{"id":25535,"date":"2012-02-22T10:06:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T16:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=25535"},"modified":"2012-02-18T06:52:52","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T12:52:52","slug":"faith-and-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/02\/22\/faith-and-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

David Brooks<\/a><\/strong> gets to the heart of the athlete and compares it to the heart of faith.<\/p>\n

Is competition fundamentally at odds with following Christ? Is the ambition to win? What differences are between Brooks\u2019 sketch of the athlete and the business person\/entrepreneur?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The moral universe of modern sport is oriented around victory and supremacy. The sports hero tries to perform great deeds in order to win glory and fame. It doesn\u2019t really matter whether he has good intentions. His job is to beat his opponents and avoid the oblivion that goes with defeat.<\/p>\n

The modern sports hero is competitive and ambitious. (Let\u2019s say he\u2019s a man, though these traits apply to female athletes as well). He is theatrical. He puts himself on display.<\/p>\n

He is assertive, proud and intimidating. He makes himself the center of attention when the game is on the line. His identity is built around his prowess. His achievement is measured by how much he can elicit the admiration of other people \u2014 the roar of the crowd and the respect of ESPN.<\/p>\n

His primary virtue is courage \u2014 the ability to withstand pain, remain calm under pressure and rise from nowhere to topple the greats\u2026.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no use denying \u2014 though many do deny it \u2014 that this ethos violates the religious ethos on many levels. The religious ethos is about redemption, self-abnegation and surrender to God.<\/p>\n

Ascent in the sports universe is a straight shot. You set your goal, and you climb toward greatness. But ascent in the religious universe often proceeds by a series of inversions: You have to be willing to lose yourself in order to find yourself; to gain everything you have to be willing to give up everything; the last shall be first; it\u2019s not about you.<\/p>\n

For many religious teachers, humility is the primary virtue. You achieve loftiness of spirit by performing the most menial services. (That\u2019s why shepherds are perpetually becoming kings in the Bible.) You achieve your identity through self-effacement. You achieve strength by acknowledging your weaknesses. You lead most boldly when you consider yourself an instrument of a larger cause.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Lin has wrestled with this tension quite openly. In\u00a0a 2010 interview<\/a> with the Web site Patheos, Lin recalled, \u201cI wanted to do well for myself and my team. How can I possibly give that up and play selflessly for God?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin says in that interview that he has learned not to obsess about stats and championships. He continues, \u201cI\u2019m not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please other people. My audience is God. \u2026 The right way to play is not for others and not for myself, but for God. I still don\u2019t fully understand what that means; I struggle with these things every game, every day. I\u2019m still learning to be selfless and submit myself to God and give up my game to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The odds are that Lin will never figure it out because the two moral universes are not reconcilable. Our best teacher on these matters is Joseph Soloveitchik, the great Jewish theologian. In his essays \u201cThe Lonely Man of Faith\u201d and \u201cMajesty and Humility\u201d he argues that people have two natures. First, there is \u201cAdam the First,\u201d the part of us that creates, discovers, competes and is involved in building the world. Then, there is \u201cAdam the Second,\u201d the spiritual individual who is awed and humbled by the universe as a spectator and a worshipper.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Brooks gets to the heart of the athlete and compares it to the heart of faith. Is competition fundamentally at odds with following Christ? Is the ambition to win? What differences are between Brooks\u2019 sketch of the athlete and the business person\/entrepreneur? The moral universe of modern sport is oriented around victory and supremacy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith and Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Brooks gets to the heart of the athlete and compares it to the heart of faith. Is competition fundamentally at odds with following Christ? 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