Professional athletes worshipped for the wrong reasons

As I gaze around my room during a much-needed snow day, my mind wanders and I dream of warmer days. While relaxing I stare at my poster of Michael Jordan throwing down a slam dunk in 1988, and I dissect the picture and all of its elements.

While inspecting the picture and thinking about Michael Jordan’s infinite glory, I notice the game clock in the background.

For some reason I felt an odd inclination to do some research on the time left on the clock. I turned to the Bible for inspiration because of the inherent arrangement of the numbers as “3:51,” paralleling the structure of the layout of Bible verses. A link popped up on Google for Matthew 24 verse 3:51, and I chose to read its contents.

The line that truly stuck out to me read, “Jesus told them, ‘Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, they are the Messiah.’” This line roped my attention, and I quickly associated the phrase with the picture itself, believing there might be some kind of significant meaning.

This connection between the two provides an interesting parallel to think about and really represents the tendency of people in the modern era to idealize athletes as sorts of gods or demi-gods.

In a world strewn with social media and uncountable means of viewing sports figures and famous people, many individuals stand trapped in the enticing excitement of constant information. Instead of relying on teachings of old or religious documents to guide their behaviors as people have done throughout history, many in the modern era frame their actions in line with those of celebrities.

The glitz and glamour of stars gives people a heightened sense of what life should be about and creates an unattainable yet desirable goal for so many people across the world.

I completely believe in the notion of using a role model as a way to access solid moral values, but I think that it’s easy for people to get caught up in material goals rather than adjusting their internal motivation and lifestyle to gain success.

In a recent article, NBA great Reggie Miller was interviewed regarding an interaction he had with Michael Jordan where Jordan apparently referred to himself as “Black Jesus.”

This shows the self-awareness many athletes possess and their realization that people worship them as though they were gods.

Although some people get caught up in the glamorous rewards of stardom and wish that they could achieve some of those accomplishments that lead to material wealth and glory, people should rather be concerned with the internal factors that got celebrities to that point.

Even though there are exceptions for fame, such as coming from a lot of family money, many celebrities and well-known athletes earn their fame through hard work, determination, consistency and by developing the will to succeed.

An athlete must surpass millions of others in order to reach a professional standard and gain worldwide attention, and the fruits of their success are sweet and savory. Many people want the rewards of athletic greatness but are not willing to put in the effort in order to achieve it.

In addition to athletics, people can achieve fame and prestige from other aspects of life, but the same issue remains — people want to have success but are not willing to work for it.

Fame can be achieved through hard work and motivation, and the self-realization of celebrities for their overall influence should be used as a way to promote good ideals to the general public.