Athlete Jeremy Lin…A MODEL OF SUCCESS

Prior to February 4, Jeremy Lin was unknown to sports fans around the world. Three weeks later he is a household name and a tremendous asset to the New York Knicks for which he plays basketball. The undrafted Harvard graduate rose to prominence with a fantastic game against the New Jersey Nets.

Since that game, Lin has led the New York Knicks to unbelievable records. He has also become the eighth ranked player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in Player Efficiency Rating, which attempts to determine a player’s value to his team. Lin lifted the Knicks back into the playoff hunt and has also put them back on television.

Since January 1, New Yorkers were unable to view the Knicks play basketball. A heated dispute over fees between the owners of the team and a cable company kept the Knicks in the dark. Then Jeremy Lin came on the scene. New Yorkers demanded a resolution. NBA Commissioner David Stern joined the chorus. Even New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called executives in the dispute to bring about some resolution. According to the Associated Press, “Lin’s phenomenal run forced the deal.”

Stocks for the Madison Square Garden Company, the firm which owns the Knicks, increased more than 11% since Lin scored 25 points in that February 4 game. Marketing giant Nike has had tremendous success selling Linsanity (Jeremy Lin) T-shirts. Within 72 hours, an ebook on Linsanity was on sale. According to the Wall Street Journal, Adidas, one of Nike’s biggest competitors, is planning to produce Lin-themed jerseys for a network of more than 6,000 stores in China.

Lin jerseys have been the top-selling jerseys at NBAStore.com since that early February game. Jerseys have been shipped to at least 23 countries, including China. Lin is the first US-born player in the NBA of Taiwanese and Chinese heritage. The growing interest in Lin among Asian-Americans and millions around the world has resulted in a 550% increase in traffic to the Knicks website between February 5 and February 12.

LIN CLAIMS TO BE A CHRISTIAN

My real interest in the Jeremy Lin story is simple – he claims to be a born-again believer. One reporter got it right when he said, “In addition to his success on the court, Lin has become famous for being both an Asian-American and a devout Christian.” As a Christian, Lin has often credited his success in the NBA to God. While a student at Harvard University, Lin actually led a Bible study among his fellow students and frequently gave interviews to campus Christian publications.

Some have noticed the bright orange bracelet Lin wears during his games. The words “In Jesus’ Name I Play” are printed clearly on each bracelet. According to Active Faith, the Texas company which makes the band, “thousands of orders from all over the world have come in overnight – our web server crashed a couple of times, it just couldn’t handle the amount of traffic.”

The importance of Jeremy Lin’s faith has attracted much press. One CNN headline reads: “Jeremy Lin Emerges as Emblem of Burgeoning Asian-American Christianity.” In this article, Lin, in response to this sudden popularity, said “It’s a tough environment and if you don’t have appropriate boundaries, you’ll compromise your faith.”

LIN APPEALS FOR HELP

When Lin reached out to his pastor for counsel, he was advised to spend at least an hour a day with God. According to his pastor, Stephen Chen of the Church in Christ at Mountain View, California, Lin now memorizes a few Bible verses consistently. Recently, Lin memorized Romans 5:3-4 (“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope”).

Lin, who has said he may become a pastor someday, credits his rise as a professional athlete to understanding the way God was working in his life and developing a trust in God’s plan. Recently he told the San Jose Mercury News, “I’ve surrendered that to God. I’m not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore.”

Jeremy Lin is one of the more recent basketball players to make his commitment to Jesus very clear. Among other basketball heroes are David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs), A.C. Green and Kevin Johnson (Phoenix Suns). In each case, it was the athlete’s excellence on the field that provided opportunities for ministry.

Lin, an admirer of Tim Tebow (who we featured a few weeks ago), admitted to a reporter that faith and fame often fight – “but it’s one I’m going to keep fighting.”

Like Jeremy Lin, it is only when we set “appropriate boundaries” in our pursuit of excellence; we avoid the temptations to compromise our faith.

Whitney Houston: A VICTIM OF SUCCESS?

Whitney Houston was an attractive woman blessed with an extraordinary singing voice. Imagine selling more than 170 million music albums and commanding six figure incomes to deliver a ninety minute concert. However, despite her corporate successes, Whitney succumbed to major personal challenges. 

In a recent Good Morning America interview, Whitney’s friend Celine Dion talked freely about the consequences of success. Celine, also an extraordinary singer, believed Whitney allowed herself to become a victim of “the dark side to success.” This dark side of show business includes drugs, casual sex and a variety of vices that do not contribute to the profession. In reflecting on the destructive outcomes of these practices, Celine Dion concluded, “I’m so scared…I’m scared of show business…I’m scared of drugs…I’m scared of hanging out.”

But how could Whitney get so messed-up in this lifestyle; wasn’t she raised in the church? At the age of eleven, she was already singing in the church choir, under the watchful eyes of her parents, and especially her mother, who directed the music. How could a church-girl get into drugs like other entertainers? How could young church-influenced performing artistes succumb to behaviors so opposed to their upbringing? Agreed, the drift is subtle, but it is very common.

