HEELCATCHER

You would think that an honest look at ourselves and at our condition would make us all humble. But there is something in our hearts that still rises up in self-focused, self-justifying, other-comparing pride.

If the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7) then just coming to the place where you recognize that "God is God and you are not" is the first step toward real knowledge. It is Knowledge 101. Fail this class and you fail all the rest. 

There are at least ten reasons why we should be humble and approach life with a sense of reverence and awe.

1. I didn't give myself life.

What did I do to gain life? Absolutely nothing. It was given to me. All I can do is receive it and be thankful for it.

2. I am weak and limited.

As humans, we get tired, sick, and hurt easily. Even at maximum strength, the average human operates at about 1 horsepower and this power can only be sustained for a short amount of time in a short period of one's life. And though we like to think that we are smart, we only possess a minuscule fraction of all knowledge and, scientifically, we cannot even be sure what "consciousness" and "thoughts" even are.

3. Much of the functioning of my own body is outside of my control.

My heart is beating. My lungs are breathing. My cells are regenerating. My immune system is fighting off germs and infection. All outside of my direct control.

4. My own thoughts, emotions, and volition fight against my control.

I find myself at war with myself! Struggling against thoughts that could easily lead me astray, trying to understand my own emotions, fighting against my own will. Our biggest battle is often within ourselves and we often lose this unseen battle.

5. I am not in control of the hearts of others.

Yes, I can try to force or manipulate people to do what I want but, in the end, I can't control their thoughts, hearts, or will. Every parent wishes that they could guarantee that their kids will turn out well, but even the heart of one's own child is outside one's control.

6. I cannot control nature.

Even with all our technology, we stand utterly powerless and terrified before an F5 tornado. We can't stop a storm, hurricane, or earthquake. And right now, our planet is flying through space at 1000 miles per minute, spinning at 1000 miles per hour, and rotating around the sun in an orbit 580 million miles long with such exact precision that we can set our watches on it. Such power is unfathomable…and completely outside our control.

7. I cannot control the future.

I make choices that impact my future but I can't control all the circumstances around me that will shape and possibly change my future in a moment's notice. As we stand at the beginning of 2016, none of us are in control of all the events that will happen in this world by the end of this year.

8. All that I build and possess is temporary.

Nothing that I build will last. No possession that I hold onto right now will I be able to keep forever. As the rock band Kansas reminded us: Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see. Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.

9. My strength and my life pass quickly.

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14). Time may seem like forever when you are young but as you get older you realize how quickly it passes away…along with the strength to do the things that you once could do.

10. I am subject to death.

Whether we are rich, poor, young, old, strong, weak, educated, or clueless, we are still subject to death. No amount of money can buy immortality. No Ph.D. can solve death's riddle. No politican can abolish its power. We are mortal, fragile, and limited in time.

We have no reason to boast and every reason to be humble.

Come to grips with these realities and the Bible says that you are finally ready to listen, ready to learn, and ready to live.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5)

Sometimes the difficulties, pressures, and sorrows of life put us in an emotional funk that we can't seem to get out of. We battle our own thoughts and emotions and can't seem to win. Psalm 42:5 is a good reminder in such times.

I love sports.

I remember one of the first NFL games that I watched as a child. I don't recall anything about the game but I loved the team with the "twirly helmets." I became a Los Angeles Rams fan from that day on…until they moved to St. Louis…and I realized that there were better reasons to pick a favorite team than twirly helmets.

Back then I had an LA Lakers plaque on my door, a Los Angeles Rams lamp, a Philadelphia Eagles bean bag, a Miami Dolphins trashcan, Florida State Seminole curtains, baseball and football cards all over my desk, an NFL blanket and pillow case on my bed, and a big Steve Garvey poster on my wall. (Steve Garvey was "the man" in my book…right next to Lee Majors…the 6 Million Dollar Man.)

I played sports, I watched sports, and I kept meticulous stats on all my favorite players. If I would have thought of the concept of fantasy football back then, I would have been a rich man today. My own six million dollar man.

I still love sports but I am finding myself asking the question "why?" a lot more as I get older. (Like why does hair grow less on your head and more on your ears as you age?)

Why do I love sports so much? And what makes them so popular, so obsessive, so addictive?

You can't argue with the fact that sports has become almost like a "god" in our culture. If money equals value, then it is obvious that we value sports and sports stars more than practically anything else. When a college's football coach is paid up to seventy times more than the college's professors (and worth it from a financial standpoint), then it speaks volumes about our passion/addiction for sports.

Let's face it, most people would rather see their favorite university win a national championship than have the highest graduate success rate.

Why?

I know sports can develop character…or at least expose it. Sports are fun, competitive, entertaining. I am not one to get on the bangwagon bashing sports. I have seen the positive effects of sports on my four boys. I have been able to teach valuable life lessons as they have had to deal with winning, losing, long practices, and unfair calls on the field.

And many famous athletes use sports as a platform to glorify God, encourage others, and do good in society.

So I am thankful for sports.

But I am also bothered by how much emotion that they can still evoke in me. Watching my team win (or a hated team lose) produces way too much joy in me and watching my team lose (or a hated team win) produces way too much discouragement. And playing a bad round of golf, especially when I lose to someone, can still make me want to throw my clubs…even if age and maturity have enabled me to not explode in anger but just to be irritable all day instead.

