Kobe Bryant is dead. A helicopter he was riding in crashed. His daughter and another child who were going to a basketball game were with him; all died. Falling out of the sky is one of the worst ways to die I can think of. My sympathy to all the families.
But let’s not descend into idolatry. As the West deserts it’s Judeo-Christian roots, mere humans who happen to be notable for something – Greta, or a sports player – fill our need to worship. Skill in doing one thing really well, like sink a basketball, (or in Greta’s case, the ability to scowl and hiss angry words) is no replacement for an invisible God. Our idols will eventually abandon us by dying.
Skill is no replacement for ethics. Kobe was known for his extramarital affairs. Adultery isn’t good for children. What message was he sending to his daughters? Of his three surviving daughters, if they get married and their husbands cheat on them, will they allow themselves to feel rage at the betrayal? Or, will they think “My dad did it too, so it’s no big deal.”?
We can admire people without turning them into idols. I admire the achievements of the founding fathers, but I know they were flawed men; some of them owned slaves. When I pray for a homeless person, I’m not praying to Thomas Jefferson or Marilyn Monroe. I’m praying to the One who created us; the One whom no human can replace.
2 replies on “Kobe Died”
On the upside / silver lining side of things, two things I heard today that seem to be making the rounds…
Kobe flew in helicopter because he didn’t want to waste time away from his kids sitting in traffic. Several people mentioned that he seemed to have changed his ways after leaving basketball, so hopefully he was displaying a much better role for his kids to model.
I also heard/read several people making the point that it is no more a tragedy that this one person known by many people died than any of the other people who’ve died in accidents and left broken families behind. I am guessing he is news because people know him and he had an effect on more people’s lives than the average man because of his fame but hopefully the idolatry is less than it appears.
Hopefully reactions like those, and like yours, will reduce the idol making. I don’t expect anyone to turn to God until someone says that a dead someone turned to God and that is why the person’s life changed. Right now, I have more hope for Kanye being a modern day Jonah and hope for his success in the hands of the Lord.
I thought Bill Whittle’s questioning of the pilot’s judgement was prescient. The fog was thick. It doesn’t matter how late they were for the game, the chopper should’ve never left the ground.
My intent in writing this was to caution against cult-like anguish. We’re all sinners; the famous, and the nobodies.
I like your comparison of Kanye to Jonah. The reluctant prophet? If he prays for guidance, he’s capable of great things. It’s notable to me that he didn’t choose Islam.