Faith Matters: God, Family and the Arkansas Razorbacks
Last updated Friday, September 12, 2008 6:13 PM CDT in Religion
By Rev. Leslie Belden
SPECIAL TO THE MORNING NEWS
"Love your neighbor as yourself." -- Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9.
My Mama and Daddy taught me that there are three priorities in life: God, family, and the Arkansas Razorbacks, in that order. We lived in northeastern Arkansas, and to get to Razorback games in Fayetteville we had a five hour drive, plus waiting on the ferry at Lake Norfork with the other Hog fans.
We never missed a Little Rock or Fayetteville game that I can remember. And we also never missed church the next day, because Daddy taught Sunday School, and after all -- God came first, even if the Razorbacks were in the top three.
Another thing that I was taught was that true Razorback fans hate the Texas Longhorns. I could probably do the upside down "hook-em-horns" sign before I learned to add and subtract. (Mama and Daddy didn't teach me that.)
Of all the teams the Razorbacks have played, the Longhorns have beat up on us the most. They probably don't even know, or care, that it bothers us that much. But it does. Of course, when I was growing up Arkansas was in the old Southwest Conference, so we played Texas every year. And getting beat more years than we won was tough -- particularly when many of the games were on national TV.
So here's my problem: Shouldn't God hate Texas? It seems logical. After all, Texas seems like a big bully. Surely God cares more about poor underdogs than a school the size of the University of Texas!
But I've come to understand that although God is the God of the oppressed, God hardly hates anyone. God only "hates" evil and sin, not the sinner or even someone caught up in evil -- such as Texas Longhorn football.
I've also learned that God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves -- it was almost Jesus' motto. It's the whole law. And even if I could ignore the story of the good Samaritan when Jesus explained that our enemy was our neighbor, I can't ignore that Texas literally is Arkansas' neighbor!
So I'm going to do my best to try to love Texas. I'm not doing this for myself, because they are just about the biggest, meanest football team on the face of the earth. But I'm going to try to love Texas for God.
Putting God first makes lots of things more difficult. I might be able to go to Razorback games and not miss church, but it's more difficult to love my neighbor as myself when my neighbor doesn't just beat me on the football field but flies planes into tall buildings killing people. It's also hard to think that my "team" might sometimes be the bully, stronger and bigger, and that others might hate me!
Mama and Daddy always did a good job of explaining how to put God first and keep the other priorities in order. Now I'm the Mama, and also a campus minister to college students. It's not just Texas God expects me to love.
The Rev. Leslie Belden is minister of United Campus Ministry at the University of Arkansas -- the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Disciples of Christ Campus Center. Contact her at LeslieBeld@aol.com.
Reader Comments (No comments posted.)
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
Not already registered?
