Silver medals and faith
The world of sports gasped last weekend when Swedish National Junior Hockey Team Captain Lias Andersson took the silver medal from around his neck and threw it into the stands.
That one momentary act stirred a discussion that has been swirling ever since. The quotable responses to his action are revealing. “You don’t ever win silver, you lose gold!” “It’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game.”
“Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.”
“It’s time to grow up and show some sportsmanship, after all it was only a game.”
“I want someone on my team who hates to lose that badly.”
How did one single act incite such disparity of thought? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a single event put more closely in focus the fact that we as a society have no clue what to make of winning and losing.
For decades parents have struggled with what to teach their children on this subject.
Dr. Kenneth Barish says, “Everyone who plays games with children quickly learns a first lesson: how important it is to win.”
Developmental psychologist Susan Harter, quoted in Psychology Today, shows the scope of the issue. Based on her interview with preschool children she reports that, “Fully 50 p ercent of them describe themselves as the fastest runner in their peer group.”
Clearly those kinds of expectations will lead to some harsh realities of disappointment.
I suggest it is rare to find a better laboratory in which to explore one’s values on winning and losing than in the discussion surrounding young Lias Andersson’s action. On one side of the ledger is the deeply held value that we should all strive to do our very best with whatever giftedness and ability God has endowed us.
The scriptures teach that we are to strip away every impediment and run full out in our race of life. Part of the mantra that has formed my life is the belief that excellence honours God and inspires others. There is no glory in a silver medal effort.
Having declared that, however, it is a clear sign both of maturity and of an appropriate set of values to be able to distinguish between effort and result. While we demand gold-medal effort we are never guaranteed gold-medal results.
Furthermore, maturity and an appropriate set of values also help distinguish between sport and real life. When two people or two teams enter competition, the purpose is to win.
Games would be meaningless without that drive. There is nothing wrong with competing to win. The issue is one of perspective. The gold medal of sport quickly loses its gleam in the face of life issues that possess ultimate value. As Jesus Christ said one day, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”
Andersson is a passionate teenager who, from my perspective made an immature mistake. But I’m glad he did. His action provides the opportunity for this whole, hockey-crazed nation of ours to evaluate our own perspectives and values. Perhaps some of us rarely try hard enough.We’re too easily satisfied with silver medal effort.
Conversely, maybe some of us need to learn the difference between games and real life.
Tim Schroeder is pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna. This column appears Saturdays in Okanagan Weekend.