On the court or in the church...

I grew up loving college basketball. And, as I am going through withdrawal of my thyroid medication and on the very restrictive low-iodine diet in preparation for next week’s routine follow-up scans at Duke, it is a special gift to me that basketball season is underway. With my fatigue, I don’t yell at the players, coaches or referees nearly as much as I normally do, but, through the years, I have learned that doesn’t make much difference anyhow. :) Doesn’t stop me, but my good advice doesn’t seem to change their behavior.
Staying home during this depleted time has reminded me that there is very little good to watch on TV. So this past Saturday, I was thrilled that there was a full line-up of basketball games. My family in Kentucky is, as you can imagine, all rabid UK fans. But my sister and both brothers were born in Cincinnati. So I was watching the Cincinnati-Xavier game too and was shocked and horrified at the end-of-game brawl. As I have said to you many times about United Methodism – we emphasize the importance of passion AND discipline. You’ve got to have both. To be a good ball player – or a good witness for Christ, you’ve got to have passion…but passion without discipline turns out to be disaster. Discipline need not be a god unto itself (then it is a tyrant) but the absence of discipline in crucial moments is a tragedy. And that’s what happened Saturday.
My heart broke for embarrassed Cincinnati Bearcat Coach Mick Cronin who struggled to find words for the anger and disappointment he felt. In a news conference, he said he made all the Bearcat players take their jerseys off in the locker room and that they would have to earn their way back to playing privileges. Playing is a privilege, he said, especially playing on scholarship. Players on the court represent more than themselves. They represent the university. And they need to understand that first and foremost.
And I understand that intense, gut-wrenching feeling so well because part of the work of a DS is being called on the congregation court for the same kind of unfortunate flare-up. Once people start swinging, they swing at everyone in sight. I don’t think it would be much consolation to Coach Cronin for me to write him the good news that none of his players took at swing at him ---but in my church world, when people are mad and out of control, they take swings at each other and the preacher and the DS. The bishop, too. Sad thing is, I am not dealing with teenagers and young adults. Usually, I am facing the out-of-control swinging of adults who have attended church for decades and ought, by teaching and maturity, to know they are out of line. Hard to describe the disappointment.
This is the thing: no one should have to tell an athlete that every athlete on the court is bound by the rules of the sport. No one should have to say that athletes should not be throwing punches at anyone else on the court. No one should have to say that everyone is expected to play by the rules.
If I have one theme of my superintendency for situations of conflict – this is it: no matter what has happened, Christians are expected to live and act like Christians. We have a common covenant. We expect everyone to live up to it. Jesus himself laid down that basic covenant: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 among many places). It is not ok to come out swinging – on the court or in the congregation. In the Garden of Gethsemane, in one of the most intense, pressure-filled, emotional scenes of all Jesus’ life, Peter came out swinging. (John 18:10). And Jesus, who might have been a little more sympathetic to the immense sadness and trauma of the moment, turned back to Peter with some of the strongest words of admonition anywhere in the New Testament: “NO MORE OF THIS!”
The heat of the moment does not give us permission to lash out – not against our friends, not even against our enemies. Every sports player is bound to the common rules of the game and it is unacceptable for emotions to get out of control in ways that hurt others. Every CHRISTIAN is bound to the common covenant of the life, teaching and example of Jesus Christ. And no amount of emotion or pressure or disappointment gives a Christian license to depart from speaking and living the Christian way.
By the way, trash-talking apparently figured into the brawl on Saturday…and, while trash-talking is not prohibited by the rules of basketball (like throwing a punch in another players face), on the Christian court, trash-talking, gossip and slander all violate our common covenant.
I love basketball. Saturday’s incident leaves me with a sick feeling…a feeling I know all too well from church meetings that are outside the covenant. The coaches are telling their players that if they want to play again, they are going to have to understand that they represent the high standards of the university and be willing to put that first. I can’t kick Christians off the team. But I want to say the same thing. What you say and what you do represents Jesus. Don’t let anything distract you from that all-important reality. Make your mark for good. God’s message through the angels was God’s clear intention for our life together: “And on earth peace, good will to all.” No matter what anybody else does, don’t let anyone throw you off the focus God requires.
Our world is out of control. The media is full of people taking swings at each other. Family life and work life and community life (and church life) is often modeling the contentiousness of the culture. Being a Christian entitles us only to act like Christians—under all circumstances. What a witness we have a chance to make! May the peace of Christ come to us – and to others through us—this Advent.