competition and sports

Last night, Devin, Ben, and I went to go play basketball at the CCRB. The courts were hardly full when we got there; there were only 15 or so people, but we managed to get a game going and we started playing. We were running up and down the court, no one having scored, when a couple of guys started getting in a tussle, one guy complaining about how he was getting fouled, then he would go the other way and retaliate by chopping the other guy on the arm or doing something completely unsportsmanlike. Then the rest of the players would join in and start arguing about how either: 1) we're being stupid by arguing, or 2) telling each other how stupid they were because they didn't know the rules. Wow. Frustration galore... no one just plays basketball.

To be honest, a year ago, I would have been doing the same thing, just getting in dumb unnecessary arguments that would result in just people angry at each other and trying to prove themselves as being better, faces flushed red and fire burning in everyone's eyes as they lowered their shoulders driving to the basket. But yesterday, something was different.. I was less disgusted (and also less participatory..) with the behavior than when I normally would be, and I was more intrigued and sad about how people treat each other.

There's things about sports that are wholesome, but then again there's things about it that are completely degrading. What I saw yesterday was just how much people felt a need to prove themselves, to tell themselves they were good at basketball, to show how much they were worthy to be playing on Court 1 at the CCRB.

When, for example, someone takes a shot and makes an airball or causes a tragic turnover, their natural reaction is to yell, loudly, of course, some sort of profanity to prove their manhood and how much of an uncharacteristic mistake it was for them to make an airball, because, "OH NO, GOD FORBID! I AIRBALLED! I DON'T WANT TO LOOK BAD! F***!" is what's running through their head. Quite tragically, when we're on the courts, all we hear is the last word. The problem here? People want so desperately to prove themselves in front of others that they will do anything to gain that value.

And also, there's something else... it's just a pick-up game, playing to 12. When someone isn't as good at playing, the natural tendency is to look upon them condescendingly and think, "I can do better, so I can boss him around and tell him to stop messing up." If you really think about it, you're not helping their cause by discouraging them. Everyone needs to start at the bottom to get to the top, and most people have no right to tell people what to do. It tends to be that the people who are the worst talk the most; funny how that works out. Personally, I like to think to myself a lot of times that I'm better than certain other people who are playing, so I feel like I have a safety-net when it comes to making mistakes, thinking.. "I'm bad, but at least I'm not as bad as that kid." I need to stop comparing people to myself.

So... here's what I'm thinking:

Sports is just a reflection of our world, compressed into a shorter time and a smaller field.

Let's imagine, for one second, that Michael Jordan, during his prime, decided to leave the NBA and come play pickup basketball at the CCRB everyday, and that's all he did - no endorsements, no publicity, no nothing.. all he wanted was to play basketball here. While he was playing, everytime someone made a mistake, he'd shout out encouragements, tell them to keep shooting, help them up, and just keep on playing. Better yet, he'd be a team player, having no reason to show off because he has no reason to prove himself, and he'd help people one-on-one on how to play better.

So what would he think about that guy who was yelling profanity for missing a shot? He'd tell him to get a life, suck it up, and play basketball with a good attitude. What would he say to the guy who would yell his butt off at someone else to play better when they were already trying their best? He'd say, "Lay off, you're no better yourself." When we have someone who's a lot better than we are, we'd really be put in our place, playing our little pickup basketball like we're leading some kind of NBA dynasty here, and one missed shot is going to cause that dynasty to crumble.

The reason this makes a lot of sense to me right now, is that this MJ analogy right here really explains the Gospel, in a very strange way (MJ, although he may be an awesome basketball player, is most definitely NOT Jesus). Jesus had to give something great up (heaven, eternity... well, I can't think of anything greater than those two things) to become a man on this earth (our little CCRB), and he sees little people running around thinking they're all that, bossing others around, trying to prove themselves to others, thinking they can do it all themselves. I can just see Him walking around, uttering a sigh here and there out of pity... Knowing just how much love we really need. And the oppressed are the ones that benefit the most from His love - the terrible players, the ones who get ragged on for missing shots, for not staying on their man, the ones who feel unloved and unencouraged. When MJ gives them a one-on-one basketball clinic, they would most certainly want to tell others what they've learned, about their experience with him. And so, the ones that have truly experienced Jesus' love are the ones who share the Gospel with the nations.

When MJ plays with us, we can't prove ourselves no matter how hard we try. We're just not up to standard. All we can do is be in awe and happy that such a great player would want to play with us. So why aren't we in awe of how much Jesus gave up for us... why isn't it a front-page headline on the New York Times everyday?

I lost the message of the Gospel somewhere along the way. I want to find it back.