“What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.”
Part 4 – Racism in Sport.
“It’s not fair to the sport to hire under-qualified coaches.” “We are keeping undesirable influences out of our game.” “We are the guardians of the purity of our sport.” “I am protecting the game from outsiders.” These and similar words are often used to justify racist attitudes and bigoted actions among those who occupy the seats of power in the world of sport. The mind justifies.
Racism becomes institutionalized when leaders in the sports world build structures which separate people by race, culture or ethnic origin. A quick study of Baseball in the first half of the twentieth century will reveal such racist attitudes and actions. Similarly racist attitudes surface in college sport when players are only recruited from certain communities, schools and areas of the country in the guise of institutional control. Racism sometimes appears in the hiring practices of coaching staffs. The coaches are all hired from one’s “good old boy network.” It can be seen when a program favors certain cultural expressions while shunning others under the pretense of propriety. It even becomes evident among teammates when the team fragments into cliques based on ethnicity, culture and race. The will chooses.
Just under the surface of these obvious choices lies a heart which loves power and privilege. Power to control the behavior of everyone in the program and the reservation of privilege for those with whom the powerful are most comfortable. Racism is often fueled by ignorance and insecurity, but its heart beats to the rhythm of power and privilege. The heart loves.
The apostle Peter encountered some racist attitudes in Acts chapter 11 after he had dealt with his own in chapter 10. 1"The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." (Acts 11:1-2) For his whole lifetime Peter had seen Gentiles as unclean, but now he was confronted by God’s call to treat them as brothers in Christ. The process was revolutionary and difficult for him and certainly for the predominantly Jewish early Church. Later, he is confronted by the apostle Paul over these same matters in Galatia. 17So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" (Acts 11:17) Thankfully, for Gentiles like me, Peter’s heart loved Christ Jesus even more than his position of power and privilege as a Jew, he chose to receive the Gentile believers as brothers and his mind justified his choice in verse 17.
A Biblical principle which can shape our hearts and illuminate our minds is found in Colossians chapter 3 and verses 9-11. 9"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." We whose hearts have been renewed through relationship with Christ have now the obligation to properly relate to all people in sport, to organize it, to recruit and to hire within it without regard to power or privilege, with a heart which respects the differences in cultures, ethnicities and races, and sees the dignity of each one created in the image of God.
We who claim to know Christ must take the lead in the sports world in working to overcome racism among individuals as well as the more powerful, institutional sort. Our first initiative must be to search our own hearts for the remnants of bigotry, hatred and distrust born of a heart which lusts for power and privilege. We must examine our own hiring and recruiting practices and bring them fully into the light of Truth. Let’s commit ourselves to this principle: 11"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (Colossians 3:11)
Part 4 – Racism in Sport.
“It’s not fair to the sport to hire under-qualified coaches.” “We are keeping undesirable influences out of our game.” “We are the guardians of the purity of our sport.” “I am protecting the game from outsiders.” These and similar words are often used to justify racist attitudes and bigoted actions among those who occupy the seats of power in the world of sport. The mind justifies.
Racism becomes institutionalized when leaders in the sports world build structures which separate people by race, culture or ethnic origin. A quick study of Baseball in the first half of the twentieth century will reveal such racist attitudes and actions. Similarly racist attitudes surface in college sport when players are only recruited from certain communities, schools and areas of the country in the guise of institutional control. Racism sometimes appears in the hiring practices of coaching staffs. The coaches are all hired from one’s “good old boy network.” It can be seen when a program favors certain cultural expressions while shunning others under the pretense of propriety. It even becomes evident among teammates when the team fragments into cliques based on ethnicity, culture and race. The will chooses.
Just under the surface of these obvious choices lies a heart which loves power and privilege. Power to control the behavior of everyone in the program and the reservation of privilege for those with whom the powerful are most comfortable. Racism is often fueled by ignorance and insecurity, but its heart beats to the rhythm of power and privilege. The heart loves.
The apostle Peter encountered some racist attitudes in Acts chapter 11 after he had dealt with his own in chapter 10. 1"The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." (Acts 11:1-2) For his whole lifetime Peter had seen Gentiles as unclean, but now he was confronted by God’s call to treat them as brothers in Christ. The process was revolutionary and difficult for him and certainly for the predominantly Jewish early Church. Later, he is confronted by the apostle Paul over these same matters in Galatia. 17So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" (Acts 11:17) Thankfully, for Gentiles like me, Peter’s heart loved Christ Jesus even more than his position of power and privilege as a Jew, he chose to receive the Gentile believers as brothers and his mind justified his choice in verse 17.
A Biblical principle which can shape our hearts and illuminate our minds is found in Colossians chapter 3 and verses 9-11. 9"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." We whose hearts have been renewed through relationship with Christ have now the obligation to properly relate to all people in sport, to organize it, to recruit and to hire within it without regard to power or privilege, with a heart which respects the differences in cultures, ethnicities and races, and sees the dignity of each one created in the image of God.
We who claim to know Christ must take the lead in the sports world in working to overcome racism among individuals as well as the more powerful, institutional sort. Our first initiative must be to search our own hearts for the remnants of bigotry, hatred and distrust born of a heart which lusts for power and privilege. We must examine our own hiring and recruiting practices and bring them fully into the light of Truth. Let’s commit ourselves to this principle: 11"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (Colossians 3:11)
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