCEPT the psalm is written to God. Even in the deepest hurt where words of goodness sound shallow and empty, God is present. Sharing our hearts with God when we don't understand our life circumstances is often the greatest step of faith we can take.

Madness

The month of March represents an in-between time on the sports calendar. 

In the US both NFL and college football have finished. College basketball is preparing for March Madness which will be followed by the NBA playoffs starting April 19. The NHL is also approaching the pointy end of the season with their playoffs commencing in mid-April and their trading deadline arriving today.

In the meantime... Baseball spring training has begun. In a nice segue the first pitch of the new season will take place in Sydney, Australia on March 22.

In other Australian news the Aussies have just completed a clean sweep of England and South Africa in this summer's Test matches. As the cricket winds up the preseason of Aussie Rules Football is already completed and the season proper kicks off in just over a week. Not to mention soccer and rugby...

March features the merging of the seasons: sports and weather. While it becomes a crazy time of playoffs and season launches, there's also a lull for a moment at the beginning of the month. Although anticipation builds during the first couple of weeks, the end of football in January and February provides a time to catch one's breath. It gives us a chance to catch up on chores and to return to Sunday naps.

As I contemplate the change of seasons and trade my Colts jersey and my bright gold Australian shirt for my Carlton guernsey and Cardinals tees I'm reminded that God built seasons into our lives.

As much of the christian world observes a season of Lent, I wonder what season we have built into our life that point us to God? I've just been through a busy couple of months where I've had to work on my day off more often than not. I'm looking forward to a season of quiet where I can return to spending time with my family.

In sports, sometimes as fans we forget that each sport has an off season as we switch rapidly from one to the other. While Christians shouldn't ever turn our faith off, we need to give ourselves an "off season" from time to time that enables us to refresh our faith and re-energise our service to God. In Bible terms we call this "Sabbath".  (I've also written HERE on the topic of Sabbath.)

Does your life have an off season?  What's it look like? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

¹ For everything that happens in life—there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven:

²     A time to be born, a time to die;
        a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest;
³     A time to kill, a time to heal;
        a time to tear down, a time to build up;
⁴     A time to cry, a time to laugh;
        a time to mourn, a time to dance;
⁵     A time to scatter stones, a time to pile them up;
        a time for a warm embrace, a time for keeping your distance;
⁶     A time to search, a time to give up as lost;
        a time to keep, a time to throw out;
⁷     A time to tear apart, a time to bind together;
        a time to be quiet, a time to speak up;
⁸     A time to love, a time to hate;
        a time to go to war, a time to make peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The N-Word

This week I stumbled across this video produced by ESPN show, Outside the Lines. The NFL has raised the possibility of introducing an on-field penalty (15 yards) for players heard using racial slurs, including the N-word. The proposal faces several difficulties, the least of which is determining an appropriate football penalty for a non-football violation.

The biggest issue is that while the vast majority of the population finds the N-word extremely offensive, within younger African-American culture the word is frequently used almost affectionately. It is interesting in the video below to see the disparate views between black and white Americans and also between younger and older African-Americans.  (This article provides a good overview of the issues.)

Why am I sharing this video? Because I believe conversations like this are a necessity to break down barriers between individuals and ethnic groups in our society. It's too easy to bury our heads in the sand and let other people sort it out.

This is only one segment of a longer show they committed to the topic. I encourage you to look around their site for associated videos.

There are several lessons Christians and churches can learn from conversations like this:

1. The meanings of words are fluid. What implications does this have for Bible translations?
2. Culture changes rapidly. Dictionary.com describes the N-word as "now probably the most offensive word in English" yet for some people and cultural groups the word is a term of endearment or brotherhood. 
3. The question that jumps off the screen at me is, "Why can ESPN and the NFL have this conversation, while churches have nothing to say?" How dangerous would it be for a church or group of churches to have assembled this forum? How much backlash and criticism would they have received...from their own members? 

Please leave respectful comments below.

Read a previous post on this issue HERE.