The Bismack Effect

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Sometimes the most important people are the people we most take for granted. I was reminded of this recently in the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers are facing off against the Toronto Raptors. In the first two games of the series, things looked decidedly one-sided. Cleveland won Game 1 by 31 points and Game 2 by 19 points. Get out the brooms. A sweep is coming. I totally expected it myself. But then something happened. Something changed. In Game 3, the Raptors win by 15 and then in Game 4, last night, the Raptors pulled off a 6 point victory.  Suddenly, a boring series turned into a must-watch. How did this happen?

Well, I think it would be easy to look at the stellar play of the Raptors’ guards, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, and chalk it all up to prolific scoring. After all, DeRozen dropped 32 points in Game 3 and Lowry had 35 points in Game 4. These are clutch, big-time numbers by excellent players. They deserve the credit they get.

But if you look a little deeper in the box score, another name jumps out at you: Bismack Biyombo. A 6’9″ 23-year old center from the Congo, Biyombo has never been an elite offensive player. In fact, a recent SB Nation article argued he has a “rather rudimentary offensive skill set” even after being in the league for a few years. He’s scored a whopping 27 points in the 4 games of the Eastern Conference Finals so far. Biyombo is definitely not the kind of player that will blow you away with his deft dribbling or pretty jumper or deep range. So, what does he do well? All the “little things.” Things like rebounds, blocking shots and switching on defense.

For instance, in a pivotal and must-win Game 3, the feisty Biyombo snatched down 26 rebounds (including 8 offensive rebounds!) and made 4 blocks. In Game 4, he scarfed up 14 more rebounds and sent 3 shots packing. Biyombo also grabbed a key offensive rebound toward the end of the game to seal the Raptors’ victory.

All in all, Biyombo, an under-sized NBA center has been an essential ingredient in the Raptors’ recipe for victory in the last two games. And yet he’s done it in a relatively ordinary way. He’s good at playing defense. He’s good at grabbing the ball after a missed shot. He’s good at playing with energy. Sometimes the most important people are the people we most take for granted.

And I think this is true in the church as well. This past Saturday, my church held a “Volunteer Celebration” for a variety of lay-people who serve on Sunday mornings. Volunteers like children’s ministry workers, greeters, communion servers, bookstore workers were invited. The meeting was simple and straightforward. Amidst the food, fellowship and fun games, the goal of the event was to communicate one main message to people often taken for granted in the life of the church: Thank-you. Even though wiping baby’s noses or filling communion cups or holding a door open may not be the most glamorous way to serve, it’s important. It’s an essential ingredient in making our church’s family gatherings on Sundays so rich. It’s a small, but vital part of accomplishing the mission of our church. And this is exactly the way God designed it.

Passages like 1 Cor. 12 and 1 Peter 4:10-11 remind us of God’s masterful design of the church. We all play a different parts in the body of Christ. Some prominent. And some less prominent. And yet we need each other. We need to work together in love to accomplish the mission that Christ has for us. To use an NBA analogy, some of us are the Lowry’s and DeRozen’s of the church. We are seen, we are heard – often. But others are the Bismack Biyombo’s of the church. We do the “little things.” We serve behind the scenes. And we do it year after year after year.

In the end, the church needs both. We need preachers and nursery workers. We need worship leaders and janitors. We need the elders and greeters. And we most of all, we need the Lord who can use anyone, yes, anyone, to accomplish His glorious purposes in the church.

 

 

 

 

The Listening Life: Chapter 1

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Listening LifeIn chapter 1 of his book, The Listening Life, Adam McHugh unpacks more about what he means by “listening” and the need for it in today’s world.  Here’s a few highlights from my reading of the chapter:

McHugh opens by talking about the unnatural division between “hearing” and “doing” that has arisen in English language and associated cultures. And yet in both Latin, Greek and Hebrew, McHugh argues that “listening and obedience are inextricably, unabashedly linked, so much so that we can say that those who don’t act on what they hear have not actually listened. As seminary professor Howard Hendricks put it, ‘Biblically speaking, to hear and not to do is not to hear at all.'” (Kindle Loc. 130, 140). A little later on, McHugh states, “Biblical listening is a whole-hearted full-bodied listening that not only vibrates our eardrums but echoes in our souls and resonates out into our limbs” (Kindle Loc. 163).

