Granted, it does not hurt my enjoyment that I spent six years attending (thus my loyalties belong to) the greatest university in the land - The University of Florida - which is a winning machine. (Sorry for the shameless plug, can we still be friends?)
While there is so much to love, lately more and more negative and tragic elements have crept into the college football world. Recruiting scandals, more and more player arrests and of course, the recent, unfolding events at Penn State. Certainly we are all aware of the basic facts of what is going on in Happy Valley, and my efforts here will not be to recount them or comment on them.
What has occurred to me, as I've listened to sports talk radio which I'm apt to do regularly, is how our identity affects interpretation of events.
For many, sports dominates identity. If identity is our sense of self, of what gives us value or significance, then it makes sense that our team can contribute to that. Our team being tied to our identity goes beyond celebrating a win or questioning a call, but having our sense of worth tied to the success or failure of the team. Thinking I'm overstating sports' impact on people, check out the typical message board online or the comments at the end of an article on espn.com. Part of the false self is its ability (or need) to tie our worth to something, there has to be a way to see where we are on the leader board of life.
Back to what has struck me from the Penn State situation. From the reaction of different fans, our sense of self also gives us a sense of right and wrong. Things that bolster our identity are right and things that conflict (or take value away) are wrong. Just look to the reaction of Penn State students after their coach's firing. Something that affects the value of the team, and hence their own perceived value, is a wrong decision.
Fans of Penn State call in programs, confused by the consensus of people outside of the situation, and wonder why people are coming down hard on Joe Paterno since he did what was required of him. Rightness is determine by what fits with identity.
While this is an extreme situation, this affect is not limited to Penn State (or even college football, my example here). My own university has struggled with student athlete arrests. When it is one of ours, the Gator message board is very sympathetic and rationalizing. But let one of those Florida State Seminoles get arrested for the same thing and those same people want the hammer of the law brought down.
Identity creates our lens for right and wrong.
Jesus said that "if you love me, you will obey what I command". Or, said another way, if you are in Christ, you will do what is right. This is sometimes hard to read because it seems very performance oriented and a possible path to guilt and condemnation. Thus, we reverse the conditional as do what is right so that it will be clear that we love Jesus. The foundation of self-righteousness.
While I am not advocating disobedience, knowing that we are broken and fallen, there is another aspect to Jesus' words. If we love Him, if our identity is rooted in Christ, then we will do the right thing because it bolsters our identity. If Jesus is the foundation of our sense of worth, then the wrong thing will feel wrong because it detracts from our sense of self.
Like the sports fan who determines right and wrong on the basis of what is best for his team, so will we. Our identity in Christ will motivate us to act in love towards others, because that it right, and when we are wrong, it will motivate us to repent.
It's all about identity.
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loved this line, "If Jesus is the foundation of our sense of worth, then the wrong thing will feel wrong because it detracts from our sense of self."
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