Checking priorities...

I come by my basketball passions honestly: I grew up in Kentucky. That should be enough said. Anyone familiar with the Bluegrass State knows that basketball is more than a sport, more than a passion, certainly more than a pastime. Basketball in Kentucky is more like a state religion (I say this with all due respect to my family and state-of-origin.)
So I learned early to love basketball with intensity.
Moving to North Carolina almost 3 decades ago was like coming home when it comes to sports. Basketball is part of the language and passion of the state. I took to basketball loyalties like a duck to water. Early in my tenure as a North Carolinian, I was advised that a specific basketball loyalty had to be declared. Neutrality was unheard of. Being a good United Methodist, I chose Duke. And I have been headlong into basketball ever since.
Early this afternoon, before the game, I posted on Facebook that the Golden Rule was on the line and on my mind: Best wishes to the Tarheels.
Then I spent the afternoon wondering why wishing Carolina well was so hard for me
Memories through the years sprung to mind. There was one church member who could be depended on to be at worship whenever Carolina won. Sporting all kinds of light blue clothing and accessories-- and often leaving some kind of Carolina memorabilia in the pulpit--Don was as rabid a Carolina fan as I have ever met. In one pre-church conversation, he assured me that, once the NCAA tournament started, he cheered for all the ACC teams. I didn't really believe him. But he was sitting in the sanctuary when he insisted that he cheered for any team in the ACC. So when Duke got to the NCAA finals that year, I called him to say how good it was for us to be cheering for the same team for once. There was a brief silence at the other end of the line and then, contrary to his more generous spirit in the church sanctuary, he said there was no way he was cheering for Duke. Although this exchange happened during the early years of the war in Iraq, he said "I'd rather cheer for Sadaam Hussein". So much for cheering for the last ACC team in the tournament.
Someday I will write a book about keeping religion while serving people with such rabid basketball passions. I think the title will be "Dear God, Please Tell Them The Color of the Sky is Not Carolina Blue..."
Today, I was the one who needed to step beyond narrow loyalty. That shouldn't have been hard. Duke's season came to a miserable, early end and nothing about a Carolina victory was going to change that. UNC is the only North Carolina team left in the tournament. I live in North Carolina. My daughter serves a church in Chapel Hill. So why would I feel like choking before I said "Best wishes to the Tarheels"? That's crazy.
In my Facebook post, I said that the Golden Rule was on the line. As I have gone through the afternoon, I realized that it wasn't the Golden Rule that was on the line at all. It was my commitment to the Golden Rule that was on the line. I am quick to notice how people fail to live up to the Golden Rule when they come to me with all manner of complaints about their preacher and each other. But in the spirit of Lenten honesty, I have felt how easy it is to fail the Golden Rule--how easy it is to wish for the downfall of rivals. And if my spirit can be tempted away from mutual love with something like basketball, I'd say I have some soul-searching to do.
As it turns out, Carolina lost this afternoon. (Did I mention that my mother was born in Kansas?). But I know that my pleasure in their loss is not something for me to be proud of. There are too many ways that we get mired in narrow loyalties. That reality should sober us, especially in the season of Lent--which centers on Christ's unreserved love for all.
While giving up basketball for Lent might not have been much of a sacrifice for Duke fans this year, basketball has never been on my list of things to give up for the season. But, as a rabid basketball fan, I can say that nothing is more important than living out the principles of Christian faith. I would rather give up basketball than fail my faith--even in the best of seasons.
Lent is the time for us to learn to live out the largeness of God's heart. This afternoon, I let basketball trip me up. No sport or pastime deserves that kind of allegiance. The Golden Rule is not on the line. Whether or not we practice what we believe--that's what is on the line.