So, rather than just understanding “listening” to someone as physically hearing the audible sounds they are making, true listening is a “practice of focused attention. Hearing is an act of the senses, but listening is an act of the will. In listening you center not only your ears but also your mind, heart and posture on someone or something other than yourself. It is a chosen obedience, like soldiers falling into line the moment their commanding officer calls them to attention” (Kindle Loc. 189).

This understanding of listening is profoundly important and profoundly challenging in today’s world. It’s profoundly important, because this kind of listening, this kind of focused attention is what we should be giving our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Following Jesus necessitates listening to Jesus. And listening to Jesus is not simply reading His words or sitting under the preached Word every Sunday. No, it involves sitting with “Jesus’ words like an old friend that you know yet really don’t know, chewing and digesting, continuing to seek greater clarity and depth of understanding” (Kindle Loc. 207). Listening to Jesus “makes us into disciples – those who learn, who follow and who submit to the Lord” (Kindle Loc. 217).

In fact, as we follow and listen to Jesus, our Servant Lord, we become more like Him. We became servants who serve by listening to others. I was really helped by the point that McHugh brought out here. He indicated that too often we love to gain control with our words. We love to dominate conversations. Too often we just want to talk about ourselves. And yet when we chose to serve another person by listening to them, we are setting aside what might distract us and what we think should happen in that moment, and we are humbly acknowledging that “no matter who are we are listening to, we come to learn” (Kindle Loc. 227). “Servant listening,” as McHugh calls it, “is an act of surrender, to which we lay down our verbal weapons, our preconceived notions, our quick advice and our desire to steer the conversation toward ourselves. We release our grasp on the terms and direction of the conversation” (Kindle Loc. 227).

This kind of listening life is profoundly important – and could have dramatic impact on our relationship with the Lord and others. And yet this kind of listening is also profoundly challenging in a world filled with many competing voices and seemingly countless distractions. McHugh argues that we live in a world that is “wildly polyphonic, filled with countless voices that beckon us to do their bidding … We have an infinite buffet of options, and everything sounds so good. Whether we realize it or not, we are persistently serenaded by a cacophony of voices that battle for our souls, each seducing us with promises of fulfillment” (Kindle Loc. 236, 246). If that’s not enough, McHugh later goes on to question the impact our modern technology is having on our practice of listening and even our ability to do it. For instance, not only do our screens often not allow us to fully listen to the person right next to us, but our technology might also be changing the “physical characteristics of our brains by rerouting our neural pathways … Many neurological studies demonstrate that our technology is reshaping our brains so that it not only seems more difficult to concentrate on one thing, it is harder to concentrate on one thing … Our technology is producing a splintering effect in us and stripping us of the ability to be fully present” (Kindle Loc. 311).

So, listening – choosing to give focused attention to something or someone else is both profoundly important and yet profoundly challenging. So, what’s the way forward?

Well, at the end of the chapter, McHugh provides an illuminating illustration. He talks about listening to music. He argues that so often “how we listen to music in our digital age often reflects the way we listen in general. Music plays on a loop in the background, as a companion to whatever else we are doing. It is a soundtrack that goes with us, maybe augmenting our lives but not usually the centerpiece of our attention; sometimes it is simply white noise. Similarly, listening, for us, is an accompaniment to whatever else has our focus at the time. Other people often get our partial attention, and we listen to them from the side of our lives” (Kindle Loc. 341). And yet the way forward is not to get rid of music all-together, but rather to discipline ourselves to actually listen to what our ears are hearing. For McHugh that looks like going old-school and listening to music on vinyl. McHugh says, “Listening to music on vinyl has taught me to put listening, in all spheres of my life, at the center of my attention … I stop whatever else I am doing, sit down and set my energy toward whoever is speaking for a period of time. That devoted time of listening is more valuable than hours of partial listening. It is the difference between hearing music on an elevator while you ride to your floor and sitting in a concert hall and listening to a world-class symphony” (Kindle Loc. 341, 351).

In the end, I found this chapter stirring. While I would say listening is important, in practice, I’m a poor listener. I hear (or read) words from my Bible or my family or even things like online music, but I’m not always really listening. I’m not always giving it my focused attention. I’m either distracted by something else beckoning for my attention or I’m already thinking about what I want to say or do next. And the sad effect of this splintered way of living is that the voices of my God, my family, other human beings and even the varied sounds of God’s creation are just becoming more white noise in the background. I might be doing a lot, I might be hearing a lot, but am I actually growing in godly wisdom, am I understanding my wife better, am I appreciating the rich sounds of creation more?

