Wooden Gold - Thanks John<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Wooden's faith in Christ wasn't loud, but it was powerful. Read about it in this blog post.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/06\/09\/wooden-gold-thanks-john\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wooden Gold - Thanks John\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Wooden's faith in Christ wasn't loud, but it was powerful. 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{"id":447,"date":"2010-06-09T09:19:18","date_gmt":"2010-06-09T15:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=447"},"modified":"2010-06-09T09:19:18","modified_gmt":"2010-06-09T15:19:18","slug":"wooden-gold-thanks-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/06\/09\/wooden-gold-thanks-john\/","title":{"rendered":"Wooden Gold – Thanks John"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In yesterday\u2019s post I wrote that I\u2019d be sharing an example of God\u2019s reign made visible. \u00a0Here it is, in the form of a letter, with a front end note that this isn\u2019t about basketball<\/strong>; it\u2019s about making God\u2019s reign visible.<\/p>\n

Dear John \u2013<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure why we think about people more after they die than while they\u2019re alive, but your passing away this weekend at the age of 99 had me thinking about you, something I\u2019d not done much of since college. \u00a0I\u2019m one of the millions who knew of you and were affected by your life. \u00a0I played a little basketball in Jr. High and it was while I was in love with the game that you had your best years at UCLA. \u00a0Ten national titles in twelve years? \u00a0Nobody\u2019s ever come close to matching that, before or since. \u00a0But it was the way you built winners that impressed, even as a kid of 14. \u00a0You weren\u2019t throwing chairs and swearing at refs; \u00a0you were building young men by teaching the old school values of hard work, discipline, and integrity.<\/p>\n

But these too, are the standard fare of many great coaches. \u00a0What set you apart was your love for Christ, your family, and your players. \u00a0You read your Bible every day, and once quipped that if you were ever put on trial for your faith, there\u2019d be plenty of evidence to convict you. \u00a0I love, though, that your faith was pouring through you right in the thick of UCLA at that time of incredible unrest, both racially and nationally known as \u201cthe 60\u2019s\u201d. \u00a0That you forged deep relationships and loyalty to a team at a time when so many players were choosing paths different than yours is a testimony to the reality that your players weren\u2019t evangelism projects \u2013 you loved them: deeply and unconditionally.<\/p>\n

This kind of love and advocacy showed up way back in the 46-47 season, when you were coaching at Indiana State Teachers College. \u00a0Your team earned an invitation to the NAIB national playoffs. \u00a0But when you learned that Clarence Walker, your African-American second string guard wouldn\u2019t be allowed to make the trip, you declined the offer. \u00a0This stunned the basketball world. \u00a0They invited you the next year and said that he could play, but that he wouldn\u2019t be able to stay with the team. \u00a0You declined again, but when his family and the NAACP tried to persuade you, you went, and led your team to breaking the color barrier. \u00a0On that trip, if Clarence was going to be refused service at a restaurant, the whole team would leave the restaurant, often eating in the bus. (there\u2019s more on this story here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Did you understand the \u201cbreaking down of the dividing wall\u201d in Ephesians 2? \u00a0I don\u2019t know, but I\u2019ll say this much. You were making God\u2019s reign visible as a basketball coach while countless pastors were still preaching racism and justifying slavery based on a wrong reading of Genesis 9. \u00a0You got it right John, while lots of seminarians kept missing the point.<\/p>\n

Growing up closer to San Francisco than Los Angeles, I learned to love the Bay Area teams and actively cheer for all things Southern Cal to lose, especially<\/em> the Dodgers. \u00a0UCLA Basketball was the single exception to this paradigm. \u00a0I\u2019d come in, with friends, from our 3 on 3\u2019s in the front driveway and watch your team on TV because you inspired us. \u00a0Though I wouldn\u2019t have articulated it this way at the time, I can now see that you were making God\u2019s reign visible; in your life, your marriage (writing love letters to your wife on the 21st of every month since her death in 1985), and your ministry of basketball. \u00a0Thanks for that. \u00a0Like so many other glimpses of glory, you\u2019ve encouraged me to press on.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"