Overreaction Monday

The various hosts on ESPN Radio often use the term "Overreaction Monday" to describe the panic fans express as they digest a dismal performance by their team or key player over the weekend. The players, coaches, general managers should all be sacked! The season is doomed, they should trade their stars and build for the future!

Equally, the games, matches, plays of the weekend may have them over the moon and absolutely convinced that this is the year, the season, the opportunity they've been waiting a lifetime to see. The championship, premiership, moment in the sun will be there's when they're the last team standing. (After Round 1, Chip Kelly is the greatest coach ever and Michael Vick will lead the Philadelphia Eagles to the Promised Land in 2013!!!  Then they lost their next two games!)

This phenomena is particularly potent early in the year as fans (and media and coaches) attempt to grasp the potential of their team and players for the upcoming season. Week 1 every team is undefeated, but come Monday morning half the teams have a loss and the other half a win. One half begin second guessing all the off season player acquisitions and coaching moves. The other half are convinced their hiring and firing guys are geniuses.

Australian professional athletes have their own version of "Overreaction Monday" called "Mad Monday" which immediately follows the end of the regular season. Before the clubs have the chance to review the player list and delist or trade players, the players organize an end of season revelry that often gets out of hand. (Here's this year's 'mad' headline!) This custom is also overreaction as players overindulge in alcohol and in some cases assume, right or wrong, that this will be their last moment with these teammates.

Coaches beating each other up at a high school football game: OVERREACTION!  And the list of over passionate coaches, parents and players in youth sports could go on for a very long time.

I highlight these examples as a reminders of how often we all need to take a deep breath and consider the bigger picture before responding to specific events. When our families say or do something that surprises or shocks us, how often do we overreact? When things don't go our way on the job, do we overreact? Do we manage to keep perspective when something happens at church, or do we walk out the door at the smallest offense to find "the right fit for me"?

Jesus himself addresses this issue a couple of times. Overreaction Monday has been around for quite a long time! In Luke 9:51-55 a Samaritan village refused to give him a bed for the night. His disciples asked "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" (Wow, even the craziest football fans don't ask that question when they get mad at their team!) After pointing out their craziness, Jesus just walked on to another village and slept there.

In Matthew 13 Jesus told a parable about the devil planting weeds in God's field or kingdom. God's servants immediately wanted to pull out the weeds, but God said "No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Overreaction Monday makes for great radio. It's passionate. It's interesting. It's opinionated. But it's also lacking perspective. God wants us, both as winners and losers, to show grace. In our family, job, school, church disputes, He wants us to step back and consider the bigger picture. Don't you be the person escalating and extending hurt by overreacting to perceived wrong doing. Confirm your perceptions and then prayerfully consider an appropriate response.  

It's never our job to call down fire from heaven on anyone's head... not even on Overreaction Monday!!!

Trash Talk

The first week of the NFL season is in the books. And the trash talk has begun. I guess it's a lot easier to talk trash early in the season. There aren't many scoreboards for people to point at.

2013 EXAMPLES:

• Seattle fans talking of buy bricks at the 49ers new stadium and inscribing them with phrases like "Go Hawks".
• 49ers player Dixon posts a tweet calling Seattle the "She-Hawks".
• Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, and some players accuse the NY Giants of faking injuries to give themselves a breather.
• Then the Giants' player in question responds with a crack about Jerry Jones having his son-in-law clean his glasses.
• All this talk about whether the Packers, and Clay Matthews in particular, are "targeting" Colin Kaepernick. Then in the game Matthews hits Kaepernick with a late tackle and the 49ers coach, Jim Harbough, describes it as a slap.
• Matthews responded in a media conference describing himself as "an awesome player... not dirty". I don't know if that last comment was Matthews just defending himself or if he was also taking a shot at division rival Ndamukong Suh who the NFL fined $100,000 this week for a late tackle.

and this is just after Week 1!!

Christians face some interesting decisions when it comes to sledging or trash talk. In many ways it's fun and part of the game. Players participate to gain a psychological edge over the opponents (ior just because they don't like them). Fans join in because it's one way that we can participate in the competition between teams. We're not on the field, but we can sure talk big. But sometimes this kind of talk is destructive and unGodly.