I think it’s time for me to try to something different. I think I need to shut down the multiple screens. I think I need to turn off the radio when I’m not listening to anything in particular. I think I need to read whole books of the Bible in one sitting. I think I need to ask my wife to repeat what she just told me about her day and ask for her forgiveness for not listening. I think I need to ask my Father for help to step off the elevator and enter the concert hall of life.

 

The Listening Life: Introduction

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Listening LifeRecently, I started reading Adam S. McHugh’s book, The Listening Life: Embracing Attentivenss in a World of Distraction (IVP Books, 2015). I discovered the book through Christ and Pop Culture’s member offerings.  My hope is to write a series of blog posts simply chronicling my journey through the book. I want to be a better listener, so I hope writing these blog posts will allow me to “listen” better to what McHugh is saying about listening and prompt me (and hopefully you!) to look for practical ways to apply what the book is saying to our everyday lives! I’m excited to get started! So, let’s go!

So, the book opens with a short introduction where McHugh argues that “listening is foundational to what it means to be human” (Loc. 49, Kindle). We listen when we are in the womb. We spend months as babies listening to words, whispers, singing before we ever utter a wobbly syllable ourselves. We learn foreign language by listening. We spend years in classrooms or in church listening. Ultimately, one of the key things God created us to do is to listen. And we see this over and over again in the Bible. From Adam & Eve listening to God to the Shema (“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one…” – Deut. 6:4) to the call of discipleship to follow Christ to Romans 10:17 (“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”), listening is key to learning, to leading, to living.

And yet, McHugh rightly notes that “somewhere along the way we start to violate the natural order of things” (Loc. 58, Kindle). Speaking our minds takes priority over listening with our ears. McHugh points out that we are prone to interrupt others because we are convinced we know what they are going to say. We think we are experts on topics without anything more to learn. We spend a lot of time telling God what to give us rather than “asking what God wants to give” (Loc. 66, Kindle). I was particularly convicted by this statement: “We view others as projects rather than people with unique stories to be heard … we speak volumes, but we listen in snippets.” (Loc. 66, Kindle). Sadly, so true.

McHugh even goes a step further to argue that our pattern of not listening leads us to surround ourselves with people in neighborhoods or churches whose views are very similar to ours, thus “avoiding the dissonance created by contrasting voices by constructing theological and social echo chambers” (Loc. 66, Kindle). Now, whether you take issue with McHugh on this point or not, I think he’s right to point out a tendency that the sinful human heart has to cocoon in on itself and only want to hear what it wants to hear.

And yet McHugh doesn’t want to be satisfied with this way of being. He recognizes that many of us may think we are good listeners – and yet the fact that we spend millions of dollars every year to have professional therapists listen to us say something is not quite right in our culture as a whole. McHugh says, “Everyone is talking, but so few people are truly being heard” (Loc. 83, Kindle).

So, what is a way forward? Well, McHugh argues that our “longings for intimacy will not be satisfied through one-way conversations and interactions that feel like  competitions. Our desire to be transformed will not be met through giving voice to all the noise in our souls. Our identities will not be discovered in finding our own voice independent of others but in helping others find their voices” (Loc. 83, Kindle). So, the central driving question of McHugh’s book is this: “How would our relationships change, and how would we change, if we approached every situation with the intention of listening first?” (Loc. 101, Kindle). What if in our relationship with God, with others, with ourselves (i.e. our emotions), we choose to listen first before speaking or preaching?

In the end, McHugh argues that listening for Christians ought to be “at the heart of our spirituality, our relationships, our mission as the body of Christ, our relationship to culture and the world. We are invited to approach everything with the goal of listening first. We are called to participate in the listening life” (Loc. 109, Kindle).

Personally, I found the book’s introduction to be a stirring reminder of my need to listen and my lack of listening. While I often think about my lack of listening taking place in the realm of my relationship with my spouse or students I work with, McHugh put his finger on other areas where I need to grow in being quick to listen and slow to speak. For instance, in my relationship with God. Am I really taking time to listen to what God says when I read His Word? Or when it comes to listening to my own emotions – how quick am I to ask God for forgiveness for my frustration & anger without really understanding what was driving those emotional responses or outbursts? Maybe “listening” to our emotions is another way of getting at the heart. I’m not sure where McHugh is going on this point, but I’m eager to hear more!

