Archives
Subject: I am NOT a Witness....
Time: 1:25:00 PM EDT
Author: kpchprather4
Music: Bill Douglas
He is the Chosen One. The Second Coming. He is the King. Thousands of people around the world are Witnesses. No, I'm not speaking about our Lord and Savior-or Christians...I'm talking about LeBron James. In case you've missed it, these are some of the names given to this 22 year old basketball phenom who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. His most popular moniker is "King James." But he is also known as "The Chosen One," "The Second Coming" (of Michael Jordan, but that's rarely qualified), and he is known as King James. Cavalier fans and LeBron fans across the world wear T-Shirts that say: "I'm a Witness." Tonight you'll be able to turn on your television where the NBA Championship series returns to Cleveland (did I mention they are down 2-0 to my Spurs?) and you'll see signs all over that say, "I am a Witness."
After Cleveland won the Eastern Conference Title by beating Detroit, there is this now famous shot of LeBron, his back to the camera, facing the crowd, arms upraised towards the crowd, as he soaks in their praises and adoration. All I could think of was, "wow...bro...you need to reel that worship in..." My second thought was: "And you might want to chill out because you're ticking off the wrong people (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili-that adds fuel to their fire). But it's out there. The image. And the image speaks volumes, not just about LeBron, but about us.
It would be disconcerting to me if he played for my home team. It's disconcerting because it speaks volumes about our culture, and yes, it speaks about LeBron. I don't think I would feel comfortable with people calling me "The Chosen One" or "The Second Coming" (of anyone), or having people say of me, "I am a witness..." -or calling me "King whatever" (I have been called "Lord of the Idiots before, but that's another story). But the odd thing, he seems to revel in it. Encourages it. Me...well, I'd be thinking God might just thunder from heaven: "I will not share my glory with another!" Maybe a few lightening bolts. No, I don't think I would feel comfortable with that even if I did have his considerable talents-and make no mistake, the young man is simply one incredible talent. Those talents were given to him by God to be used for His glory as are all talents He gives us. And this kid, wow, he got the motherload when it comes to the talents given department.
But it's the fans that concern me even more. Talk about the cult of personality. Talk about hero worship. Talk about living vicariously through sports figures. Talk about sports as religion and athletes as a part of our new pantheon of 'gods'-this has all the elements of ancient Greek religion, minus the human sacrifices and fertility cult practices of course...but maybe the way we're heading, we're only a decade or so away from that. Of course I'm kidding. That wouldn't happen. At least I don't think it would happen. But if you'd told me 10 years ago that people would be calling a basketball player "The Chosen One" or "The Second Coming" or saying, "I am a Witness..." I'd have said, "You're nuts..." Who knows. Not much in America surprises me today.
I wonder if LeBron played for San Antonio, would our city have the same reaction? Would Christians in San Antonio? You have to know and understand San Antonio to answer that one. We're a bit different. Low key. We've seen two of the "50 Greatest NBA Players of All Time" (according to the official list) pass through our city-and are seeing right now what coach after coach and basketball historians is calling the greatest power forward to ever play the game (Tim Duncan) play right before us-and our city has our three championships, looks like a fourth is coming...I don't know if that whole thing would "play out here" the way it might elsewhere. But, maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe we'd get caught up in the hype that is fueled by the NBA and shoe companies and soft drink companies...the cult of personality is strong and increasingly we Americans are amusing ourselves to death, and living vicariously through athletes and entertainers. Even finding our meaning in mere humanity. I know the Spurs coach wouldn't put up with it. He always tells his players: "At the end of the day, it's just a game and you are fortunate to make a living off it. The real heroes are those people fighting overseas. That's reality. This is just a game." It wouldn't happen on his watch.
So, as we watch this "drama" unfold...I just want to say "I'm not a Witness." I love basketball and appreciate talent when I see it-but I'm not a witness.
And as I write this, I wonder, what would America be like if believers were as eager to tell others "The Chosen One" has come! "The King has come!" "I am a WITNESS to His Glory and Greatness!" Passionate sports fans seem to outshine many of us professing Christians in that passion department. We are witnesses to something far greater, to SomeOne far greater....
Be a Witness.
Oh-just so you'll know, Spurs in 5. To borrow a phrase from that great theologian Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator as he speaks to the evil Emperor Commodus: "The time for exalting yourself will soon come to an end."
The King made a big mistake. He got the "Big Fundamental" angry with all the self promotion. The "Big Fundamental" (Tim Duncan) has this strange view that you just play the game with passion, go about your business and don't draw attention to yourself.
What a novel idea. A transferable idea when it comes to us living out our faith: Be who you're called to be, do what you're called to do, do it with passion and excellence, be about your Father's business and remember: it's not about you (or me).
Written by kpchprather4 Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
i was never big on sports, probaly cuz i sucked terribly at almost all of them in high school and it just left a bad taste in my mouth. but i see a lot of die hards come through the lines at work and all, and i usually just say 'um...yeah...ive never seen a whole spurs game in my life' but when i tell them im not from here and 'i guess i just dont get it' they're usually cool about it. but yeah, i was in a congregation once where the congregation actually gotten pumped and excited when the pastor mentioned some things about the spurs in passing and you rarely hear people get that excited in a church service over the things of God. but some people have sports, some have other things. i know i get excited over music more than God sometimes so i guess we're all in the same boat in that we all have our moments of suck.
6/13/07 12:06 AM
my thing with this situation is wow...how does a person come to that place, unless they are Jesus Himself, where you call yourself the chosen one, the promised one, and you encourage others to do the same?
i guess some might call that self esteem...i think it's a profound case of self love. but didn't whitney houston say that was the greatest love of all?
that's another blog.