By Brad Locke
February 17, 2006

(AgapePress) - In the sports world, this particular time in history is awash in optimism. And it should be.

That bastion of athletic virtue, the Olympics, is in full swing (OK, it's not as pure as it once was, but to me it still represents the basic goodness of sports). NASCAR is cranking up its season, with several driver and crew changes injecting enthusiasm into the sport. Baseball's spring training is warming up, as teams gather in sunny destinations and revel in the sanguine expectations a new season brings. The NCAA basketball tournament is drawing near, and with no clear-cut favorite, several teams harbor realistic championship dreams.

It is a time of hope and renewal, of smiles and playful slaps. The possibilities seem limitless.

But this time will pass, and much of the current optimism will give way to the cynicism that has been infecting the sports world with alarming frequency the last few years. Some controversy involving doping or shady judging will taint the Olympics; infantile disputes will grab NASCAR headlines; Barry Bonds will chase down Babe Ruth amid much protest.

I hold out hope for the NCAAs, but college hoops is certainly not immune to unfortunate events. Whatever occurs, fans and media will find renewed disdain for those involved and perhaps for the sport itself.

Not that it takes controversy to breed cynicism. Success and familiarity do a fine job of that.

Concerning success, remember when a timely victory by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -- like the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Daytona, just four months after his father died at that track -- would raise suspicions that the outcome was rigged? It's like we don't want storybook endings to invade real life.

Of course, storybook endings aren't what they used to be. Take the Red Sox of 2004. Great story, but that achievement almost begged to be sneered at, especially considering the Yankee-esque way Boston put together that roster, which has already been seriously gutted. No dynasty brewing in Beantown.

Concerning familiarity, how often do you hear fans complain about the interminable length of the baseball and NASCAR seasons? Even if it's true, it's ironic that some who are so excited in the spring are fed up by fall.

Why are we so easily drawn to negative outlooks? Besides the fact that we're sinful creatures, I mean. It must be a product of our generally cynical society, which has an insatiable appetite for conflict (but not necessarily for resolution).

We've been conditioned to question everything, and while inquisitiveness is to be encouraged, I'm afraid Malcolm Muggeridge was right when he said, "We have educated ourselves into imbecility." When an athlete or team is highly successful, especially for an extended period of time, we begin to doubt the honesty of their methods. We never assume what we know to be the complete truth.

This is why, perhaps, the story of Christ seems so hard for some to believe. It seems too good to be true, this tale of an incarnate God conquering death so that we may spend eternity with Him in paradise. What was this Jesus really up to? What really awaits us on the other side of the grave, if anything? What's the catch?

"O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Jesus said to Peter as he walked the waves. You see, sin always produces suspicion, so it's hard to believe that anything is wholly good. Fortunately, Jesus is more powerful than our sin and more powerful than our doubts.

With Him, there is much to look forward to.