I taught a class last night on idolatry. I was basing my lesson on the first chapter of Mark Driscoll's book, "Who Do You Think You Are?" He uses an acronym for the word IDOLS. Without rehashing the entire lesson, his thoughts on O relate to this topic of trash talking.

O stands for the idea that sometimes we make idols out of our connection to Others. This is very evident in sports when our sense of self-worth often increases when our team wins. We take pride because the team I happened to randomly choose to follow happened to win this week, or this year. Therefore I am better than you.

Driscoll makes this statement,

"While it is good to have community, we often turn this good thing into a bad thing by basing our identity on and idolizing our tribes. If you idolize your tribe, you will also demonize other tribes.

This past weekend also marked the first week of finals (playoffs) in AFL (Australia). I'm very happy to report that "my team" (Carlton) won. Making it even better was that Carlton only made the finals (playoffs) because traditional rival Essendon was eliminated from the finals by the league for their "supplements scandal". Then making the weekend even better is that Collingwood, the other traditional major rival of Carlton, lost! It's just a nice feeling.

It's so easy to get caught up in the roles the football culture imposes upon fans and rub their defeats and disappointments in the faces of Collingwood and Essendon supporters.

But I am so thankful for the example of my grandfather. I truly believe he rescued me from a life of fanaticism. He was a Collingwood supporter, but he is also one of the gentlest men I've known.

One weekend after his team had beaten mine in a huge game with finals implications I was still running on adrenaline (yes, just from watching it on TV) and really expecting him to act like crazy fans on TV and gloat about their victory. Instead, he just commented that it was good game and he knew how disappointing it was to lose that one.

The grace he gave to me completely took the wind out of my sails. I'm not saying that I always match his example. I still like to gloat at times. I mean, I now live near Buffalo where the Bills always lose. If I waited for them to win to say something...!!

By all means Christians should enjoy the banter that comes with supporting a sports team, but lets keep it lighthearted. Let's "Love our neighbours as ourselves". And let's remember that "A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire."

Fantasy Evangelism

Fantasy Sports are a huge part of the sports industry in the United States. Various estimates I read value the industry at $2-5 billion per year. Most of that is advertising revenue on the various fantasy sports websites. Fantasy sports have also taken off in Australia over the past few years as the US craze spreads internationally.

So I got to thinking about how churches could use fantasy sports that so many of our male members are involved in as an evangelistic tool.

I can't believe this is a real thing!!!!!!!

Australia may be a bit slow on the fantasy bandwagon, but we've been "tipping" winners for years. Usually there's money involved, unless it's a tipping competition run by a church leader!! In sharing these ideas I'm very dependent on the example of Barry Hume who's been doing this for years back in Tasmania.

Since the NFL is about to kickoff their season it seemed like a good time to throw this out there. So here are some suggestions for using Fantasy Football to connect with guys one the periphery of the church. The goal of each of these suggestions is to use sports as an excuse to get to know people better. You can use all these suggestions to strengthen bonds between members, and that's great, but it won't be evangelistic unless the unchurched are involved.

1. Use your imagination when inviting people to your league. Perhaps the unchurched husband of your members would like to get involved. Have you met a guy at the local diner or coffee shop who might like to get involved?
2. Make sure you have a draft party. I know most drafts can be done on the computer, but remember the goal is face-to-face time. So take the time to get together and write it out. It's more work, but it will be worth it. Maybe use the church building or even better for building relationships would be using someone's home.
3. As commissioner work hard to keep the emails and online comments (trash talk) going throughout the year. It's so easy to just let the league run on auto pilot. Community will only be built through intentional interaction.
4. Do you have a church Christmas party or special event you can invite the unchurched participants to attend?
5. Develop a list of awards so everyone still has an interest in participating. 
1. Have a vote for the most creative team name.
2. Keep track of the biggest win by an underdog.
3. Longest winning/losing streak.
4. Highest and lowest weekly scores over the course of the year.
5. Team with the most injuries.
6. Team with the most single digit losses.
7. Anything else you can think of.
6. Have physical trophies for the winner, runner-up, and maybe consolation winner. This will provide continuity from year to year. You could even have a plaque somewhere in the church if you want to go all out.
7. You MUST have an end of season awards night. Bring everyone together and eat lots of guy food.
8. Plan to watch a final or the Superbowl together. Many people have standing plans for the Superbowl, but it could work great for an earlier playoff game. 
9. NEVER have a league prayer meeting for your fantasy teams!!! Did I need to include that?

