The Church Draft

Today is Day 1 of the NFL Draft. (Remember when the whole thing took place on one day?) These days it's a three day extravaganza! ESPN.com published a good story here about the development and emotions of "the green room". The hype is not just about the actual draft. The NFL Combine is held in late February and is a 4 day event of testing and examining potential draftees.The NFL Network now broadcasts this event live. The NFL Draft, is not an event, it's a season.

Naturally, the AFL has caught onto this trend and in 2009 moved their draft from Saturday morning to

Thursday evening. The big difference is that most of the potential draftees in the US system are familiar to the public because they played for college football teams that receive enormous coverage. College football is one of the major sporting obsessions in the US. In contrast, young Aussie Rules players represent their high schools or teams that no one pays any attention to. So in the AFL draft you completely rely upon the "experts" telling you how good a player is because you've never had the chance to see him play.

Anyway, all this Draft coverage got me thinking about how I could relate it to the church.  There were several ways I could have gone:

1. Jesus may have been thinking of the Draft when he chose his apostles: His top 12. John the beloved was his #1 pick. Peter and James rounded out the Top 3.
2. Would it be fun to draft the top preachers for your church? What do you look for in a preacher? What gifts do they bring to the team? How do they fit the culture of the team?
3. What if you were starting a new church, what people would you want to draft and in what order? Song leader at #2 or behind Enthusiastic Cold Conversationalist?

In the end I decided just to make the simple point:

the whole concept of a draft is contrary to God's design of the church. 

The foundational assumption of the draft is that some players are more valuable than others. In the sports and business world this is undoubtedly true. Some players make a big impact for a team, others barely raise a murmur. Some receive huge sponsorships, while others are lucky to get a pair of free shoes.

In the NFL the last player drafted receives the unflattering title of "Mr Irrelevant". Although there have been exceptions, most Mr Irrelevants never make the field and many never end up even making the team.

In 1 Corinthians 12:23 God tells the church that "God has put the body [church] together, giving greater honor to the parts [people] that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body." Although some people in the church have less public talents and abilities than others, God tells us that each person is equally valuable.

NFL draftees squirm in the public spotlight of the green room, waiting for their name to be called and wondering who, if anyone, will value them and select them. The message of the church is that God values each and every person. All are welcome. Everyone belongs.

Enjoy the draft. Celebrate the stories of guys overcoming all sorts of adversity to make it among the elite of their sport. Wipe away a tear as you see a mother rejoice with her son. Wince for those in the glare of the TV cameras not selected as early as expected. Enjoy it all.

Then remember that in God's draft there's only a #1 selection, and His choice is you.

Favourites of the Masters 2013

At the conclusion of the first days' play of the 2013 Masters an Australian, Marc Leishman shared the lead with Sergio Garcia. Leishman is certainly not a big name in professional golf. He's only ever won one tournament and in 2012 finished 28th in the FedEx Cup rankings and this year is ranked just 104th on the money list entering the Masters. But he's still a pretty young golfer and no mug. In 2009 he won the PGA Tour's "Rookie of the Year" award.

Yet as I searched to find some articles about his round and bit of his background, I drew a blank. I could find plenty of articles about Tiger Woods shooting a 70. I also found lots of coverage of a 14 year old amateur from China who shot a 73. (Which is truly amazing!!!) I found editorials (Thanks Rick Reilly) pondering if this was going to be Sergio's breakthrough at last. But I could hardly find more than a paragraph on Leishman. Check out this ESPN summary, and at the very end you get a couple of Leishman comments.

Then when the dust settled after Day 2 of the Masters, another Aussie found himself in the lead: Jason Day. One stroke clear of Marc Leishman and Fred Couples. At one stage "The Next Big Thing" from Down Under, Day has failed to live up to that billing. However, he's still had a handy career and is young. Two Aussies in the top 3!!!

Again I went searching for articles and again only found headlines like this BBC gem, "Tiger Woods Stays in the Hunt as Day Leads". Well at least Day got a mention! Again that 14yo stole the spotlight after he was penalised a stroke for slow play. Then even later Tiger hit the headlines again when a review of the days play resulted in him receiving a 2 stroke penalty for an improper drop.