Finally, I appreciated McHugh’s repeated references to listening being part of what it means to be human (though I might want to nuance this for the blind or deaf). For instance, McHugh says, “We want to learn how to listen because we want to become more human” (Loc. 91, Kindle). As the humorous old quip goes, God gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason! I was created not just to talk, but to listen. If I fail to listen to others, how can I love them? And if I fail to listen to God, how can I love Him and find the satisfaction my soul so desperately needs? As I see it, listening is not optional. Listening is essential. May God help us to grow in it!

A Bridge to Compassion

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When was the last time you were stirred to compassion for a Soviet spy? I can assure you I never had been – until I recently watched the 2015 movie, Bridge of Spies.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies is the riveting tale of a spy exchange during the Cold War. The movie starts with the capture of Rudolf Abel (played by Mark Rylance), a quiet-spoken, dutiful Soviet spy. Since the US government cannot get anything out of Abel, they decide to give Abel a “fair trial” to ward off any Soviet propaganda. They ask an insurance lawyer, James B. Donovan (played by Tom Hanks) to take on the unenviable task of defending Abel.

Despite enormous culture pressure to the contrary, Donovan sets about building a case to defend Abel. Although Abel is overwhelmingly convicted, Donovan stubbornly labors to convince a prejudiced judge to ward off an almost certain death sentence for Abel. Donovan is convinced that keeping Abel alive could be valuable if an American spy was captured by the Soviets. And at last, as the movie progresses, Donovan is rewarded for his foresight. The death sentence is exchanged for a 30 year sentence. And in time, a young American U-2 pilot is shot down over the Soviet Union. A spy exchange is exactly what is needed. And a spy exchange is exactly what happens through a series of fascinating and dangerous events of which Donovan is a central figure.

And yet, its the interaction between Donovan and Abel which make Bridge of Spies so captivating for me. Rather than maintaining a cold professional relationship, Donovan and Abel actually learn to appreciate one another. Donovan comes to appreciate Abel’s faithfulness and cool under fire. Abel comes to appreciate Donovan’s dogged determination to do what is right in the eyes of the law despite the danger and discouragement. And so, in the midst of a maelstrom of political tension and possible thermonuclear escalation, an American lawyer and a Soviet spy choose to look beyond the stereotypes and embrace one another’s common humanity. Despite the cultural pressures, they  choose to treat one another honorably. Despite their differing political allegiances, they choose to respect another. And despite the danger and the risk, they choose to love one another. It’s a powerful and convicting lesson. And it’s one that we desperately need today as well.

Today, as Christians, it’s easy to settle for stereotypes. When we hear about the latest suicide bombing or mass shooting, it’s easy to lump all Muslims into the same category. When we hear about the latest piece of legislation promoting gay rights, it’s easy to think all homosexuals are the same. When I see a person standing at an intersection, holding a cardboard sign and asking for money, it’s easy to assume I already know their story, because aren’t all homeless people the same?

And yet, the problem with this approach is that in order to propagate our prejudice, we often have to strip people of their humanity, of their unique dignity as God’s image-bearers. Who cares who Rudolf Abel is? He’s a Soviet spy. That is all that matters .That justifies our injustice towards him. Who cares who Abdul is? He’s a Muslim. That is all that matters. That justifies our injustice towards him. Who cares who Suzy is? She’s a lesbian. That is all that matters. That justifies our injustice towards her – whether in thought, word or deed.

And yet, as followers of Christ, we don’t get to decide who is worthy of our love and who is not. No, as followers of the Christ who laid down His life for reprehensible rebels like us, we are called to something much more powerful than the stereotypes of our day. We are called beyond McCarthyism. We are called beyond homophobia. We are called beyond Islamophobia. We are called to love. Yes, to love each and every person we come across – whether we agree with their views, their lifestyle, their religion or not.  In Matthew 5:44, Jesus calls us to do what James Donovan and Rudolf Abel model so well: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Or as the Apostle Paul puts it, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all … If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink … Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:17, 20a, 21).

So, what might that look like today? Perhaps it looks like welcoming Syrian refugees into our cities and countries. Perhaps it looks like getting coffee with a lesbian to hear her story before assuming that the label tells you everything you need to know about her. Perhaps it looks like stopping to talk to the homeless person and give them a granola bar before proceeding with your day. Whatever the case,  as Christians, love should lead the way. Compassion should be our calling card – even when it comes to engaging with a Soviet spy.

Pizza & Pop Culture

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Today I enjoyed a most enormous privilege. At lunch, I ate pizza with 4 teen guys from our  church and talked pop/teen culture. Honestly, I didn’t intend for us to talk about this, but when I asked a question about what they see as some of the biggest challenges facing Christian teens today, the conversation really took off. Each of the students shared some challenges they see (a post for another day!), and then we talked about some of the best opportunities that Christian teens have.

