I
don’t watch much TV but this past week I happened to tune in to the weekly news
and interest show, 60 Minutes. One of
the stories was on a sport called “free diving.” I had not heard of it before
and watched with interest, then dismay, and then disgust.
For
some time, I have been concerned by the growth in popularity of what are known
as extreme sports. The name of this category really says it all. These sports
are all about pushing the limits: of the human body, of the environment, of
physics – whatever. And the purpose appears to be nothing more than the thrill
of a momentary adrenalin rush.
Culturally,
I think that these sorts of things are related to the increasing narcissism in
North America. In extreme forms narcissism is a psychological disorder. Note
the following definition: “a mental
disorder characterized by extreme self-absorption, an exaggerated sense of
self-importance, and a need for attention and admiration from others.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narcissism)
According
to many cultural analysts, narcissistic behavior characterizes an ever
increasing segment of North Americans. In educational circles, dealing with this
trend among students is receiving more and more attention. If
you think that this is not a problem among Christians, think again.
So where
does free diving fit into all of this?
I think
it exemplifies the most extreme of the extreme sports and as such, helps
identify the inherent problems, from a Christian perspective, with these
sports.
Free
diving is the practice of learning to hold one’s breath for an extremely long time
(upwards of 4 minutes) while diving to depths of more than 350 feet. There are
controls. Most of the professional divers have a team with them to help them if
they black out, resuscitate them if necessary, etc. But the bottom line is,
this so-called sport can – and does – kill, regularly.
The 60 Minutes piece opened with scenes of a
young man who was attempting to beat a previous U.S. record. He made it up but
soon after lost consciousness. About an hour later, he was pronounced dead. About
two months ago, the wife of a husband-wife diving team also died while
attempting a potentially record-setting dive.
The divers
shown demonstrating free-diving on the Sunday episode were interesting. The
young man did complete his dive, but said that every time he dives he “hears a
voice” telling him he is going to die. The young man’s mother is shown crying
on the shore while she waits for him to re-surface.
The young
woman on the show who also successfully completed her dive is shown kissing her
young daughter good-bye before she goes out. Her reason for diving? The feeling
she gets when she is down there.
Neither
of these people seem to care about anyone’s feelings but their own, however.
The young man is apparently oblivious to the stress this causes for the people
around him, and the young woman does not seem to recognize that her temporary
self-gratification, should it go horribly wrong, will leave her young daughter
motherless. The purpose is to break the next record until, apparently, no more
records can be broken.
For a
non-Christian, perhaps we can excuse this sort of reckless disregard for not
only the people around us, but also for the life they have been given. But for
a Christian, this is nothing short of a violation of the sixth commandment: you
shall not kill, a commandment that the church has always recognized includes
the killing of oneself.
If
we are to be salt and light in the world, how should the Christian community
respond to the growing popularity of extreme sports, sports designed to put one’s
life in peril? That’s a tough question to some degree. But blindly accepting
what is trendy is not the call of Christian discipleship. Christian
discipleship is the polar opposite of the self-gratification we see reflected
in the extreme in these sports. Christian discipleship is self-denial for the
sake of others and the glory of God.
