Summer is coming to a close. This was one of those summers that only comes around every four years: it was the summer of the Olympics. And in two years, it will be time for the winter version. “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.”
I have always enjoyed watching and participating in various sporting events, and because of that, I love watching the Olympics. As a child, I remember sliding and twirling all around our dining room and kitchen with sock-covered feet as I attempted to emulate Dorothy Hamill’s grace and style. (Note: Socks on hardwood are a very poor substitute for skates on an ice rink, but my 10-year-old self was amazing in my mind.)
The Olympics is not like a regular sporting event – not even a world championship: it is a two-week spectacle of sports with numerous events featured in every telecast instead of just one discipline at a time; some of those sports are not standard fare for American viewers (like water polo and curling, just to name a couple); and there is also the added aspect of learning some of the culture and history of the host country.
This year, the world was invited to Paris, France, and we were given a glimpse into that country's freedom-loving spirit. France has seen numerous revolutions and uprisings in its history; therefore, liberty seems to be a concept highly prized by the French people. They even gave America a colossal monument, the Statue of Liberty, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of our country’s independence.
All people who are able to envision the idea of freedom probably long for it. Throwing off the constraints … the bonds … the chains that bind us and prevent us from doing as we please – well, that sounds like something all people would desire, doesn’t it?
Below are a few observations as we look in the rearview mirror at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Opening ceremony
The 2024 Olympics’ opening parade of athletes was done in an untraditional manner that I thought was pretty cool, as more than 80 boats carried the athletes down the Seine River past various significant sites identified with French culture and history. Although I know some people commented that they did not think this approach was an effective one, the disagreement with that aspect of the opening ceremony had very little to do with the greater controversy.
This watery rain-soaked route was segmented into several different themes, one of which was a sequence unsurprisingly called “Liberté” (translated “liberty,” if you didn’t guess that already). Through both live and pre-recorded vignettes, various performers presented the following scenes (and others):
- A taped rendition of a scene from the musical “Les Miserables” (one of the favorite musicals at my house).
- A choir of “beheaded” women (à la Marie Antoinette) standing in the windows of the Conciergerie (where the former queen had been imprisoned) holding “their” severed heads in their hands and singing “Ca Ira” (translated “It’ll Be Fine”), as a French metal band accompanied them.
- Dancers atop tall poles swayed precariously above the throngs of onlookers, as nearby, Nathan Paulin navigated a tightrope, exhibiting his own form of athleticism and grace.
In other scenes along the Seine, the athletes and onlookers were also treated to:
- A light/drone show around the Eiffel Tower.
- A man in a skirt performing a solo ballet on a rooftop.
- A bridge featuring a runway where models (including both men dressed as women and men who apparently think they are women) paraded in the creations of independent French fashion designers.
Oh, I forgot to mention the part that preceded the “fashion show” on the bridge. Before it became the runway, it was a banquet table … you know the one I’m talking about, don’t you? It’s the much-ballyhooed scene that included the blue guy, drag queens, and at least one child. Yes, that bridge scene. Some groups said it was a blasphemous mockery of “The Last Supper” (da Vinci’s painting depicting Jesus’ last Passover meal with His disciples); others said it represented a feast celebrating the Greek god Dionysus and had no connection to Jesus.
Whichever take you have on that particular display’s intended message, there is no doubt that the last portion of the previous statement is true: it had no connection to Jesus.
But in case you didn’t notice, the supper/feast scene wasn’t the only portion of the opening ceremony that was problematic.You may have noticed a few others I threw in, but I am pretty sure I didn’t cover all of the offensive elements. However, to focus only on the feast-table set-up and whether it was or was not supposed to be a slam at all of Christendom – well, I think that is short-sighted.
A deeper dive
We have a veritable stroke over some offense that is thrown in our faces (such as what appears to be a sexualized and unholy parody of the Last Supper), but we can’t seem to connect the same dots when it comes to our own offenses that we shove in the face of a holy God.
There are so many things I could mention, but I won’t attempt an exhaustive list. I’ll just mention a few things for your consideration:
- You consider that it must truly grieve the heart of God to see people addicted to and dependent upon drugs or alcohol to get through the day … as you down your fourteenth (or twentieth) cup of coffee before noon.
- You are thoroughly disgusted when you see a report about the pornography trade and the harm it causes to marriages and families … and then you turn the page to continue reading your “adult” novel.
- You post about your distress over young women being sexualized and treated with disrespect … as you send your daughter to prom wearing a dress that is barely long enough to cover her – somewhat.
- You complain to friends (or whine to God) about how hard it is to lose weight … and then down a pint of ice cream.
Trust me … I included at least one of my own “indiscretions” in that list, so don’t think I am trying to present a holier-than-thou appearance. I’m simply saying that we cannot only complain about the loss of Christian culture and Christian influence when lost, worldly people act like lost, worldly people! We must address the sin in our own homes and lives and then we can truly begin to make an impact on the world.
Should we not express heartbreak or disappointment or even righteous anger when the culture approves and applauds ungodliness and the degradation of humanity? Absolutely, we should! But we can’t stop at that outward complaint without asking God to reveal our own sinfulness to us and then repenting of it when He does. We also must remember that people wallowing in sin need Jesus, and most of the time, they are acting out of their own pain and often (if not always) a personal history of abuse of one kind or another.
Jesus did not shy away from calling sin what it was, but He also saw behind the sin to the heart of the problem and showed compassion. When we point out sin, it should be prompted by our reverence and love for the one true God, a deep and unconditional love for the people He created, and an overwhelming desire to see the lost redeemed as we ourselves have been.
Wrapping it up
There was something else I found interesting regarding the 2024 Olympics and the Seine River. Did you know that the triathlon almost got turned into a duathlon? In case you missed this, the swimming portion of the triathlon event almost got canceled – and some of the pre-competition training did get canceled. Do you know why? Because of the contamination in the Seine. Swimming in the Seine has actually been forbidden for more than 100 years due to the sewage/wastewater that enters the river from the city’s sewer system.
In an attempt to make the Seine healthy enough for the athletes to swim in, France apparently invested a great deal of effort and money during the lead-up to the 2024 Olympics. The e-coli levels present in the water finally subsided enough for the Olympic officials to approve the full event, and the mayor of Paris even went for a dip in the river to prove it was safe for the athletes.
Liberty is a sweet concept – one that is not exclusive to American history. But liberty without God-driven self-restraint, good judgment, and true concern for the welfare of others is likely to lead right back to captivity, illness, depravity, and heartbreak.
Throughout this blog, as a nod to the host country, I have shared some French words, so I thought I would mention one more as I conclude. Did you already know the pronunciation of the river’s name – Seine? I did not before hearing commentators say it. Just looking at it, I thought it would be pronounced like the English word sane. Turns out, it is pronounced like the English word sin …
Maybe someone should have told the planners of the Paris Olympics that swimming in a river of sin is never a good idea – not as a metaphor and not in reality.
This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does (James 1:19-25).
