Last night, I watched the 6th game of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals at the ESPN Zone in Anaheim. One of the great things about watching high-stake sporting events at bars or restaurants is sharing the experience of spectatorship with a bunch of random, drunken strangers.
My favorite patron of the ESPN Zone was a guy in a Seattle Seahawks jersey who would exclaim, "Jesus!" or, "Jesus loves Lebron!" whenever Lebron James scored. For those of you who didn't see the game last night, Lebron had an exceptionally dominant performance, scoring 30 points in the first half, and finishing with 45 points as the Miami Heat absolutely destroyed the Boston Celtics.
So, at least fifteen times during the first half of the game, Seahawks guy would offer up his commentary on the situation, which meant saying, "Jesus."
He wasn't saying it the way I would've been saying it, either. I am guilty of blasphemous utterings of the name "Jesus" when stuff happens. In fact, once during the game, Lebron threw down a thunderous dunk and I said, "Jesus. That guy is so explosive." My use of the word wasn't out of praise or reverence to Jesus Christ. It was mostly out of admiration for Lebron's tenacity and aggression during last night's game. One could easily replace my use of the word with other words, and the meaning would be identical. For example, "Holy shit. That guy is so explosive."
Seahawks guy kept thanking Jesus for Lebron's performance, and he kept on repeating this idea that Jesus was somehow intervening in the game, assisting Lebron in defeating the Celtics. You know, important stuff for an alleged deity to get involved in.
Two thoughts struck me because of Seahawks guy's exclamations.
First off, how about giving credit where credit is due? Namely, how about praising Lebron for Lebron's performance? How many hours has Lebron spent working on his skills? How many hours in the weight room, or running sprints, or shooting free throw after free throw? How many hours of tape did he watch in preparation for the Celtics? It's not like Lebron just woke up one day and saw a vision from Jesus telling him to be an NBA superstar. The guy has worked his own ass off to get to where he is. Sure, he's gifted genetically, but to suggest that Jesus somehow designed Lebron specifically to be an exceptional basketball player just seems so petty and stupid. It borders on offensive, when you really think about it. This notion is disrespectful to Lebron, and to the work he's put into making himself an elite athlete.
Second, what would this idea suggest about Jesus? If there's a deity that's interested in interfering in the affairs of men, and who is powerful enough to supernaturally change the outcome of human events, then what the fuck is he doing messing with the NBA Eastern Conference Finals? Doesn't he have better shit to do? While Lebron was doing his thing in Boston, how many children died of starvation in third-world countries? How many women in America were sexually abused? How many acres of rainforest were destroyed? How many politicians made backdoor deals to fuck over innocent people in the pursuit of power? There are so many shitty things happening in the world at any given moment, and it's bullshit to assume that Jesus gives a fuck about a basketball game while there is undoubtably some kid at St. Jude's who is dying of cancer and praying his ass off for relief from the searing, agonizing pain that his illness causes... but Jesus has to make sure Lebron is going to make his next free thrown. Sorry, people with real problems. Jesus has to make sure a millionaire pro athlete wins a game. A GAME! It's a game, people. Seahawks guy believes that the creator of the universe is preoccupied with a goddamn basketball game.
I didn't say anything to Seahawks guy. I just tried to pay attention to the game while he enjoyed the idiotic, self-satisfied notion that God has a favorite basketball team/player, and that it just so happened to be the team/player that Seahawks guy wanted to win on that particular night. Maybe Seahawks guy is right? If you look around the world, it would make a lot of sense that, if there is a God, he pretty much just spends his time focused on shit like sports and who wins country music awards and stuff like that. He certainly doesn't seem to care about things that cause real human pain and suffering.
It's not like he only said the words... But everytime he did he would wave his hand around as if he was casting a spell on the game. He was making a very public show of his "prayer". Which of course bothered me but also, if there was a God, it would've also upset him. For as you so wonderfully point out during the game, in Matthew chapter 6 verse 1 it says... "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.". So as he is trying to show his faith to be rewarded, he is goin against the teachings of the very god he praises.
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