Archive for January, 2012

Sports In America Today

Landry, Bodwen, Osborne, Teaff, Dodd, Dooley, Dickey, Gaither, Curry, and a myriad more I knew them all, some very well. They defined college coaching greatness. Add to them a legion of unheralded other men and women who did and do more than coach X and Os.

The ranks of high school coaches I have know have among them some of society’s most influential citizens. They don’t just coach boys and girls they build men and women.

Coach Tom Landry told me that every day on high school campuses across America there is one man hundreds of students look at as something slightly less than God and they call him “coach.” That identifies how important a coach is in the lives of youth.

For six years I served as Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I spoke to numerous pro, college, and high school teams in a variety of sports.

Speaking at national conferences and retreats and athletes at the Hula Bowl for several years has allowed me to get to know some of the most outstanding big name athletes who are men and women of character. Many of them give generously of their time and resources to help young people.

Over the years I have also known some coaches and athletes who brought discredit to their role. Again some of them I have known well and know they regret their actions. Some engaged in action completely out of character for them and lament it greatly.

The good guys are big men and women in a big business: sports. While top level coaches garner enormous salaries some find their gratification not in remuneration but redemption of lives. I don’t want to disparage high salaried coaches and imply they aren’t concerned with the welfare of their athletes.

The notoriety is not as great, but the number of athletes is the same in Division One all the way to the NAIA. It is expanded in high school and organized teams outside schools.

The real value of sports is not only in the income derived from it, but the lives changed. If you want to make it merely a matter of economics, consider the number of athletes who if not involved with influential coaches would end up in prison. Some do, but more would if not for the influence of a good coach. That saves millions of dollars in court and prison costs.

The transformation of a person from a street person to a responsible citizen is of inestimable worth. This remodeling occurs in sports more than any other activity. One reason is it is one of the few areas of life where discipline is mandatory.

So many youth today come from dysfunctional homes. The only father or mother figure of character they know is the coach.

I ask one coach if most of his athletes were reared by a single parent and he said yes, the grandmother. Often the team is the only “family” the young athlete has known.

I have worked close enough with sports program recently to see the baggage many youth bring to school and the patient and often prayerful effort coaches of all disciplines make to redeem them. Any way you interpret the word “redeem” it is applicable in their case.

The arena of sports isn’t perfect, but overall it is vital to society. Judge it not at its weakest point.

An Athletes Responsibility

Whatever region of the country a person lives in they are often unaware of some of the very good things happening in other regions. In the South we can talk southern football, but often have little understanding of what is going on elsewhere and know little of the character of athletes out of our region.

Kirk Cousins, outstanding quarterback for the Michigan State Spartina spoke at the 2011 Big Ten Football Luncheon. Having heard a bit of the character of Kirk I viewed on Facebook his speech.
His brief speech had three parts. He said playing football was many things and one special thing is it is a privilege. Athletes are privileged. Humbly he spoke of the favor shown athletes, the honor of being asked for an autograph by a child, delight of using the platform afforded by being an athlete to try to influence young people, and the opportunity of being interviewed and sharing personal values.

His second point focused on an area overlooked by many athletes as well as persons in various walks of life. Often privileged persons develop a sense of entitlement. They grow to expect favors and acclaim. Being privileged to be an exceptional person they want exceptions made for them. They grow to feel moral and civil laws don’t apply to them. This feeds their ego.

This is where he made his most valid point. He said being privileged should not result in a sense of entitlement, but rather a sense of responsibility. Privileged persons are responsible for not letting down those who have made it possible for them being privileged. They are responsible to live up to the highest standards and be accountable. Privileged people have a responsibility to embrace responsibility that goes with the privilege. To set a standard of true manhood for youth. To use ones God given potential to the fullest. To redefine what it means to be cool. To set a new standard of how to treat others. That excellence in the classroom is a worthy pursuit. That it is more important to do what is right that what feels good. Athletes have a responsibility not to do anything to dishonor the name of the front of the jersey and those who make it possible for them to play football. A responsibility to the name on the back of the jersey so family and friends will not be ashamed to say he is one of ours.

With just the right amount of spiritual insight he acknowledged the ability to play football is by the grace of God. Then quoting from the Book of Luke he recounted that “to whom much is given much is expected.”

He concluded by saying, “May we have the wisdom to handle the privilege and the courage to fulfill the responsibility that goes with our role.” That is good council for all of us.

Some athletes have such a bloated egos they can strut sitting down. Arrogance and impudence characterize many. An inflated sense of self-worth permeates sports. It is good to hear an athlete who combines confidence, humility, and wisdom. Candidly, there are many with such high morals, admirable ethics, and commendable spiritual values. Their standards don’t insure them against losses, but they surely mean they aren’t losers.

