The Wall Street Journal is not the place I would expect to read this piece. It was so good, I had to share it with my readers.
Back in the days when I collected basketball cards and followed the sport, I learned all the statistics I could. So I remember Manute Bol of the Washington Bullets, because he was the tallest basketball player ever at 7’7″ tall! He wasn’t all that great, but he did get some blocks in. As it turns out he left a much greater legacy than basketball heroics.
Let me quote from the opinion piece in the online WSJ:
Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life embodied an older, Christian conception of redemption that has been badly obscured by its current usage.
Bol, a Christian Sudanese immigrant, believed his life was a gift from God to be used in the service of others…
Bol reportedly gave most of his fortune, estimated at $6 million, to aid Sudanese refugees. As one twitter feed aptly put it: “Most NBA cats go broke on cars, jewelry & groupies. Manute Bol went broke building hospitals.”
When his fortune dried up, Bol raised more money for charity by doing what most athletes would find humiliating: He turned himself into a humorous spectacle. Bol was hired, for example, as a horse jockey, hockey player and celebrity boxer. Some Americans simply found amusement in the absurdity of him on a horse or skates. And who could deny the comic potential of Bol boxing William “the Refrigerator” Perry, the 335-pound former defensive linemen of the Chicago Bears?
Bol agreed to be a clown. But he was not willing to be mocked for his own personal gain as so many reality-television stars are. Bol let himself be ridiculed on behalf of suffering strangers in the Sudan; he was a fool for Christ…
Bol’s life and death throws into sharp relief the trivialized manner in which sports journalists employ the concept of redemption. In the world of sports media players are redeemed when they overcome some prior “humiliation” by playing well. Redemption then is deeply connected to personal gain and celebrity. It leads to fatter contracts, shoe endorsements, and adoring women.
Yet as Bol reminds us, the Christian understanding of redemption has always involved lowering and humbling oneself. It leads to suffering and even death.
It is of little surprise, then, that the sort of radical Christianity exemplified by Bol is rarely understood by sports journalists. For all its interest in the intimate details of players’ lives, the media has long been tone deaf to the way devout Christianity profoundly shapes some of them…
I encourage you to read the whole thing. Great words being shared and a wonderful story of a life lived for Christ. May each of us redeem the spheres of influence we find ourselves in. And may God give you a blessed Lord’s Day tomorrow in worship.
Bob! Thanks so much for this. I too collected B-Ball cards and will never forget how much Bol stood out.
I had no idea about his Christian Faith and philanthropy. Sending this on to some friends and family.
Thanks!
Bob,
Great piece on Manute Bol. I also did not know he was a Christian. I remember when he broke in with the Sixers, at that time he tipped the scales at a whopping 190 pounds. If I remember correctly the plan was to get him to gain about 75 pounds, but that of course didn’t happen. Sad there are so few in sports like him. I was surprised to see this in the Wall Street Journal, but I’d fall out of my chair if was in the Washington Post or NY Times.
Yes, WSJ is more likely by far…. I’m working on some other things right now and will reply to your latest Calvinist post tomorrow probably. Thanks, Bob