If you can apply most of these suggestions, there's a very high likelihood that you'll know these guys a lot better at the end of the season than the beginning. Only God knows where that relationship will go from there.

I'm always looking for additional ideas, so please leave a comment if you have any.

The Story of an Oxgoad, the NFL, and You

I once preached a sermon based on the text of Judges 3:31. It says this:

"After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel."

I'm sure I was copying someone else I'd heard, but the point of the sermon was pretty simple. Shamgar was one of Israel's judges, appointed by God to lead His people.

In this instance he goes to battle against the Philistines with an oxgoad. What's an oxgoad? It's a stick used to poke oxen to keep them moving while they're ploughing a field. It's not a weapon... usually.

So why did Shamgar use an oxgoad for a weapon? It wasn't because he was skilled in the ancient martial art of oxgoading. It's my thesis (guess) that he used the oxgoad because that's what he was familiar with. Shamgar wasn't a warrior. He was a farmer who walked behind stinky oxen to plough fields.

God called a farmer to rescue and lead his people as a judge. When Shamgar received that call, he answered it with what he had on hand... an oxgoad. And God used him to save Israel.

Each of us faces a similar challenge to answer God's call where we find ourselves. Don't wait for the perfect time, perfect place, the most receptive person, or even more training. If God gives you an opportunity to speak or act for Him, do it with whatever you have. You just might save a nation!

All that to introduce this awesome video by Matt Hasselbeck who is now the backup quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. The website also has interviews by other Christian athletes.

Maybe it's different in the US with a lot of Christians hailing from the Bible Belt, but I suspect not. In my experience athletes and sports clubs are pretty difficult situations to discuss faith. It's much easier to discuss sex, or binge drinking, or gambling, or sports, or all sorts of things... but not Jesus. Professional athletes face the additional temptations of hedonism, pride, materialism, popularity, and greed. I just point that out to say, "Don't underestimate the challenges for Hasselbeck to share his faith with his teammates. It's certainly not easier than what you and I encounter in our social circles."

More Than Mistakes

WARNING: I am about to get on my soapbox. Let me apologise in advance if this post is a little preachy.

I am sick and tired of athletes getting caught in some discretion and then making a public apology describing it as "A MISTAKE".

Let me give you some examples. First, from the recent Biogenesis PED fiasco that infiltrated Major League Baseball.

• Ryan Braun: In the face of overwhelming evidence (after beating a PED charge 18 months ago on a technicality) made this statement: "As I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect," Braun said in a statement. "I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family..."

Yes, Ryan Braun, these actions take a toll on your family. Didn't you think of that beforehand. Or did your greed and selfishness, I'm sorry, your "mistake", prevent you from seeing the outcomes. You made a conscious decision to break the rules knowing the possible consequences but believing they'd never happen to you. You ignored the stigma your parents, wives and kids now face due to their relationship with a "cheater".  So don't cry me a river about your family now. You should of thought of them long ago. It's because of you they have media camped outside the house and making phone calls seeking comments. This wouldn't have happened if you'd just majored in baseball instead of trying to minor in chemistry.

• Nelson Cruz: Offered a qualified confession talking about his illness while saying "my illness was no excuse". If it's no excuse don't talk about it! In a statement he released Monday, Cruz said he was "seriously ill with a gastrointestinal infection" for three months from November 2011-January 2012 and made an "error in judgment" to help him recover and get ready for spring training. "I should have handled the situation differently, and my illness was no excuse," Cruz said in the statement.
• Fernando Martinez: A minor league player who also had injury problems and sought an illegal short cut to recovery now with the Yankees’ Triple-A team, said he had made “a serious mistake” during last season.

