Last weekend many Americans watched on TV the opening of the
2016 Rio Olympics. This event attempts to bring together the top amateur
athletes in the world, to show off their amazing talent.
I watched some of the performances. Later, while I was
in bed, attempting to fall asleep, I wondered what life might be like as a
world-class athlete. I envied the gracefulness, poise, strength and
agility I had watched that evening on TV. It was truly inspiring.
Then I began wondering about the "moral universe"
of modern sport. It seemed to me it is oriented around victory and
supremacy. So, the sports hero tries to perform great deeds in order to
win fame and glory. It doesn't really matter whether he or she has good
intentions. Their job is to beat the opponent and avoid the oblivion that goes
with defeat.
I was thinking that the modern sports hero must be
competitive and ambitious for his or her own success. (Let's say
he's a man, though these traits apply to female athletes as well.) He is
theatrical. He puts himself on display.
He is assertive, proud and intimidating. He makes
himself the center of attention when the contest 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 ---- the roar of the crowd
and the respect of TV producers.
His primary virtue is courage ---- the ability to withstand
pain, remain calm under pressure and rise from nowhere to topple the greats.
This is what we go to sporting events to see. This
sporting ethos pervades modern life and shapes how we think about other
things ---- such as business activities, academic achievements and political
competition.
Well, it was Sunday night, and thoughts about the life style
that Jesus was seeking for us slipped into my head. We often talked about
this in our Central Presbyterian Church worship services. The message
would be about redemption, self-denial and surrender to God.
So, I was unable to avoid comparing the sporting ethos and the
religious ethos. One's ascent in the sports universe is a relatively
straight shot ---- you set your goal, and you climb toward greatness. In
fact, your progress usually can be measured. However, one's ascent in the
religious universe often progresses by a series "reversals," by which
we seem to be turned inside out. 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! Most importantly,
"It's not about you."
For many religiously-oriented people, humility is the
primary virtue. One achieves loftiness of spirit, in their view, by
performing the most menial services. Think about Mother Theresa.
Or, the Old Testament King David who started out as a shepherd. You
achieve your identity, the religious believe, through self-effacement.
You achieve strength by acknowledging your weaknesses. You lead most
boldly when you consider yourself merely an instrument of an outside, larger cause.
The most perceptive athletes have always tried to wrestle
with this conflict ---- the demands of the sports ethos VS. the demands of the
religious ethos. Can these be reconciled? Is it possible to give up
playing for your team, so as to play selflessly for God?
A few years ago, The New York Times published a column by
writer David Brooks, in which he quoted Joseph Soloveitchik, a prominent Jewish
theologian. Soloveitchik was quoted as saying that people simultaneously
have two natures. First, there is "Adam the First," the part of
us that creates, discovers, competes and is involved in building the
world. Then, there is "Adam the Second," the spiritual
individual who is awed and humbled by the universe as a spectator and
worshiper.
David Brooks saw Soloveitchik as assuming that humans are
the product of God's breath, but also "from the dust of the earth."
The two natures of mankind, he would say, have different
moral qualities. One nature is "the morality of majesty," and
the other is the "morality of humility." They exist in creative
tension with each other. A religious person shuttles between them, says
Brooks, feeling lonely and slightly out of place in both experiences.
If you agree that each of us has these two natures all the
time, and that they are always in conflict, then when and by what rules do you
decide which nature to "exercise" at any point in time? Of
course, there will always be those who believe they have only one nature, only
one morality. For them, life's purpose appears easy. But, for the
rest of us, don't you think that life and religion are a bit more complicated?
Which "nature" are you pursuing at this
moment? Why?
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal
spiritual growth this summer at CPC.
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