March Madness Loyalty Lesson

This very hour a lot of us in Johnson Co, KS will be watching KU play in the NCAA Tournament—and cheering on the Jayhawks from TV sets all around (even you Wildcats, right, gang?) But as happens to a lot of us this time of year, I’m in an emotionally conflicted position: do I cheer for my adopted KU Jayhawks, or my beloved alma mater, Michigan State?

I have way more Spartan paraphernalia (S-flags, Sparty statues, etc) than Jayhawk stuff, although my handful of KU shirts still fit, unlike my 20-year-old MSU gear. So what do I wear? Whom then shall I cheer? Maybe it’ll depend on whether I watch it with friends from Kansas or with my Spartan buddies on speakerphone…

In some ways (okay, very superficial ways—but I’m trying to make an article out of it!), the shifting sands of Sweet 16 loyalties are like my more spiritual struggles with lifestyle priorities.

Many of us have long-held dreams about what our life should look like: what kind of house, what kind of family, what kind of job, what kind of vacations, etc. These alma-mater-images of life have likely influenced our behavior in pretty strong ways, and not always for the good. Sometimes those old dreams are more about our comfort than our character, more about our social status than our moral stands, more about what we consume than what we contribute.

For many of us, our newer, later-life loyalty to Jesus Christ is a far more healthy, rewarding, and honorable allegiance—and if we honor it, it will re-define how we manage our time, treat our family, spend our money, and more.

So regardless of how you’re faring in your office NCAA pool (or your Kaw Prairie Mission Madness youth fundraiser), I invite you to cheer for—lean on, trust in, and sacrifice for—the perennial underdog but eternal champion, Jesus of Nazareth. He’ll bust your bogus brackets, that’s for sure. But He will see you through all life’s real contests—sweet, elite, final or otherwise—and after the final buzzer, He’ll lift you on His shoulders, with tears of joy in His eyes, so you cut down the nets in glory.

James 1:5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.