Fridays are for Newspaper Articles

 As per usual, here is my weekly article from the Canyon Lake (TX) Times-Guardian:

                 “‘March Madness’ vs. ‘Real Life’” 

            I am a close to rabid basketball fan.  I have been since growing up in a basketball “hotbed” small town in Mississippi.  While playing varsity high school basketball, my team went to state tournament two of the three years and still won our conference tournament the other year.

            As you might imagine, I love this time of the year.  NBA teams are making their moves for the playoffs (starting next month)—though, sadly, my Dallas Mavs (the Spurs are my second favorite team!) appear to be fading in the stretch.  However, the NCAA tournament is the biggest draw, which is fair, given the purity of the college vs. the pro games and also the potential for upsets (such as what my Mississippi State Bulldogs almost pulled on the University of Memphis this past weekend!).

            The excitement and passion of true roundball fans at tournament time in March is, obviously, why they call it “March Madness.”  For those who live and breathe college basketball, it is only natural to eat and sleep it too.  For some men, especially, there is not anything else worth knowing about while the NCAA tourney is under way.  They are basketball crazy for that period of time.

            However, on occasion, “real life” has its way of intruding into the experience of the basketball fanatic (since that is, after all, where the word “fan” came from—as a shortened version of “fanatic”).  The birth of babies, car wrecks, heart attacks and a whole host of other unscheduled or, at least, ill-timed realities just happen.  So, what does the sports fan do?

            Well, the “sports nut” might be so focused as to actually try to ignore “real life.”  In particular, men whose wives are having babies at this time of the year may only see their hubbies if the TV in the hospital room is tuned in to the NCAA games. 

            Now, this may be laughable up to a point.  But, clearly, there is a major problem with the life priorities of such men (or women, if they are also that fanatical).  If you want to tune everything out to that extent, why did you bother to get married and have children in the first place?  What is wrong with that picture?

            As I hope I made clear above, I love basketball and I love watching “March Madness.”  However, I do realize that, when “real life” happens, the basketball tourney is simply not that important.  I need to keep my priorities straight.

            What are those top priorities, you might ask?  According to Jesus (Matthew 22:34-40), you can reduce them to two: 1) Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself.

            How does this apply in the case of “March Madness,” you wonder?  Well, it seems pretty clear that, if your desire to follow the NCAA tournament comes in the way of either loving the Lord or loving your “neighbor” (and your spouse, children and wider family would be your closest “neighbors,” for sure), you’ve got a major problem with your priorities.  It’s as simple as that.

            Remember: “March Madness” will roll around next year (every year, in fact!).  But, you could drive a horrible wedge between yourself and God, as well as between yourself and your family, this year if you go the fanatical route and ignore either of those two most important priorities in your life.

Coming Monday: “When Will Certain Spiritual Gifts Cease (Conclusion)?”