It's not as though it's just baseballers that make "mistakes" though. The Denver Broncos (NFL) star defensive player Von Miller was yesterday suspended for 6 games after having difficulties handling a urine sample. (He was suspended a couple of years ago for marijuana use.) He apparently submitted spilled and diluted urine samples. Both are considered violations of NFL drug policy. Urine samples don't get diluted by accident. Then of course he made the obligatory statement acknowledging his "mistake". I made mistakes, and my suspension has hurt my team, Broncos fans and myself. I am especially sorry for the effect of my bad decisions on others.

So being a responsible researcher, I conducted a Google search for the definition of "mistake":

• Noun: An action or judgment that is misguided or wrong
• Verb: Be wrong about.

Here's the thing... mistakes have a lot in common with accidents. We mistakenly recognise someone when we truly think they're someone else. We mistakenly misspell a word but the assumption is that we were trying to spell it correctly. Turnovers are mistakes, they're not deliberate decisions to break the rules.

If we were to call it honestly these players would admit to "breaking the rules". They would admit to "cheating". They would admit to stealing roster places and league honors by their illegal use of PED's. And if they're Christians they would admit to sins: If nothing else they're selfish, and greedy.

In my mind, at least, using the word "mistake" is like pleading that I only told a "white lie". It's admitting that I did something wrong, while trying to also gain acceptance that it wasn't really wrong or serious.

If this was only an issue in sports I guess I'd accept it as an irritation that I have to live with. But when I see Christians describing sin and rebellion against God as "mistakes"... that really upsets me.

• The person who parents a child before marriage then moves in with their partner... "made a mistake". No. They didn't. They just ignored God's teaching on marriage, parenting and holiness.
• The person who gets caught speeding on the way to church (that was me many years ago), didn't make a mistake. He made a decision to go over the speed limit enough to catch the attention of the cops.
• The person who routinely abuses his wife and kids then turns up at church in a suit on Sunday isn't making mistakes Mon -Sat. He's violating the trust of his family and the responsibility God's given him. He's breaking God's demand that he lead his family with love.

Please don't think that I'm demanding all these people be stoned. I am 100% convinced that the Gospel of Jesus is one of grace and mercy (Acts 20:24, Jude 21) . I'm not casting rocks. But I do believe that we're a lot closer to repentance and renewal when we acknowledge the severity of our transgressions. Let's just call sin, "sin". It sounds ugly and abrasive because sin is ugly and abhorrent. Jesus didn't die for our mistakes, he died for our sins. We need to embrace that truth. (Romans 3:22-24)

Thank-you. This is me now stepping down from my soapbox.

PED's for Christians?

Legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, receives credit for the famous American sports quote,  

"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." 

It's a motivational statement intended to inspire players to give their utmost to the goal of winning the game, or championship. (This wikipedia article suggests another origin.)

Apparently Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz and others took this advice to heart. (Read the full story HERE.) They risked their careers to obtain an unfair advantage over other players and gave in to the allure of performance enhancing drugs. (PED's) The drive to be the greatest, to achieve the most, and to go down in history was so strong that they risked what have already been outstanding careers in an attempt to ensure they reach the top of the baseball mountain.

I've written about PED's before, so this time I just want to ask a very simple question.

Is your relationship with God as important to you as success on the field is to these baseball players?

What would you risk in an effort to ensure your salvation? How far would you go seeking restoration with your eternal Father? How important is winning life to you?

Jesus went "all in" for us. That's how important we are to Him.

The question is, "How do we reciprocate?"

• Do we struggle to get out of bed on time each Sunday? 
• Do we linger as the collection plate is passed deciding whether to put in a $5 or a $10? 
• Do spend hours on our fantasy football teams, or Monday Night Football but not have any time for prayer? 
• Can we recite stats all day, but not remember any Scripture verses?

Paul, the apostle, expressed his commitment this way,

Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness. (Philippians 3:8-9, The Message)

It's all about what's important to us. We admire the single-minded focus sports stars have in pursuing their goals. The example of Jesus challenges us to have the same focus on the mission he's given us.

Of course, there are no PED's for Christians. The Bible doesn't need it's performance enhanced. Check out these performance descriptions:

•  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
• There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, The Message)

God's given us a training regimen, if only we use it...   Paul did. In fact, Paul wrote a lot of it. At the end of his life he reviewed his life of service for God with this confidence,

I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming. (2 Timothy 4:6-8, The Message)

What will be God's summary of your career?