Toward the end of our time together, the conversation turned toward gaming, particularly discussing the likes of  Halo and Minecraft. It was fun to be able to introduce the guys to the idea of aesthetics and mechanics and how that impacts our experience of video-games. Personally, I think both are really important, but we need to understand the difference and inter-play between the two.

It was also really good to hear from one of the students about why they enjoy playing Minecraft, a game I’ve never played. For them, the game is appealing because it’s about being creative & constructive, it’s about community, it’s about good ole fashioned problem-solving. While self-control needs to be practiced, playing Minecraft sounded like anything but a waste of time for this student.

All in all, I left today’s lunch hungry for more. More opportunities to connect with teens. More opportunities to engage pop culture from a Christian worldview. And more opportunities to do both at the same time.

And what’s amazing is – it all started with a simple question!

 

The Beautiful “Madness” of March

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As I try to do every year, I took a little time to fill out my March Madness bracket yesterday. I’ve never been one to fill out multiple brackets with different picks, so my one bracket is my one shot at tourney pick ’em glory. I try to do my best to pick those teams who I sincerely believe to have the best shot at winning the title. So, no picking based on color or mascot or state with the best food. No, as a basketball fan, I want my bracket to accurately reflect what I think the reality on the hardwood will be.

And yet, as seems to happen every year, the main tourney is not a day old and my bracket is already imploding. Who would have thought Yale would upset Baylor? Who would have guessed that Arkansas Little Rock from the Sunbelt would take down Purdue University from the Big Ten (in double over-time no less!)? I certainly didn’t! I never do! And yet, every year I join millions of Americans in this futile exercise of trying to predict the future, knowing full well as I make my picks that nothing will go quite as planned. If you think about it too much (and care too much!), it’s all a little maddening! Maybe that’s why they call it, “March Madness.” And maybe that’s why I love it so much.

The upsets.  The buzzer-beaters. The Cinderellas. The relentless potential for “I never saw that coming!” March Madness is pure, delicious drama unfolding before our very eyes. And I love it. Who cares if my bracket becomes a mess? The “madness” of March is way better than any plan I could have conjured up in my mind.

And yet this March, as a Christian, I believe the greatest and most beautiful “madness” is not happening on the court. No, it’s happening in every church building, in every Bible study, on every street corner, in every coffee shop, in every home where Easter is truly remembered and celebrated.

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:18:”For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Though there is certainly “madness” in the NCAA tournament, it is infinitely microscopic compared to the”madness” of the Cross. Who would have guessed that God’s great drama of redemption would have unfolded like it did? Who could have fathomed that the one to crush the Serpent’s head would have come through the seed of the rebellious woman? Who would have guessed that God would save His people by having them wipe the blood of a lamb on their doorposts? Who could have imagined that the Lord would defeat blasphemous Goliath through sling & stone of a scrawny shepherd boy? Who would have ever dreamed that God Himself would enter the story as a baby boy, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born to a poor unwed couple in a back-woods town? Who could have foreseen that the very Son of God, the champion of Heaven, would willingly and undeservedly endure the agony of the Cross to the point of death? And who in their wildest dreams would have ever surmised that three days later the tomb would lie empty, the linen cloths folded and death defeated?

The answer is no-one.  No mortal man crafts a drama that surprising, that remarkable, that good. No-one but God alone.

And yet for many people, even to this day, the word of the Cross, the glorious story of Easter is simply folly. It’s madness. It’s a nice-sounding myth no better than childish tales of the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.

And yet for those who believe, for those whose faith rests on the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the word of the Cross, the story of Easter is beautiful “madness.” It is the great buzzer-beater of history. It is the glorious upsetting of human efforts and expectations. It is the very wisdom and power of God.  And it is worth celebrating again and again.

So, move over March Madness. Easter is coming! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling the Ache

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Recently the news of Maria Sharapova’s failed drug test at the Australian Open has rocked the tennis world. Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam title champion and currently the #7 ranked women’s tennis player in the world, has been accused of taking the blood-flow promoting drug, meldonium which was recently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in December. From what I can gather, the drug is supposed to improve “oxygen uptake and endurance” something which might aide a professional tennis player during a rigorous match.

