Church Voices

Recently I’ve taken to playing basketball again after a 10-12 year hiatus. The reason is practical. My church has started a Friday night basketball game that gives me the chance to get to know people as well as exercise in a way that doesn’t bore me to tears. That in conjunction with our after school program where we also have basketball going on has me playing on a regular basis.

The general style of our league is much closer to thug than smooth. There’s a lot of hard fouls, and very few of them are called. The first month or so I wore glasses, they were knocked off at least once a night. I switched to contacts after that. The thing is it wasn’t done out of malice and there was a sense of camaraderie among pretty much everyone even though we switched teams several times a night.

Barak Obama is a big fan of hoops. So much so that political types have all taken it up to jockey for a shot at playing with him and getting some political leverage through balling. I have to admit it was a little jarring to see this picture:

I mean, if your playing hoops with the President, what do you do if he decides to post you up nad go strong to the basket? Are you willing to get a little chippy with him? Would you push him around a bit? Deliberately foul him if he has an easy basket? Its just a weird bizarre situation that makes basketball with the President profoundly different than basketball with the fellas on Friday night.

And that’s just the thing. Power changes everything. When there’s a power differential among people, everyone knows it. It colors every single facet of the relationship. It makes basketball and meals take on a washed out, formal tenor.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
John 13.12-17

That’s the thing about the church. There shouldn’t be such a thing as a difference in power in the church. You shouldn’t worry about violating unspoken rules of formality when eating, playing ball, or worshiping with anyone in the church.