I Didn't Dream of Becoming a Supermodel...

This past Saturday Marion Bartoli won the Ladies' Singles Championship at Wimbledon. Sadly some of the shine of this accomplishment was tarnished by comments BBC presenter John Inverdale made. I suspect he was trying to complement the grit and determination Bartoli demonstrated throughout the championship, but in the process he made these sexist comments about her appearance.

"Do you think Bartoli's dad told her when she was little: 'You're never going to be a looker, you'll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight'?".

 

In many ways his comments reflect the reality that in women's tennis (and I'm sure many other sports) looks matter. Anna Kournikova never won a WTA singles title, yet according to Wikipedia "at the peak of her fame [2001-03], fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google Search." Stunning looks will help you get in the headlines, even if your on court results don't match they hype. This article on the Bleacher Report website discusses the Bartoli comments and does a good job of highlighting the hypocrisy perpetuated by the WTA itself.

But this reality is no excuse for the initial comments. If it wasn't bad enough that an official BBC presenter felt free to criticise a player's looks, the twitter universe was even more cruel. This Daily Mail article does a good job of describing Inverdale's offense (even as it panders to shallow sensuality on it's sidebar) and the Twitter firestorm.

ESPN in the name of gender equality has created the website, espnW.com. Appropriately, they have a good article criticising the sexism of Inverdale and Twitter's comments. The irony, however, is that this story breaks the same week that ESPN the Magazine publishes its "Body Issue" full of nude pictures of athletes. Talk about speaking out both sides of your mouth!

The crazy thing in all this, is that Bartoli does not weigh 300 pounds or have missing teeth. She's a superb athlete who just WON WIMBLEDON!!!!! The standards of beauty and expectations placed upon young girls and women can be crushing. It's not enough to perform at an incredibly high level and be the best in the world at what you do, you must apparently also meet a beauty quotient at the same time. There's probably a bunch of articles on this issue out there, but a friend shared this one with me that I thought was worthwhile.

I don't follow women's tennis all that closely, so I don't really know much else about Bartoli, but I admire her response to this issue. She definitely takes the high road and demonstrates healthy priorities!

"It doesn't matter, honestly. I am not blonde, yes. That is a fact. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I'm sorry. But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon? Absolutely, yes.’’

This is also the same week in which a Dustin Hoffman interview touching on the topic of beauty has gone viral. In the interview he chokes back tears as he describes arriving at the realisation that he had passed up knowing many wonderful women because they had not met the standards of beauty he'd learned to prioritise.

As one blessed to be the father of little girl, this series of events reminds me how important it is that I reinforce her value for all facets of her life and personality. I love her because she's my daughter, not because she meets certain benchmarks I, or anyone else, have for her. I happen to think she's beautiful and she'll continue to hear that from me often. However I'm more concerned about raising a daughter with beautiful character than a beautiful smile. I'm intentional to compliment her good behaviour, her learning, her compassion, and her love for God.

I believe this is consistent with God's view of humanity. In 1 Peter 3:3-5 the apostle writes to Christian women,

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."

Since I'm pretty sure it will mostly be guys visiting this site, let me say that we have a responsibility to reinforce God's values to the women in our lives. We shouldn't expect our sisters to take this instruction to heart as long as we're evaluating them on the basis of "elaborate hairstyles, gold jewelry or fine clothes." In fact, we encourage them to ignore God's priorities.

Sure, God created us as sexual beings who are visually stimulated, but we're still rational beings who need to learn to appreciate women as complete persons. While the world wants to accept or dismiss women based upon a 2 second analysis of "hot or not", these women need Christian men to affirm acceptance and value that runs much deeper than their skin.

Paul was encouraging this attitude in his apprentice Timothy when he told him that as he worked with a church he was to "treat the older women as mothers and the younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." (1 Tim 5:2) He wasn't forbidding Timothy from marrying a physically attractive woman, but he was warning him to firstly care for all the women he encountered as family members. He wasn't to deny beauty, but he was to value the heart more.

For God so loved the world... not the rich, or the beautiful, or the black, or the white, or the talented.... May we represent Him faithfully as we do the same.