Now I understand how the media works. They make money when people read their articles. Tiger Woods and a 14yo golf prodigy will generate more readers than two relatively unknown Australians, even if they're leading the Masters. Like CNN and Fox sports media also thrives on controversy. So the sports radio today was filled with discussion about the two penalties.

• Should Guan have received a penalty? 
• Did the Augusta Golf Club have a grudge against a 14 year old making the cut? 
• Did it impact the reputation of the course to have kid shoot 73? 
• Should Tiger have been disqualified?
• Should TV viewers be allowed to phone in rules violations?
• Should Tiger have withdrawn?
• Did Tiger receive favorable treatment?

In this ESPN article Gene Wojciechowski argues that Tiger didn't receive special treatment with his penalty. But when we consider how much of a draw Tiger is and how he impacts TV ratings at first glance it sure looks like he received favorable treatment. And perception is everything. In years to come this will be remembered as the Masters in which Tiger should have been disqualified.

Then when Day 3 is finally in the books 3 Aussies find themselves in 3rd & equal 4th. This is a remarkable opportunity for a proud golf nation that has never had a winner at the Masters. Several Aussies have come close, but all found ways to lose. So who are the media going to write about now? Tiger again? Guan?

Well, finally the leader of the Masters gets some love!! On the ESPN home page there's a story all about Grant Snedeker. Mind you, there's also a headline about a certain 14 year old golfer and his slow play again. AND a picture of Tiger with the headline "Tiger Shoots 70".

So what's my point?

1. C'mon Aussies!!!!  Pleeeeease, can one of you win this thing and erase the ghosts of 1996!!! (I just cringed typing that!!)

2. Favoritism is evil! I understand and accept the commercial realities that mean not all golfers are treated equal. But I don't like it. It stinks. God thinks so too. That's why he warns the church several times not to play favourites.

Favouritism ruined the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11. When the church in Corinth came together the wealthy ate together, and the hungry Christians watched them. Paul went so far as to say that their celebration of the Lord's Supper wasn't even the Lord's Supper. It was unacceptable!

Favoritism. Prejudice. Racism. Elitism. Cliques. Homogenous Communities. Call them what you will, it has no place in the church.

The author of James addresses this issue as a major topic in chapter 2. Here's his summary.

"If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers."

But that wouldn't really happen in the church today would it? Surely we wouldn't treat two guests on the same Sunday morning differently based on their clothing, or piercing, or education, or wealth, or beauty, or marital status, or number of children, or singing ability, or... Surely we wouldn't do that in our church!

"REALLY? Not even if Tiger Woods walked through the door?"

 

The Redemption of Tiger Woods

I'm a little late to the party, but certainly not shy about jumping on a bandwagon!

When Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of March, he reclaimed the #1 world golf ranking from Rory McIlroy. Woods last held the #1 ranking in October 2010 and fell as low as 58 in the world in November 2011. But in the last year Tiger has won a whopping six tournaments including three so far in 2013.

Tiger's form on the golf course has been awesome. But Nike found a way to bring controversy to Tiger's success. Shortly after he achieved his most recent victory Nike rolled out the following advertisement.

To be fair, it's important to first understand the back story. According to this article, "Winning takes care of everything." is something Tiger has used "at least since 2009 - whenever reporters ask him about his or other golfers' rankings." So basically, he's only referring to his ranking and his golf reputation. It's not possible to fault him on that front. Winning is certainly how you get to be the number one golfer in the world.

However, Nike is surely guilty of a double entendre with this ad. I imagine that only a small portion of the public recognises the original context of this quote. The vast majority of people seeing this advertisement will focus on the word "everything".

I suspect that close to 100% of sports fans know the reason for Tiger's fall from the top ranking in 2010. In 2009 Tiger's marriage dissolved after his serial affairs became public. Tiger took a break from golf as he dealt with these personal issues. This even included checking into a clinic to address a sex addiction.