So what is it about sports that makes them so powerful, so emotional, so personal?

Here are my two theories:

1. Our Hunger for Significance.

We crave siginifcance. We hunger to feel important, to feel like our life matters, to be seen as strong and successful in the eyes of others. And sports gives us an arena in which to feel like we are accomplishing something significant.

The obtaining of gold medals, trophies, awards, plaques, and articles in the newspaper validate this sense of significance.

And if you can't feel significant by your own sports accomplishments, then you can pick a favorite team and get a sense of vicarious significance.

In my little world, when my team wins, I win. And I can buy the t-shirt to prove it.

Isn't it funny how serious we take sports? Sportscasters are some of the few people who still wear suits and, as they wax eloquent on the sports stories of the day, they give the air that they are really talking about truly significant events. Interview the sports star and he talks about the heart, courage, and perseverance of his team as if they just won the most significant battle in history.

However, when you step back, you realize that they are talking about a group of men dressed in colored jerseys that carried a little leather ball across a white line more times than another group of men dressed in different colored jerseys…or perhaps someone in that group kicked that little leather ball through the middle of two vertical poles more times than the other group's guy.

Funny indeed.

2. Our Hunger for Order and Meaning.

I think our obsession with sports tends to increase with the deterioration of our world. When life seems out of control, then sports become a nice outlet for a sense of sanity.

I know…sports and sanity do not readily seem to go together…but sports do offer a world in which there are defined rules, specific goals, and clear boundaries. And in the end, we know who the winners and losers are.

In some strange way, I think sports are man's way of trying to create a world of meaning.

Deep down we long to know the boundaries, to know what is right and wrong, to know that those who break the rules will be penalized, and to know that those who play well will win in the end.

In a world that often doesn't make sense, sports does. If even for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Maybe that's why Scripture doesn't condemn sports but actually uses them to point to higher truths.

We are runners in a race (Heb. 12:1). We are fighters in a fight (1 Cor. 9:26). We are athletes who need to compete within the rules (2 Tim. 2:5).

There are boundaries in life. There is signficance and meaning. There are winners and losers.

And there is One who has achieved real victory over our real opponents–sin, death, and Satan–through His sacrifice on the cross and the power of His resurrection.

And His name in Jesus Christ.

And I am so glad that I am on His team. 

We have become an angry culture.

Just watch the news, follow social media, or read the comments that follow just about any article online.

It seems everyone is offended about something and eager to tell the world about it.

Certainly there are things to be angry about. We live in a sin-cursed world surrounded by sin-corrupted people. Life will be unfair, ugly, and unbearable at times. Evil exists. Violence abounds. Death is a reality.

In the midst of this world, anger is a natural reaction but it is not a solution.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:19).

Anger simply does not get us where we want to go. It does not bring about the "righteousness of God." Anger at what is wrong does not make things right. Actually it makes things worse.

An angry man stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered man increases rebellion (Proverbs 29:22).

Anger is like fuel to the fire. It burns us up then destroys all those around us. That's why we are told not only to avoid an angry spirit but also to avoid those who try to stir up anger in us.

Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself (Proverbs 22:24-25).

Imagine if Solomon wrote this proverb in today's world of social media, 24 hour news, and talk shows. Have you noticed that most of our "news" is not meant to inform as much as it is to inflame? Have you noticed that much of social media acts to enrage us into crusades rather than engage us into conversation?

If feeding on these things makes us angry then it is time to change our diet.

Of course, I know the common retort.

"God gets angry. Jesus was angry. And anger in itself is not a sin."

Absolutely true.

Anger in itself is not a sin. It is actually a very needed emotion reflecting the very image of God in us. We often react against injustice and unfairness because deep down we know that life is not supposed to be this way. We know that there is a standard of righteousness that is being broken. We know that people should treat each other with love and respect. We know that evil is not supposed to win the day.

We were designed to live in a garden not a jungle.

But Scripture tells us: Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil (Ephesians 4:26-27).

Yes, be angry at injustice, at unfair suffering, at the temporal triumphs of evil. But don't let that anger simmer for more than 24 hours. Don't let it take root in your heart. Don't let it dominate your thoughts. Don't let it dictate your life.

God knows that we can't handle the fires of anger without it soon consuming us. So He tells us to trust Him, to hand over our anger to Him, to know that He is just and He will avenge. Sin, evil, and death will not triumph in the end. Thus we can overcome evil with good rather than with hatred (Romans 12:17-21).

But let's be honest. Much of our anger is not "righteous indignation." It is often selfish vindication. We are an angry culture because we are a culture with an unhealthy mixture of entitlement, self-gratification, and depression.

We think we deserve more, we want more, and we are depressed that what we have doesn't satisfy.

So someone is to blame, someone has to pay.

The angry person is the discontent person. The irritable one is the miserable one.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel (James 4:1-2).

There are wars in the world because there are wars in our hearts. We don't get along with others because we can't get along with our own self.

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24)

The restlessness of my heart is not to drive me to anger. It is to drive me to Jesus Christ.

He is my Savior. He is my rest.

And He is the only source of hope and peace in an angry culture.