I just graduated from college this past week. That should alone be the cause for a lot of excitement this March, but honestly, I'm probably more excited about March Madness, where I typically dominate bracket pools, year in and year out ( two keys to domination: 1. always ride a Tom Izzo coached team deep into the tourney, 2. Always pick a 5 vs 12 upset in the first round, 3. never be in the same pool as me, because I will destroy you).
My final quarter at OSU, I needed to take more classes to be a full time student, so for fun, I decided to take a class that sounded interesting, Medieval Christianity, which happened to be a 500 level history course. Word of advice to all you students out there: don't ever take a difficult class you don't need the last year you're in college on the basis that you'll be interested in the subject matter and actually want to do the work. You might be interested, but you definitely won't want to do the work, especially when that work involves writing a ten page research paper on a text from the 13th century.
Still, that class was very interesting, and looking at Christianity through a medieval lens gave me new insight into how people acted then, and how eerily similar that people today act.
In the early middle ages, if you were to ask a clergyman what was the biggest problem or sin that the church dealt with, his answer no doubt, would be pride. A thousand years later, in Mere Christianity, CS Lewis would agree that pride is the great sin that plagues people in the modern world. As time progressed, thanks to a period of unseasonably warm weather that allowed crops to grow and the advent of the heavy plow, Western Europe experienced a period of economic growth and a middle merchant class emerged out of society. A clergyman in this period would say that the biggest problem that plagued people was the sin of greed. Medieval art depicts images of people being dragged down to Hell because of the weight of money bags that hung around their necks, as demons laughed in the shadows, grasping a money bag of their own. I suppose not many of you out there would disagree with the statement that this world would be a whole lot nicer if people weren't so selfish with their money and wealth.
When it comes to filling out a bracket each March, I'm reminded of how pride and greed still hold sway over me. In years past, I would put down a small wager of $10 that would hopefully increase ten fold in a month as the teams I picked would surely advance further in the tournament. This year, there is no money involved, but still, I find myself checking my phone and computer for results and standings to ensure that I'm still the leader of the group (at the time of this posting, I am #1 and in the 92nd percentile of all brackets on espn.com!). Interestingly enough, I'm probably even more invested personally in this year's tournament, even though I have nothing to gain monetarily from winning, just the satisfaction of looking my friends in the eye and letting them know that I my knowledge of college basketball vastly exceeds their own. I'm playing for pride. For some reason, I want them to know that I'm better than them in what is honestly, a pointless competition. After all, I won't be the one cutting down the nets in New Orleans after the championship game is played. In about a month, we'll all forget that this pool even existed anyways.
I'm not saying that bracket pools are of the devil, and are sinful. But they do reveal sinful tendencies. It's easy to go to the Bible and read in Proverbs 3 that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul writes that money is a root of all kinds of evil. You don't have to look too deeply into the scriptures to find out that prideful people and the greedy aren't all that receptive to the Lord's call on their lives.
As a new college grad, I have to remind myself of this every day. Just because I got to wear a special cap and gown this past Sunday and shake the hand of some dean, (I have no idea what her name was), I am in no way entitled to a job. God isn't somehow obligated to provide me with a cushy lifestyle just because I've graduated college, or just because I've been following Jesus for most of my life. 1 Peter 4:12-13 instead says,
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
A follower of Christ isn't entitled to a life of luxury, but rather a life marked by suffering. And if the Lord so chooses to bless me with financial security, will I still remember that all that I have belongs to him, and at anytime, he may take it away? Will I give back to his Kingdom, and store my treasure in heaven or invest in myself (Matthew 6)? Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions to follow him. If Jesus asked me to do the same, could I?
Pride and greed will always plague humanity, from the monarchies of the middle ages, to the democratic system of today. No social structure will ever change the sinful nature of human beings. The only solution is to put your faith in Christ. To recognize that God's way is better, that his treasure is worth eternally more than anything we could ever muster up here on earth. We must recognize that no matter what we do, we can't achieve God's standard of perfection, but instead exchange our own works for the work of Christ. Prideful people don't want to admit that they can't earn their way into heaven. The greedy can't bribe God with their money. But a humble Jesus, the only man who didn't deserve death, allowed himself to be put to death on the cross for the prideful, the greedy, the lustful, the idolaters, the gluttons, the selfish, the hateful, so that we could have the opportunity to know God.
By the way, I think Jesus would be able to beat all of us in a NCAA bracket challenge, but that's beside the point.
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