How You Play the Game …

A few months ago, a Little League Team from Chicago caught the world’s attention by making it to the championship game of the Little League World Series. They were cheered not only for their playing ability but also for their sportsmanship. The United States welcomed them home with much applause and a visit to the White House.

Now, a few months later, the victory has been snatched away from them. Unfortunately, some of the players did not live in the district, but were hand-picked star players from other districts.

I do not pretend to know everything about this story, but living in a Chicago suburb, I have heard a lot about it. Sports shows usually dedicated to the Bulls and the Bears, have focused on the plight of the disgraced Little League Team. Editorials have focused on it and headlines have commanded front-page visibility.

I do know this, however, adults had to be part of the deception. Kids might have wanted a friend from another district to play, but adults were the ones who ultimately set up the deceit by restructuring boundary maps and falsifying records. Coaches and parents were both involved.

How do you explain that to a child? “Congratulations for winning, but we really didn’t win because we cheated. So give back your trophy?!”

And as one writer stated, giving the Chicago team’s championship to Las Vegas, doesn’t begin to solve the problem. What about all those teams the Chicago kids beat on the regional level? Would they have won if the players had all been from one district?

Obviously this is a mess … as are all matters of sin, because sin is messy.

The Lord says: Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are His delight. (Proverbs 12:22) Abomination means disgusting and ugly – a fitting description for a lie. Abomination describes falsifying boundary maps so good players in another district can play on your team.

The fact that lying disrupted the flow of the tournament is one problem.  But there’s another aspect to this story that is just as disturbing – a team of boys watched as the adults lied, cheated and manipulated them to a championship. Because our kids are watching us. Maybe some of these boys didn’t understand when everything was actually happening, but they certainly understand now that they are no longer classified as winners!

As parents …

… when we make a joke about not including some income on our taxes – are we not exemplifying cheating?

… when we tell the children’s ministry director we can’t fill in because we’re expecting some out-of-town guests (when we really aren’t) are we not teaching our kids to lie?

… when we take a sick day so we can paint the garage, are we not teaching our kids dishonesty?

Making judgment calls on the Little League coaches is easy. Making judgment calls on our own dishonesty is difficult.

Our children watch us. They learn from us. They imitate us.

Yes, it really is not whether we win or lose, but how we play the game.