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Cor 10:7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." 1 John 5:21 "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."
We don't think of sports in the United States as pagan revelry. No! Let it not be so! They are our "national pastime"! Superdomes, sports fields, and the court are places where we come together in one heart, with thousands at one time rooting for the same end result and helping each other and the team in every way we can, including throwing obscene amounts of money at it for the all-important 'win.' Can we say the same for our churches?
"Win one for the Gipper," "Hail Mary pass" and "Do you believe in miracles?" are to most any American instantly recognizable hosannas. They are not religious phrases but sports hymns, sung and shouted to the pagan god of Athletics.
But just who are we worshiping? Steroids, illegal drugs, and alcohol use and abuse by players seem to be the norm. It is common these days to hear of players being arrested, raping women, cheating on or even beating their wives, attacking fans, and even assaulting people. A new syndrome has arisen among sports players' wives, who are told they must just cope with it: "The Adultery Culture." We spend a lot of time watching, engaged in, and supporting what is in most cases, an immoral pastime. According to one survey, about 6 and a half hours each weekend is devoted to watching sports.
We pay coaches multi-millions but widows and children starve on the streets. We spend inordinate amounts of time getting to, attending, and leaving sports events. We spend time in traffic, listening to honking horns but we complain if the parking space we favor at church is filled. We sit in hot stadia, enduring heat, snow, and rain but we complain if the AC at church is one degree below comfortable.
Where are our priorities? Can you name the batting averages of the Red Sox but not the books of the New Testament? Do you spend more time in pre-game, game, and post game than you do in church? If it comes down to a choice between the game and the pew, which wins? Even if it is for just that sports' season, what message are we sending the children when we pull them out of church for three months because it is soccer season?
If sports has become our idol, please re-think the priorities God set out for us. We already know that in the last days, "men will be ... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." It is written, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Heb 10:25
art: The Gladiators by Jean Leon Gerome
We don't think of sports in the United States as pagan revelry. No! Let it not be so! They are our "national pastime"! Superdomes, sports fields, and the court are places where we come together in one heart, with thousands at one time rooting for the same end result and helping each other and the team in every way we can, including throwing obscene amounts of money at it for the all-important 'win.' Can we say the same for our churches?"Win one for the Gipper," "Hail Mary pass" and "Do you believe in miracles?" are to most any American instantly recognizable hosannas. They are not religious phrases but sports hymns, sung and shouted to the pagan god of Athletics.
But just who are we worshiping? Steroids, illegal drugs, and alcohol use and abuse by players seem to be the norm. It is common these days to hear of players being arrested, raping women, cheating on or even beating their wives, attacking fans, and even assaulting people. A new syndrome has arisen among sports players' wives, who are told they must just cope with it: "The Adultery Culture." We spend a lot of time watching, engaged in, and supporting what is in most cases, an immoral pastime. According to one survey, about 6 and a half hours each weekend is devoted to watching sports.
We pay coaches multi-millions but widows and children starve on the streets. We spend inordinate amounts of time getting to, attending, and leaving sports events. We spend time in traffic, listening to honking horns but we complain if the parking space we favor at church is filled. We sit in hot stadia, enduring heat, snow, and rain but we complain if the AC at church is one degree below comfortable.
Where are our priorities? Can you name the batting averages of the Red Sox but not the books of the New Testament? Do you spend more time in pre-game, game, and post game than you do in church? If it comes down to a choice between the game and the pew, which wins? Even if it is for just that sports' season, what message are we sending the children when we pull them out of church for three months because it is soccer season?
If sports has become our idol, please re-think the priorities God set out for us. We already know that in the last days, "men will be ... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." It is written, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Heb 10:25
art: The Gladiators by Jean Leon Gerome
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