God ain't picking your fruit

Someone attempted to school me last week about my column on March Madness. Paraphrased, it was a "We should be concerned about morality and faith rather than sports" comment. While I have respect for people's opinions, mindsets like that really set me off.

I have never liked the saying "So heavenly minded you are no earthly good" because it seems to be used most often to disparage people for being dedicated to their faith, and that's not cool. I prefer to believe we can be so heavenly minded that we are actually so much more good here on earth than we would be if we were not minded about the things of God. The comment about my column reminded me, however, of that quote and brought to mind why some people shun God and faith.

People are in search of what's real. They're tired of the phony. If you say you have something powerful and life-changing, they want to hear about it and see it in demonstration. They're a skeptical bunch these days, but they want the opportunity to decide. Flakiness turns them off. Being a Christian doesn't mean we have to be flaky. I've always been leery of people, for example, who believe God picks out their fruit at the grocery store. Now, of course, God could pick out my fruit, and I believe if it were a matter of health, God loves me enough that He would. But there are those who believe God picks out everything for them -- fruit, shoes, a rose bush; you name it. And it shouldn't require much discernment to know that some of these people have crossed over to the flaky side.

Embracing the faulty notion that you cannot be interested in sports and simultaneously love and serve God may not be on the same level of flakiness as asserting God regularly hands you your tomato at the local grocery, but it does represent a failure to realize God has made you multifaceted, and you are no more spiritual than someone else for being disinterested in sports or various other things we enjoy, things that are not sinful. As I wrote last week upon encountering the comment, "We can enjoy sports, laugh with friends, even go to the bathroom -- and still love God first. And when we open our eyes and be real people, it's amazing how we'll see that God will use different interests and skills He's given us to reach others."

I'm not talking about worshiping sports stars or actors or musicians. Anyone who knows me or has read my column would know better. That would be a problem. We only worship the Lord. But to enjoy the things God has provided us and to recognize God uses those things to make us relatable are not only okay; they're important.

I taught in the public school for more than 17 years. During that time, I learned the interests of my students and made conversations about those interests, which showed them I cared and opened them up to hear, truly hear, from me when I shared other things -- like values and morals that the commenter preached to me about. I played basketball with all kinds of people throughout the years because I love the game and am good at it, yes, but I also played with students before school, during lunchtime and after school at the Boys and Girls Club because it built relationships, trust and respect. It enabled me to meet them on their turf and went a far distance in allowing me the "in" in their lives that helped shape their principles and stir their faith. Coaching allowed me the same open door. So no one can tell me that the only way to reach people is by preaching chapter and verse and that these other areas don't matter. I would encourage the soul who thinks that to branch out. Even the Bible compares running a race and competing -- sports! -- to our walk with God. Why? Because people can relate, and aren't we, after all, to care about people? So though the commenter didn't like it, even expressing irritation about sports, as I did in last week's column, reveals that it matters to me, something with which people can relate.

I reflect often on a student who asked me in front of the class, "Miss Ross, why is it that you can get in our face and on our case and we receive it, but when some other teachers try to do it, we go off?" I knew the answer and was going to respond, but then hesitated and said, instead, "Why don't you tell me?" He answered, "Because we know you care." Exactly! And that is why everything matters -- yes, even the sports I write and get irritated about -- because the bottom line when trying to inspire others is this old saying after which I tried to model my teaching and coaching: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." And that is a heavenly mindset we need more of on earth.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.