After this dramatic fall from grace it has taken 3+ years for Tiger to climb back to the top of the golf heap. While anyone can admire his focus, discipline, talent and determination on the golf course, it's not easy to admire him as a person. The selfishness of his actions destroyed his marriage and irrevocably changed his relationship with his children. His immorality was not victimless.

So when Nike takes a statement made within a specific context and promotes it to the world, "Winning takes care of EVERYTHING" the superlative instantly brings to mind EVERYTHING, not just golf.

Of course, winning doesn't take care of everything. It doesn't restore trust in a marriage. It doesn't make Tiger more present in the life of his children. It doesn't make him more admirable as a person. Most importantly, from a Christian perspective, winning doesn't remove the sin from his life. Being the greatest golfer in the world at any given moment does not count at all toward gaining redemption in God's eyes.

The only "holes in one" that have eternal consequences are the holes hammered into Christ's flesh. My sin, your sin, and Tiger's sin were placed on Jesus.  Colossians 1:13-14 expresses it this way,

"For he [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Our redemption can only come from accepting God's forgiveness through Christ. Our best efforts in golf or life will never result in full redemption. Tiger may reclaim the ranking, the headlines and even respect from some people, but none of it will be true redemption without Jesus.

Although most Christians will verbally acknowledge our dependence upon Jesus, many of us still seek redemption through our own efforts. Perhaps it's working on turning our lives around. Maybe we try to patch past relationships. Sometimes we think that if we pile enough guilt on ourselves God will respond to our remorse. Yet all of these involve something other than depending upon God's grace.

More Reading:
Here's another preacher's blog on the topic, that presents a slightly different perspective.
Here's another reflection by a sports writer that focuses on Nike's role. [some strong language]

Getting to the Top

March Madness has begun here in the US. Over in Italy a new pope was recently ordained. These random events got me thinking about what it takes to make it to the top spiritually. So here are my twisted sports analogies.

POPE
The selection process for pope seems equivalent to making it to the top of Major League Baseball. You begin in the minors - single A. This equates to time spent in a monastery. Your doing what you have to, but no one's watching. It's like learning the discipline of silent contemplation. You're a long way from the top and must search deeply within yourself whether or not you have the skills and commitment to make it.

Gradually, you work your way up the ranks, but most MLB rookies are considerably older than NBA or NFL rookies because it's a long path through the minors. The pope is usually pretty old too. Then you finally break into the big league. Now it's a 162 game season in the heat of summer and full glare of the public spotlight. Every little transgression hits the headlines.You play golf with an injured teammate? It's mud on your name too. Oh, and you better perform on the diamond too.

After a 162 game season there's now a long playoff schedule as every round is a 5 or 7 game series. This reminds me of the papal conclave. The cardinals get locked in a room and vote four times every day. Each time the fail to reach a consensus they send some black smoke up a chimney. When they eventually make a decision the send white smoke up the chimney to let the world know. It's a pretty arduous process with this many rounds of voting before a champion, I mean pope, is appointed.

Then I got to thinking about some other playoff comparisons...

PREDESTINATION
All those Calvinists out there kinda view salvation like the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee. You play the regular season as best you can. You may have an impressive record overall, or just excel in your conference. But at the end of the day, your selection and seeding is out of your hands. Like everyone else in the country, you sit around a TV on Sunday night waiting to see if you were selected and the seeding you received. Sometimes it makes sense. At other times the whole process and outcome is completely mysterious.

SUDDEN DEATH
The NFL playoffs and ATP tennis tournaments share an affection for sudden death in determining their champions. One loss and your out! Many Christians view God through this lens. They go through life terrified of making mistakes. Or they're at least terrified of not having the opportunity to confess their sins and therefore of dying before their sins are forgiven. While sudden death makes for thrilling sporting events, it's no way to experience life. It leads to anxiety and a distorted view of a loving, gracious and just God.

ICE CREAM
In truth, there's really no "making it to the top" in our walk with Jesus. In fact, he several times warns his disciples against that ambition (see Mark 10:35-45). Our salvation is more like playing little league where they don't keep scores. (I hate this practice in real life, but it fits this comparison well.) Regardless of whether your team wins or loses. Regardless of whether you hit or caught a single ball all day. Everyone gets taken out for ice-cream after the game. Everyone wins. You just have to be on the team and participate to the best of your abilities.