However, Sharapova who first held a press conference on Monday, March 7th, to share the news about her failed drug test, has indicated that she didn’t realize she was taking a banned substance (meldonium also goes by the name “mildronate”). Rather, she says she’s been simply following doctor’s orders for the last 10 years and taking the drug to “address a number of health issues, including low magnesium levels.”

Interestingly, while taking full responsibility for not looking more closely at the new banned substance list, Sharapova has admitted that she sincerely didn’t know meldonium was illegal. Moreover, in a recent letter to her fans posted on Facebook, Sharapova stridently denies the claim that she was warned five times about meldonium being banned. In fact, from her perspective, it sounds like WADA didn’t make the banned substance information very accessible – yet Sharapova still admits she should have been more careful.

All in all, the consequences for Sharapova could be severe. Already, three of her major sponsors, Nike, Tag Heuer and Porsche are pulling away, and that’s to say nothing of the lengthy ban she might receive from the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

So, what are we to make of all of this? Well, I think Proverbs 18:13 is important to recall: “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” At this point, we don’t know all the facts. We haven’t seen Maria’s medical records. We don’t know if or how this drug may have been helping her on the court. And in the end, we really don’t know whether it was an honest mistake on Maria’s part or blatant violation of the rules to get a little bit of an edge. We just don’t know – and we may never know. So, I think it’s important to judge charitably here and wait for more evidence to come forth. Yes, Maria should face a fair suspension, because she technically did violate the rules. And yet, in the often-brutal court of public opinion, I hope Sharapova will be given the benefit of the doubt. Just because she comes from Russia doesn’t mean she’s guilty. Just because she was taking this drug for 10 years (while it was legal!) doesn’t mean her whole career is a sham. She is innocent until proven guilty – not the other way around.

And yet, even though I want to give Sharapova the benefit of the doubt, the fact remains that her reputation has been tarnished, maybe irreparably so. In fact, because she is one of its most talented and marketable stars, professional tennis will be undeniably impacted. What always seemed like a clean, pristine, gentleman’s (and gentle-women’s!) game is now showing some of its ugly under-belly. Sadly, doping’s deadening tentacles seem to know no bounds. Even tennis, a sport which I love, has been tainted by cursed PED’s.

And yet, sadly, I shouldn’t be surprised as either a fan or a Christian. First, as a fan of professional sports, I should have seen this coming. Bonnie Ford put it well in a recent ESPN article when she said, “It has always defied belief that one population of elite athletes would be significantly more ethical and less prone to cheating than another. Tennis skated under the radar for a long time, benefiting from its genteel roots and etiquette and true-believer following, even as prize money and endorsement income potential soared, and with them, the temptation to cheat. None of this means Maria Sharapova is guilty of anything other than following a doctor’s orders or being careless about reading WADA emails …” 

But second, as a Christian fan, I definitely shouldn’t have been surprised by the tainting of tennis. Jeremy R. Treat, in his Themelios article entitled, “More than a Game: A Theology of Sport,” helpfully reminds us that all of life, including sports is fallen. He states, “In a world ravished by sin, sports are not outside of its devastating effects. Sin not only fractures our relationship with God, it shatters the goodness of God’s created order, including God’s design for play and sports.” Treat goes on to argue that the effects of the fall on sports can be seen through the “destructive behavior of athletes” where sports can become a “playground for violence (bench-clearing brawls), cheating (corked bats, deflated footballs, etc.), injury (especially life-threatening and brain-damaging injuries), and performance-enhancing drugs (haunting whole sports such as baseball, cycling, and track).” Sadly, Treat contends that sin can even contort sport culture in systemic ways shown in the “win-at-all-costs mentality that leaves in its wake broken families, compromised integrity, and wounded friendships.”

Sadly, Maria Sharapova’s recent scandal and the reminder of doping’s presence in tennis is yet another sad reminder of the fact that all of “creation was subjected to futility” (Rom. 8:20). No part of human existence, not even sports, not even my beloved tennis, is yet free from “bondage to corruption” which Paul speaks of. Even in tennis, people cheat or get punished because other people cheat. Truly, the world, tennis included, is not the way its supposed to be.

And so, as I reflect on Maria Sharapova’s recent fall (whether by intention or mistake), I think it’s only right to ache. To ache over the fact that the world is broken. To ache over the fact that even the brightest stars can be dimmed. To ache over the fact that there is no square inch of human existence which has not been corrupted by the Fall. And finally, to ache for the day when “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:20). Yes, this is a time for aching. Aching over what is not – and aching for what will be!