Does God Love Tebow More Than Other Quarterbacks?

Does God love Tim Tebow more than He loves opposing quarterbacks?

No!

I am not even sure God loves football. I do know, however, He loves football players because they are included in the “whosoever” of John 3: 16.

Through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes I have had the good fortune of working with athletes in several sports of all ages and stages. I have observed that spiritually mature Christian athletes rarely pray to win. They all pray for God to bless them that they might play their best.

They apply a principle found in the theme text of my life recorded in the Bible in the book of Colossians 3:23. “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men.”

The game is played to an audience of one. Life is lived for the approval of one, the Lord. It is called emotional equilibrium.

If persons do what they do to the best of their ability and God approves, but people criticize and complain, they don’t get depressed. They didn’t do it for them, they did it for Him.

If persons do what they do to the best of their ability and God approves, while people compliment them , brag on them, pat them on the back, and cheer, them they don’t become egotistical. They didn’t do it for them, they did it for Him.

Before we became PC elitists and the courts of our land decided all of their predecessors including the founders had been violating the Constitution, I often had the pleasure of being a chaplain for several local high school teams. One year the two top teams in the county were to play and the winner would be the region champion. After the team meeting four athletes asked to meet with me privately. They then requested we pray around the circle. That was one of the most meaningful prayer session I have been in. One athlete prayed, “Lord help us to play our best and bless the other team that they might play their best.” That was much more spiritually mature than I was at that age.

I don’t think God has a warm fuzzy feeling regarding the actions of persons who mock those who love Him because of their faith. Rarely has there been an athlete subjected to such ridicule as Tebow. To date his responses have been commendable.

One can’t help but wonder what response there would be to a display of devotion by a Muslim. Their faith is accommodated even in prison. They are given a clock and compass. This is so they can know the direction in order to bow toward Mecca and at what times to pray.

“Chariots of Fire” is a true story based on the life of Eric

Liddel, a devout Scottish Christian, and the 1924 Olympics. In the film Liddel is represented as saying, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also make me fast, and when I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”

That is what spiritually mature Christian athletes desire, God’s pleasure. That is the proper aspiration of all persons of faith. It provides emotional equilibrium in an unbalanced world.

My wife is a graduate of LSU. We are now pondering whether God loves Alabama more than LSU. In reality we know He just let them play it out.

An Atheist Considers God

The recent death of Christopher Hitchens garnered press for his field of expertise, atheism. The belief there is no God was represented well by his sharp mind. It is a subject that minds small and great have grappled with for ages.

Vernher von Braun, a man with the mind of a rocket scientist, addressed the subject on several occasions. For those who don’t know him, he was the German rocket scientist brought to America near the end of World War II who become known as the father of our space program. His research led him to conclude, “One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all.”

After commenting on the many scientific evidences of God, he postulated, “They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun.” The line of logic is the sun is so obvious a candle isn’t necessary to see it and the evidences of God are so obvious no scientific experiment is needed to conclude He exists.

Atheists often demand proof there is a God. Turn that. One basic law of logic is you can’t prove a negative. The negative, there is no God, can’t be proven. To prove it one would have to know all there is to know about everything and know that in that body of knowledge there is no God. Does anyone know even ten percent of all there is to know about everything? Atheists can’t prove that in the unknown ninety percent there is no God.

The eternal existence beyond death was also an object of his interest. He averred, “Nature does not know extinction; all it knows is transformation. Everything science has taught me — and continues to teach me — strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace.”

Blaise Pascal, a 17th Century philosopher and renowned mathematician, proposed what is known as Pascal’s Wager. This genius made contributions in many scientific fields and is known for developing the schools of hydrodynamics and hydrostatics.

He described the payoff of the gamble of his proposed wager this way: “If God does not exist, then you neither gain nor lose anything from belief or disbelief. In either case, you just die and that’s the end. However, if you choose to believe in God, and you are right, then the reward is infinite: Eternal bliss in heaven. On the other hand, if you chose not to believe in God, and you’re wrong, your payoff is negative infinity: Eternal suffering in hell.”

As a sidebar, isn’t it interesting that advocates of two distinct schools of thought, evolution and atheism, both make the same fallacious claim that no scientists believe in God or creation. Countless scholars with terminal degrees from reputable academic institutions believe there is a God who created.

Reasons vary as to why people are atheists. C. S. Lewis, well known author, was an atheist. He said that he knew that if he ever admitted there was a God he would have to admit his guilt before

Him and he was enjoying his sexual sins too much to do that. Fortunately for him the day came he did make such an admission. It was also fortunate for the world of literature.

To say there is a god is little better than to say there is no god. It only really matters when you can say, “You, Oh God, are my God.”