My Rant

*This note is dedicated to D.S. for inspiring me through her words*

It is official. I have come to a finite understanding of what a self-centered culture we truly live in. Some of you may be thinking “It took you this long to figure that out?” while others have words come to their minds that cannot be uttered in this PG-rated note. However, whether you agree with me or not, all I ask of you is to hear me out and afterwards, you are entitled to comment as you see fit.

This past night I happened to venture to CNN.com to explore some of the news from today, and when I got to the front page, I checked to see what today’s most popular stories were. The first one is the one that inspired this little tangent/discussion/note of mine.

It read: “Tiger Woods injured in car crash in Florida.”

For some reason, this irked me. In fact, it did more than irk me; it sickened me. There are over 64 million orphaned children in the world, teenage girls are being sold into sex trafficking daily, Christians are persecuted for their faith in India and China daily…and we, as Americans, are concerned about a guy who can hit a little white ball a far way?

What is it with our obsession of celebrities who do not give a donkey’s rear end about us? Why is our culture so fixated on the happenings and goings of people they will probably never meet or have a personal relationship with? Moreover, I am plagued with the question of why we care so much about the physical well-being of a pro-athlete when over 50 percent of America is obese?

Now, I know some of you may be thinking “What gives Jon Magnin the right to judge me. For crying out loud, HE is a sports reporter himself!” However, I am not just talking about everyone else here…I am speaking for myself as well. If you were to look at my internet history, you would find ESPN.com as the second most visited site on my computer (second only to Facebook and Gmail). I realize that I myself get caught up in the frenzy of the wide world of sports as well. I could sit here and tell you “Well, its my job to do that,” but truthfully, I know that it isn’t, just as I find myself getting caught up in the “big” news story of the day that deals with someone I have no affiliation with nor will ever come into contact with.

So why this rant? First off, to allow everyone to see that, contrary to popular belief, I am not perfect :). Secondly, I am trying to figure out how we as humans (myself included) can get so wrapped up in the hollow happenings of others when really, the only true being we should be focused on is Jesus Christ. As Henry David Thoreau says in his book “Walden Pond and Civil Disobedience,”

Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them.

More than ever, we as a whole are immersing ourselves in the world so much at times that we forget what our calling is for our time here: to be witnesses of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Not only that, but we as Christians have become people who believe in God but don’t believe God.

Allow me to explain. It is very easy for us to say that we believe in God, but do we truly live our lives in a way in which we believe God? Do we believe he will be there through everything and that his grace is sufficient enough for us to overcome temptation and sin? Going beyond that, do we TRUST that God will provide for our every need, and do we LOVE him enough to go wherever he sends us and do whatever he commands of us?

I know that many of us (myself included) say “yes” to all these things, but as I have given example to above, our lives (again, mine included) do not reflect this. Matthew 6:21 reads “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It appears that our treasures have become based on things of this Earth and therefore, our hearts are set on the Earth.

I now offer a challenge to all of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Put down the TV remote, close your laptop, turn off your cell phone…and spend an hour or two walking around outdoors, basking in God’s creation, and think about how you can truly BELIEVE God, LOVE God, and TRUST God.