My wife and I had one memorable exposure to this drift in the mid-eighties. We went to see the play, Mama I Want to Sing in New York City. From a theatrical and business point of view, the play was a phenomenal success. The story line was simple: Doris Winter took her talent from church to Hollywood, just like Whitney Houston did.

The movie Church Girl took a similar story line – from church to Hollywood. The trend leaves critics asking, “why would our young people compromise their bodies and barter their souls?” One film critic was rather blunt in analyzing Church Girl and asked, “What would make a well-rooted church girl trade in her choir robe for a g-string?”

I shudder when I think of upcoming luminaries like Katy Perry. Raised by Christian pastor parents, Katy grew-up listening to gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. As of 2012, Perry has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. However, as she climbs the entertainment ladder, her personal life has begun to fall apart. I pray, the same would not be said of last year’s America’s Idol winner, Scotty McCreery.

These talented musicians were raised in environments that encouraged giving glory to God, not to self. They were taught that the message of their music should be uplifting to their audiences. Our youth were taught to be both performers and role models to their audiences. Their early exposure to music was often set in a context of reflection and humility – they were appreciated but never glorified by their audience.

However, as our young people take advantage of the opportunities to go secular with their talent, do they naively anticipate audiences like those in church? Some believe they are leaving the church as ambassadors of Christian values. However, when confronted with attractive prospects, our young people are often unable to deal with the strings attached and challenges to compromise. Suddenly, opportunities become entrapments. Priorities change to please producers, managers and audiences, who do not share Christian values. Before long, performers are condoning and not analyzing negative behaviors.

Like in any industry, performers hang together. In the process, personal boundaries begin to blur and the corporate image would seem to be all that matters. In addition, that culture of affluence, fame and celebrity status is personally stressful. In order to relieve that stress, many artistes naively enter what Celine Dion refers to as “the dark side in the entertainment world.”

Thankfully, some of our young people have survived the entrapments in the industry and should be applauded and viewed as role-models. The journey of Michael W. Smith is rarely referenced as we enjoy his worshipful songs. Early in his quest for opportunities, he traveled the Nashville route performing at gigs and whatever else was available. Before long, he was participating in the lifestyle of his audiences. He cried out to God for help, not merely to therapists. Like the Prodigal Son, he returned home and the rest is history. He experienced God’s amazing grace.

As I was preparing this commentary, I came across today’s airing of Haven Today. In the program, Give Up Your Glory, Charles Morris interviewed Michael W. Smith and Brian Welsh. Both musicians agreed that superstars in any arena have a problem…other people want to worship them. (Like me, you too can order a CD at HavenToday.org.) However, the Christian artiste must never forget, only God should be worshipped. Anything else is idolatry.

THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Hope and Hope~so

Within a week, two of my friends died. Interestingly, both worshiped at the same church, at different times, in Old Harbor, Jamaica. Both deaths brought much grief and challenged friends and family members to consider their own mortality.  

At both funeral services, mourners were invited to consider how the deceased lived their lives – that’s not unusual at funerals. However, what was unusual was the element of hope alluded to at both events.

To introduce the subject of hope as an afterlife reality is to introduce the metaphysical in a culture that is growing in its disbelief of the afterlife. In 1948, only 2% of Americans did not identify with a religion. Today that Gallup Poll number is more than 13% claiming no religious identity. Disbelief in the afterlife is integral to this group.                  

Disbelief in the afterlife is a growing trend, not only because of the growth in humanistic movements, but also because of religions that share that worldview as well as Christians whose theology cannot handle non-scientific phenomena.  

Is the Christian understanding of hope in the afterlife a reality or a hoax? In the first place, we need to establish that the Christian understanding of hope is not an issue of luck or chance. Neither is it an aspiration or desire without substance.
 

In the New Testament, hope is a favorable and confident expectation. It has to do with the unseen and the future. Hope is characteristically a Christian virtue which enables the Christian to regard death with serenity and composure.

 

The Christian does not see death as the final chapter. In referring to the death of the Christian the apostle Paul uses the metaphor sleep, implying that death is mere rest. However, the focus is not so much on the nature of the rest as much as on what happens when the Christian is awaken from that rest. Imagine this discussion with Christians from Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

 

A NON-CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING

The Thessalonians were from a Greek background where they formerly supposed the dead went down into a dark underworld from which there was no return. The Greeks believed that a person’s hope was uncertain and consequently dangerous – that invited feelings of disappointment. Stoicism had no place for hope in its system of thought. The Roman stoic Seneca defined hope as “an uncertain good.”

 

In his commentary on first century Greeks, William Barclay notes that on their tomb-stones, grim epitaphs were carved with words like: “I was not; I became; I am not; I care not.” In the face of death the pagan world stood in despair. They met it with grim resignation but with bleak hopelessness.

A CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING

In light of this Paul contends, “…we do not want you to sorrow as the rest of people do, because they have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Have you every wondered what hopeful sorrow looks like? It is a sorrow that is mindful of the limited impact of death. Paul borrows the language of the Old Testament prophet Hosea and expresses hopeful sorrow in this way:

                “Where, O death, is your victory?

                  Where, O death, is your sting?”

“… but thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:55-57).

 

The crux of this view is rooted in the historical Jesus. As though Paul anticipated the Thessalonians asking, and how do we know if this is true? He responds, “… just as Jesus died and came back to life, so too will all those Christians who died, they will come back to life.” In essence, Paul is contending that what happens after death is not rooted in some novel Christian philosophy. Rather, the view is rooted in something that actually happened – Jesus died and Jesus rose again.

This is how Paul develops the argument in his letter to the Corinthians: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). In other words, just as it happened to Jesus, it would happen to Jesus-followers.

I run the risk of being repetitive, but it is necessary: For the Christian, hope is not “ah hope so…” Hope is “ah know so…” How come? Our understanding of hope is rooted in history – just as Jesus died and rose again, similarly, Christians who die, will rise again – that is hope…that is confidence!

Man can live about forty days without food,
About three days without water;

About eight minutes without air,
…but only for one second without hope.

~Anonymous

I’M PLANNING TO HAVE A Happy Birthday

In a few hours I’ll be celebrating another birthday. One would think that after celebrating more than sixty of these all evangelical Christians would want to celebrate with me. However, that is not the case.  

Agreed, there is no hint in the Bible or early Christian writings that Jesus, the apostles, or any of the Christians celebrated birthdays. Actually, there are at least two instances of birthdays in the Bible. Both represented pagan situations and were related to the killing of people. Some Christians believe these instances provide reason to forbid birthday celebrations.

Such conclusions are not compelling, considering the method of interpretation used. It would be just as wrong to conclude that because the Bible does not condemn the practice, the practice is therefore right. The Bible’s silence or implied condemnation must be seen in the context of the culture in which the biblical texts were written.

Originally, the idea of celebrating birthdays was rooted in magic. In Persian Wars, Herodotus contended that the Egyptians associated gods with months and days. Herodotus believed horoscopes were used very early in Egypt’s history. In his writings, Cicero spoke of the Egyptians and Chaldees predicting…a man’s destiny at his birth. It is therefore safe to conclude that birthdays had their origin in mythology and magic, with horoscopes also probably playing a role.

Jews were strongly cautioned to avoid pagan practices. As stated in The Encyclopedia Judaica, “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” Similar avoidance was expected from Christians in the New Testament. Like in the Old Testament, New Testament believers lived in a culture that linked birthday celebrations with astrology, mythology and magic.

Among Christians today, birthday celebrations have nothing to do with astrology. Astrology attempts to find meaning or influence in the planetary system. Here is Isaiah’s opinion of astrology: “All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you” (Isaiah 47:13). For Christians, a birthday is a time to celebrate life. It is a joyous moment, a moment to reflect on God’s favors.

 

A birthday provides a wonderful opportunity to read Psalm 139:             

                  For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

                I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made… (Psalm 139:13-14).

Social Scientists tell us that there are at least five benefits about celebrations like birthdays:
1) Celebrations help us to feel as part of a common group. As we celebrate with others we feel a sense of community; a sense of belonging.
2) Celebrations provide opportunities for recommitment to each other. On such occasions some renew vows and re-establish friendships.
3) Celebrations provide stability and continuity. It’s true – healthy social gatherings provide strength. Common interests are discovered and cherished.
4) Celebrations are more important for the results they yield than the occasion being celebrated. The spontaneous laughter often reduces stress and tension.
5) Celebrations provide a storehouse of precious memories. These memories often contribute to good mental health (Proverbs 17:22).

In order to avoid behavior like their pagan neighbors, the Jews were never encouraged to celebrate birthdays, however, they were encouraged to celebrate. They celebrated weekly and annually. They celebrated feast days, varying festivals, civic ceremonies and military victories. The frequency of their celebrations united them as a people.

Following the invasion of the Assyrians in 722 BCE, the Jews were deprived of nationhood for almost 2,700 years. Although scattered, they maintained their celebrations wherever they lived. In 1948, when the Jews regrouped as a nation, they simply continued the celebrations they practiced while away from each other. Their celebrations helped them to maintain their identity.

In our culture of death, I intend to take some time to celebrate life. When you find yourself attending more funerals than weddings, you know that you need to make more time to celebrate life. When your culture spends so much time talking about abortion and euthanasia, you know you need to make more time to celebrate and cherish life.

When Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full,” He was referring to life with quality. So different from “the thief who has come to steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10). I don’t know about you, but in the will of the Lord, I am planning to have a Happy Birthday!