I think that most of you have read the talk by President Benson entitled “Beware of Pride.” Certainly a good one to review on a regualr basis. He gave it in general conference in 1989 and I remember spending a whole day on it in seminary. I would like to quote from it.
“Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing. The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition...Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s." Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled.”
I remember when I heard that in high school. I thought to myself, “That kind of pride can’t be applied to competitive sports because that is the reason I run track or play basketball…I love to win and that can’t be a sin.” When I came home from my mission I didn’t have much of a desire to run because I didn’t like what competition did to me. It makes me more conceited, self-centered, and plus, track is real hard. I have thought about this lately, because to play a competitive sport and be successful takes a lot of effort, both mental and physical, and if not checked can be damaging to a person’s spiritual well-being.
I would be interested to hear what others had to say, but I believe that my naïve reaction to the quote above is not true. It is very easy for a talented athlete to slip down the path of pride, simply because he/she likes to win. It happens at BYU, and anywhere else you can think of. It even happens at Wednesday night basketball (although you would be hard pressed to convince me that is competitive). I think that the key is this—an athlete’s goal should be to win, not to beat others. Often the two go hand-in-hand, but they are different in their focus. To win is to focus on the outcome of the competition, where as to beat others is to focus on your standing in relation to someone else. The latter of the two, slowly begins to change you, from a desire to magnify your God-given talents, to being remembered or praised. I have seen myself fall into the trap many times, even this year. It begins to turn your whole life into a game, where you have to be better than all others in all things. Emnity begins to creep into your heart; first with man, then with God. I believe that true humility does not exempt someone from being the best, but it does take serious effort and a balance of ones self, a recognition of where talent comes from and that no one has it all (just a lot of it in a particular place, whether it be running, math, basketball, etc.).
The prime example of this is myself.
J/K but really it is my coach. He holds the second fastest time in NCAA history in the 10K. He is 1 of only 3 people to every win the triple crown in colligate running, which is cross-country, 5K, and 10K. He is a 2-time Olympian and arguably one of the best American long distance runners to ever run, and yet he is the most down to earth and humble man you could ever meet. I have never heard him talk about beating a particular runner when he describes his races, but just about the race and what went on. His focus in life is not his achievements, but his family and helping others reach their potential. I could think of others like Dean and Judy or Chris Crosby. Anyway, it is important to me to be able to define the fine line between pride and competition in sports, and then to stay on the right side. With that said, it looks like all ye all are going down this reunion in three things—basketball, ping-pong, and nertz. Bring it fools, I own all ye all's world!!!!!
