Sportsmanship

Have you received a sportsmanship trophy lately?

In my mom’s attic, I recently came across my baseball cap from when I played pee wee baseball at Glenwood Hills park in Decatur, GA.  At the age of 7, I played rec league for the first time. I was on the White Sox.  

We didn’t have a very good team and lost most of our games.  But at the end of the year, the coach presented us with a trophy from the entire league saying we had been voted the team with the best sportsmanship throughout the year.

I remember as a kid thinking, “Do you have to be the losing team to win the sportsmanship trophy?”

“Is the sportsmanship trophy a way to make losers feel a little better?

Now more than half a century later, I realize even more the importance of the lost art of sportsmanship. In a winner take all world, the end result always seems to justify the means, and winning is all that matters.

We would all acknowledge that this year has been especially stressful and throughout it we have seen behaviors that look nothing like good sportsmanship.  

Finally, the election is over, and I’m sure we are all glad to move past the political tv commercials and campaign junk mail.  The real test of our democracy, however, now begins.  Will we see our nation unite or further divide?  Will we see leaders strive to bring out our best or incite chaos? 

How about the Church?  Will Christians look more like Jesus in the days and weeks ahead or will our behavior be no different than those acting out of boastful pride and anger.

I’m reminded of a couple of verses from the Bible –

The writer of Proverbs said, “Do not be happy when your enemy falls, and do not celebrate when they stumble. For the Lord will see it and be displeased.”

I also like in II Timothy where Paul looks back on his life saying,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Yes, we give our all as we work, serve, fight injustices, campaign, march for causes, and care for others.

But at the end, I hope we can say, I kept the faith. I lived in such a way that showed Jesus in good times and bad, winning and losing.

This White Sox baseball cap doesn’t fit on my head anymore; but, more importantly I still hope those around will give me the sportsmanship trophy whether my team or my candidate, wins or loses.