The Outsider

I recently joined an adult rec basketball league in Richmond. I joined as a "free agent" because I'm new to the city and don't have enough (any?) basketball-playing friends to start a team.

Let me take you courtside for the start of the first game...

Team One is a group of Caucasian men, between the ages of 35 and 50, ranging in physical conditions from "great for his age" to "if he were married, his wife probably wouldn't let him eat so many potato chips."

Team Two is a group of African-American men, between the ages of 18 and 25, ranging in physical conditions from "great for any age" to "making him wear a shirt is like throwing a tarp over Michelangelo's David."

The guys on Team Two are warming up by lobbing alley-oop passes and dunking them home with graceful, well-timed leaps. The guys on Team One are warming up their jump shots, one of which is easily the ugliest I've ever seen -- the basketball leaving the man's hands with equal parts reluctance and desperation, like a baby entering the world in a slow hurry.

Everything about me -- age, race, skill, physical condition, and the canvas tote bag slung over my shoulder -- screams Team One.

I have been assigned, however, to Team Two.

Team Two is populated with nice guys, who shake my hand and tell me their names. They say I should sub myself in. I try it once, but no one will leave the game. I watch all but five minutes from the bench, rooting for a team that doesn't really want me.

Amazingly, Team One wins by one point in overtime. Players from both teams slap my hand, and we all go home.

Questions come with me. When did I last felt like such an outsider? What is there to learn in this discomfort? Am I too comfortable most of the time? Do I welcome those who are different from me?

I think that they are important questions for me to ask myself as a Christian. How we treat outsiders -- lepers, prostitutes, Samaritans, and tax collectors -- is a central concern of the Gospels. To the righteous, Christ says, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." (Matthew 25:35)

This is not a history lesson. You and I are not off the hook because we don't know any Samaritans. What strangers are we called to welcome?