READ 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Sports Can Inspire

In many ways sports should be an insignificant footnote to our lives. They're entertainment. Yet they generate millions or billions of dollars in financial transactions each year. Professional sports are huge entertainment industry competing with Hollywood, popular music and video games. Then there's other associated industries such as sneakers and sportswear and huge global companies like Nike, Reebok and Adidas. On the other end of the spectrum athletes in minor sports struggle to make a living that enables them to pursue an event they're passionate about.

The prevalence of steroids and performing enhancing drugs in sports demonstrates the passion involved and the wealth that's possible.

But sports are not just about big dollars or even entertainment. Sports (like movies or music) have the capacity to teach and inspire.

This blog has never been cutting edge, but this just came to my attention... a bit late, I know. In December 2012 in a cross country race, Kenyan runner, Abel Mutai, was leading the race by quite a bit but stopped prior to the finish line. I don't know why, it's a bit weird, because it was a big finish line, but apparently he didn't see it.

Then, when the runner in second place runner (Ivan Fernandez Anaya) caught up, instead of capitalising on Mutai's mistake, he guides him to the finish line so the placings stay the same.

Here's a more detailed account of the race, it even includes a video. Just click HERE.

Making the whole story more interesting is the reaction of Anaya's coach. He basically said that Anaya made the wrong decision. He also said that it may have made Anaya a better person, but not a better athlete.

Examples like this prompt us to reflect upon our own integrity. Would we adopt the attitude that Mutai doesn't deserve to win since he can't follow the course, or would we take mercy on someone obviously disoriented by the course markings?

But more than inserting ourselves into an elite running race, we should ask ourselves how often we show mercy to those around us. In the workplace or other areas of our lives, do we capitalise on other people's mistakes for our benefit, or do we help them overcome those mistakes?

May Anaya's example remind and inspire us that it's always more important to be the better person, than the better athlete. May compassion always trump competition.

"But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.... Which of these do you think was a neighbour to the man?" (Luke 10:33, 36)

Is God a Spiritual Steroid for Athletes?

Thanks to my friend Tim Archer (read his blog here) for pointing me to this article.

A recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute reveals that over one quarter of Americans believe God influences the outcomes of sports events.

"While only about 3-in-10 (27%) Americans, believe that God plays a role in determining which team wins a sporting event, a majority (53%) believe that God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success."

I'm not sure that these numbers should surprise me, but they do. 27% of Americans think that God cares who wins the Superbowl this Sunday. 53% believe Christian athletes will be more successful because God will reward their faith!

27% of Americans think that God who:

• created the world, 
• died on the cross for our sins, 
• defeated death in his resurrection, 
• maintains the struggle against sin and Satan, 
• calls people to enter his kingdom and be transformed into his likeness while carrying out his mission, 

also cares who wins a football game in New Orleans this Sunday, and will take the time and effort to influence the outcome!!!!!! One quarter!!!! I'm flabbergasted!!!!

So does the Superbowl really come down to talent, focus, absence of injuries, X and O's, or just which team has the most Christians on it?

This survey brings me back to the article by Josh Graves that inspired this blog, "Is it OK to pray for your team to win Super Bowl 2012?" I encourage you to read that article. Josh did an excellent job of answering the question.

God cares about people, not scores. God cares for the kids with cancer in both Baltimore and San Francisco and while one may end the game ecstatic and the other devastated, God cares for both. He cares that their treatment is effective. He cares that they have the family and emotional support they need. He cares that they know Him. He doesn't care so much about the trophy presentation Sunday night.

Then 53% of Americans believe God assists Christian athletes?!?! All I can say is I don't think he does a very good job. According to this site, "In March 2004 he donated all $700,000 of his second place finish in the Accenture Match Play Championship to the building fund at St. Simons Presbyterian Church." This article in the Christian Chronicle describes how Kenny Perry is a deacon of a Church of Christ in Franklin, Kentucky and has donated 5% of his winnings to Lipscomb University throughout his career. While both Davis Love III and Kenny Perry have been tremendously successful golfers, their accomplishments don't come close to matching Tiger Woods who makes no profession of faith in Christ and was revealed as a serial adulterer several years ago.

