Jeremy Lin 林書豪

2012-2-16 by NPA’s English Study Club

Successes• Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks' newest guard who has made

headlines recently for his openness about his faith and moves on the basketball court

• The first person of Taiwanese descent to join the NBA, will also be the first Asian-American in the league since 1947 .

• The Knicks beat the LA Lakers.• Jeremy Lin scored 38 points (career high).

Successes• He brought "LINSANITY" to New

York and Knicks fans are crazy about him.

• We Asians are certainly proud of him.

• He is not Taiwan's Light or Chinese Light.

• He has the LIGHT given by his GOD.

• May God bless Jeremy Lin. • SEE VIDEO OF JEREMY LIN KNI

CKS VS LAKERS HIGHLIGHTS

Struggles• nxiety 憂慮、 pressure

壓力 . • Once, Lin was afraid of pl

aying badly and disappointing his fans. He constantly compared himself to other players and gave himself no time to rest up. For the first time in his life, he no longer enjoyed playing basketball. After a few very difficult months, Lin turned to his Christian faith to help transform his attitude.

Struggles•  He realized that much of

his anxiety and stress came from self-centered desires like wanting to be famous. Instead, Lin chose to see basketball as a way of serving God. As he said, “I’m not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please other people. My audience is God.”

The Faith and Fate of Jeremy Lin

• The news about Jeremy Lin changes every day, but God never changes.

• God is the core of his success, his faith, his life and what drive him daily .

• As an Asian-American, this basketball phenom[fɪˋnɑ

m] 【美】【俚】特出優異的人或物 at Harvard is blazing a trail. As a Christian, he's striving to walk in faith.

An Interview with Jeremy Lin

• Can you tell us about your faith background and how you got into basketball?  Do you think that God called you onto the basketball court? 

• My faith and my basketball began separately, then slowly converged, and now they influence each other.  But when I first started playing basketball, I was five years old, and my dad put a ball in my hands.  Ever since I was a little kid, I just loved to play this game.  I was always in the gym.  I loved playing.  That's what I did for fun, all the time. 

• My parents also took me to church ever since I was a little kid.  I grew up in the church, but I didn't really become a Christian until I was a freshman in high school.  That's when the gospel really started to make sense to me and I was ready to give my life to God. 

• Then, Christianity didn't become a significant part of my approach to basketball until the end of my high school career and into college.  That's when I began to learn what it means to play for the glory of God.  My parents had often talked about it and told me that I should play for God's glory, but I never understood quite what that meant.  That was something that really boggled my mind.  My parents hadn't gone through what I was going through, being an Asian-American basketball player in America.  I thought, "I want to do well for myself and for my team.  How can I possibly give that up and play selflessly for God?"

• Slowly, God revealed more to me.  I started learning how to trust in Him, not to focus so much on whether I win or lose but to have faith that God has a perfect plan.  For me to put more of an emphasis on my attitude and the way that I play, rather than my stats or whether we win a championship.  I learned more about a godly work ethic and a godly attitude, in terms of being humble, putting others above yourself, being respectful to refs[r

ɛf] 裁判員 ; 仲裁人 and opponents.  There are really so many ways you can apply your faith to basketball. 

• How does your faith shape the way you behave on the court?  Are you a different basketball player because you are a Christian?

• Not just in basketball, but I think in life, when you're called to be a Christian, you're automatically called to be different from everyone else.  In today's world of basketball, it makes you really different, because the things that society values aren't necessarily in line with what God values. 

• Much of it comes down to humility [hjuˋmɪlətɪ] 謙卑 .  We as Christians are called to be humble.  And if we really understand the gospel, we will be humble.  We should be humble, and understand that everything that is good comes from God. 

• We are also called to turn the other cheek and love our enemies.  There are times on the basketball court when people will say things to you, and you just have to bite your tongue and love them.  It's almost as though you have to love then even more, and that love means more if they're wronged you. 

• Society focuses so much on individual stats and wins and losses.  To a certain extent, you can control those things.  But to play for God means to leave the records and the statistics up to Him and give your best effort and allow God to figure out whether you win or lose, whether you play or shoot the ball well that game.  So I just try to make sure that I work hard and in a godly way.  I prepare myself as well as I can, and at every point during the game I try to submit myself to God and let Him use me.

