There’s this wrestler at the college at the college level who has, in the past, behaved in what I would define as questionable ways. He is an excellent wrestler, but he goes beyond the normal confidence most of us who love the sport live with, and he has, in the past, done some inappropriate things while on the mat. At some point in the last year, he has found religion, which I think is a great thing for him. I wish him well as he navigates his faith journey. After one of his matches at the NCAA tournament this year, he got down on one knee to pray, which isn’t unusual in sports. I personally don’t think God cares who wins what, but I think a prayer of thanksgiving after a tough bout is a great thing. That isn’t the problem for me – this is.
As he went down on one knee to pray, he took hold of his opponent’s shoulder and said something to him. The opponent started to stand up, but this wrestler gripped him a little harder and, I am assuming (so it may not be true), convinced him to join him in prayer, which he did. Because I watched this on a large screen, I don’t know what happened, but the visual of it seemed to show the winner evangelizing the loser into joining him in a public display of piety. From personal experience, all I wanted to do after losing a match was to get away and be upset. Maybe this losing wrestler was all in – maybe he wasn’t. Maybe the winning wrestler was sincere – I don’t know. What this kind of thing is to me, however, is more performative religion. And we know that Jesus didn’t like that one bit.
For me, religion isn’t supposed to be coercive or intrusive. It isn’t supposed to shame or humiliate. And it mattered to Jesus how people saw us in public settings. Like the Pharisee thanking God that he wasn’t a sinner like the tax collector (Luke 18), using God to show everyone how good you are in comparison to others was, to Jesus, an idolatrous act. Pray in church and pray at home – do good works for people in need. Jesus didn’t force people to listen to Him or His disciples; He invited people into a relationship with God. That relationship doesn’t give anyone the right to force their faith on others or to legislate to control people you disagree with. I’m glad this wrestler is finding comfort and joy in his faith – I hope it helps him to live a good and generous life. He doesn’t, however, have the right to make others do the same. God sees through performative religion. And faith is a gift offered freely, not something forced.
Prayer – Merciful God, help us as we grow in faith to share it out of generosity, not coercion, so that it might be a gift, not a weapon. Amen.
Today’s art is “The Offering” by Verlaine Murphy.