As you look around the sports world there have certainly been successful athletes who are Christians, but seldom are they the most dominant player in their sport. So God must only be good for a bit of a performance boost, but not enough to get you all the way to the top!

Of all the information in the report I found this observation the most telling:

"Americans say religion is significantly more important to their lives than their fan affiliation, but they are about as likely to watch sports each week as they are to attend religious services."

It's as though we know the right answer to give, but our actions reveal another story. Of course there could be several reasons this is true:

• Sports are on TV more often than church services are held.
• Fans might watch 20 minutes of a game and then go to bed, which is hard to compare to a minimum 1 hour commitment at a church building.
• Many people no longer associate faith with attending religious services.
• Perhaps you can think of more.

It's true that religious services don't provide the full measure of a person's commitment to Christ, but I hope we all agree they provide some measure. When we discover that sports dominate our leisure time and casual conversations, it's time to dedicate ourselves to our relationship with God again. We know it's important, but we don't set priorities based on importance.

May each of us keep God and his mission as our priorities, not just in our heads, while enjoying the entertainment that is sports.

Grace Doesn't Win Championships!

I was thinking about the recent rash of PED headlines. First Lance Armstrong made his confession. Then on the eve of the Superbowl, Ray Lewis is accused of using illegal supplements in his recovery from a torn triceps. And to top it all off, just this week a Miami newspaper published a well documented list of professional athletes who were clients of a Miami "anti-aging clinic". They purchased a laundry list of drugs: HGH, synthetic testosterone, anabolic steroids and more. The players (mostly baseballers) named included:

• Alex Rodriguez (Yankees)
• Melky Cabrera (San Francisco Giants)
• Bartolo Colon (Oakland A's)
• Nelson Cruz (Texas Rangers)
• Gio Gonzalez (Washington Nationals)

Major League Baseball is investigating the accusations, but had already been looking at clinics in that part of the world as suppliers of PED's. ESPN writer, Jason Stark, points out here that MLB commissioner has the power to suspend these players even in they don't actually test positive for a banned substance in their body.

"Not one of those players has ever tested positive for any PED. But that's irrelevant in a situation like this. The commissioner holds the power to suspend players without a positive test if there is firm evidence that they used, or even possessed, a banned substance."

Stark's article goes to ask, "what will it take for athletes to stop taking the risk of using drugs?" Alex Rodriguez has 5 years worth $114 million remaining on his contract with the Yankees, but according to this article if he's punished by MLB the Yankees may void the contract. Is that enough to persuade other athletes from attempting to gain an artificial advantage?

I suspect that as long as success and reward is performance based, and it always will be in sports, people will seek whatever means possible to improve their performance. No one will ever be gifted a championship, and if they were the sporting public wouldn't be interested in it. We may see moments of grace, or sportsmanship, on the field but not as the core value of a major league. Competition is intrinsic to the definition of sport.

Compare that with our eternal reward. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Without God's gift there is no prize. No matter how hard we try. No matter how extreme our efforts. At the end of the day if God doesn't give us a gift there's no salvation. We cannot take credit for our salvation.

This would make for a terrible sports league, but it makes a wonderful life. Every year thousands of athletes practice and train and even perform amazing feats, but the fail to win the championship of their respective sport. They might get injured. They might have bad teammates. Someone else might just be better. For all sorts of reasons their careers never capture the ultimate goal. But in life, God's grace covers those misfortunes. In life, God's made it possible for everyone to win. That's grace!

Strangely, it doesn't mean that there's no cost on our part. Consider Jesus' brief story about a pearl in Matthew 13:45-46.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

God actually wants us to desire and prioritise His kingdom to the same degree as the drug cheats in sports. He wants us to risk everything to get it. But there are no shortcuts. He wants us to love Him and to be like Him. It's when we give God priority that God gives us the gift of entrance into His kingdom.