• Everyone who steps on a basketball court will hear taunts [ tɔnt] 辱罵 ; 嘲笑 ;

奚落 and insults.  Yet racial slurs [slɝ] 誹謗 , 詆毀 are another matter, and you have had to confront them regularly throughout your career, as the first Asian-American to reach this level.  Do you find it particularly difficult to respond in grace when racial slurs are used?

• I'm naturally competitive and cocky [ˋkɑkɪ] 驕傲的 ; 太過自信的 .  I love proving people wrong.  I love competing.  When I first started hearing those remarks, I would always want to say something back, or to play well to get them back.  As I grew older, I realized that I shouldn't allow that stuff to effect me, and at the same time I shouldn't retaliate [rɪˋtælɪ͵et] 報復 ; 回敬 .  I shouldn't say anything back.  So at this point, now, this year, it hasn't really bothered me.  It's just something I'm used to now, and it's a good opportunity to reflect the grace of God when you don't say anything back, or when you're really respectful in return.  That says something powerful. 

• We've talked about how your faith shapes your approach to basketball.  But how has basketball shaped your faith?  Has God used basketball to shape your character, to teach you, to strengthen you? 

• Absolutely.  I've learned so many things through basketball, and God has really molded me and tested and affirmed my faith through basketball.  Given my experiences, if I look back at everything that's happened, it's hard for me not to trust God and know that he has a perfect plan for me.

• In a sense, it's easy for me.  Since I've been given so much through basketball, it's easier for me to be thankful to God.  But at the same time, basketball has humbled me a great deal.  The more I play, the more I realize that the outcome is less up to me, and there's less I can control.

• But there's so much more, so many lessons God has taught me through basketball-everything from pride to self-control to worth ethic and love and unselfishness. 

• You mention humility.  How could it be that God has used basketball to humble you, when you've achieved so much?  Wouldn't your basketball successes only make you more prideful?

• No, it really is humbling.  You might be able to relate to this, since you were a gymnast.  There are times when I'm out there on the basketball court and it feels like I'm not even controlling my own body.  It's almost as though someone else is using me as a puppet.  There are things I do, that, when I look at them afterwards, I wonder how I did that.  In moments like that, I realize that there is something more to what's happening around me, something supernatural about it. 

• It's also humbling in another way.  When I won that state championship with Palo Alto High School, well, we would talk about winning the title.  Deep down inside, though, you're not fully expecting the victory because only one team in the entire state can win it.  So, to be able to be there at that point in that tournament, to have that opportunity, I was, more than anything, just grateful.  There were so many things that had to happen just perfectly.  Tiny differences could have taken us out of contention for a championship. 

• For most of your life, you have belonged to Asian-American churches and fellowships. Do you draw some of your strength and inspiration from them?

• I definitely feel their support and their prayer, and I am very, very grateful for it. It’s overwhelming at times. I’m blown away by it, and I’m still happy that people support me like that. But I’ve struggled with whether it should give me extra motivation to play. From my experience, I’ve realized that I can’t play for anybody else, because I don’t think that’s how the game should be played.

• Last year, when the media attention was starting to grow around me, I felt as though I had to play well just to please everyone else. It was a great burden, and it took the joy out of the game for me. See, the truth is that I can't even play for myself. The right way to play is not for others and not for myself, but for God. I still don't fully understand what that means; I struggle with these things every game, every day. I'm still learning to be selfless and submit myself to God and give the game up to Him. It's a challenge, but thankfully I'm learning more and more.

His future• His new years resolution: love God more dee

ply and intimately by dec 31 than he did on jan 1 .

• Attend a theological seminary, be a paster. • Be the witness of God, preach God’s love an

d almightiness.

• Lin, a committed Christian, often speaks of God and his faith on his Twitter and Facebook accounts. On his Twitter account, the NBA player uses the phrase "to know Him is to want to know Him more" as his bio. On his Facebook page under his personal information, Lin has posted Romans 5:3-5 and Colossians 3:23.

• Colossians 3:23 reads: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" -- a verse Lin has expressed that he takes to heart when on the court. 

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• 真情部落格-- 超神奇的、超激勵人的 • 林書豪 (Jeremy Lin) 是史上第一位打入 NB

A 的台裔球員，也是自 1954 年以來，第一位打進 NBA 的哈佛大學畢業生！頂著如此稀奇的光環，林書豪卻很謙卑，因為他知道，是一股神奇的力量一路牽引著他。林書豪在哈佛主修經濟、副修社會學，但他說，若有一天要高掛球鞋，他不會去當華爾街金童，而是要去傳福音、作見證。