Very Superstitious Writings on the Wall

I really don't care for basketball, but I enjoy sports talk radio.  So right now, in the midst of the NBA post season, if I want to hear all the sports talking head talk about the teams I do care about (the Tampa Bay Rays in baseball season, and ,more importantly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during football season) then I must suffer through the debate over who the most important player is, Kobe or Lebron, and whether either of them can get their team to the NBA finals for the game that all the basketball world would love to see, the Lakers versus the Cavaliers.

It is interesting to note, though, that both teams look to be in quite the fight just to make it out of the playoffs. The rhetoric is so heated that a person would almost think that the success of each players career hung on their achievements in these very games.  However, such talk is not unique to the NBA.  Every year, and in every sport played everywhere it would seem the fate of all existence hangs  on the welfare of any given team. Fans of the Chicago Cubs have been feasting on humble pie for decades.

The emphasis to achieve  greatness has pervaded every aspect of our lives.  A baby born today can enter beauty contests, in a few years participate in Little League World Series, be a part of a  National Honor Society in high school and graduate summa cum laude from college all before entering the work force.  Several aisles of shelves in book stores are filled with tomes on being a better you.

Now before you think that this is just another rant about the growing pressure to succeed, let me tell you that I see nothing wrong with doing your best, and really, nobody wants to be thought of as an also-ran. As the cliche goes, everyone loves a winner.

And really, who loves a loser?

Hmmmmm???? How about what Christ said, "those who lose their life for me and the gospel will save it"?  Or Paul who considered everything a loss in comparison to the knowledge of Christ? Where was the success there?  Obviously, it was in a life committed to the knowledge of Christ and his Gospel.

I worry today that we have been so conditioned to succeed in every aspect of our life, that we have allowed that to taint our Christian life as well.  And in so doing we have made our Christianity little more than a package of superstitions tied up with the twine of faith.

I say superstitions, because we have created rituals and myths to reaffirm our beliefs instead of leaning on faith.  We pass on false stories about missionaries guarded by angels, and watch movies where every problem is neatly tied up by the end of the story.  They make us feel good and convince that we are living successful Christian lives.  But, unfortunately our faith is never challenged and our dependence on God does not grow.

We have been convinced that Christianity is outside the realm of reason.  Worse, we have become satisfied to not even challenge our mind to understand the deeper thoughts of God.  We share in the scolding the the first century church received when they were told that they should be eating meat, but were still drinking milk in their understanding of the faith.

Consequently, instead of going deeper, we just spread the shallowness out further.  It is easy to get to the bottom of the pool when the water is only a few feet deep.  But, this shallowness allows us to feel successful.  We would rather watch movies and read books that give us happy endings, than to seek out that which might challenge our faith.

 Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living.  I would paraphrase it that an unchallenged faith is not worth having.  I echo Paul's challenge to the Corinthians, examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith.