Now, in the next installments of this series, we will look at the major tendencies of Americans to fall into idolatry. It’s unlikely that each one of these topics will strike a chord with every person, but it’s probable that one of the three will penetrate deep into the trend of your heart to fall from allegiance to God.
Sports, in our day, affect a majority of people to some capacity. The reach of competition has grown immensely because of the reach of media. Now, a person can follow a team clear across the country or even ocean due to television and internet. In 2009, over 150 million people watched the Steelers play the Cardinals in the Super Bowl. In 2006, worldwide, 715 million people watched countries compete against one another in the World Cup. And in 2008, over 4 billion people tuned in to watch some part of the Summer Olympic Games! Now, think on a weekly basis. Here in my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee football brings a weekly attendance of 100,000 people to watch a football game and basketball brings 20,000 (sometimes biweekly) to watch the Vols play. This is true of most college campuses in America as the sports teams consistently bring more money to the college than academics or any other department.
These stats are not meant to say that Idolatry is found in numbers. Idolatry is found in the heart. I’m just presenting that sports affect the majority of people in the Western world. Not all of these people idolize sports. But some do. So, what’s the difference?
I was watching a show on Monday called “How I Met Your Mother.” At the end of the show, I heard a statement that summarizes sports as Idolatry; when it meets the deepest needs of our heart. Listen to this quote from the show: “In that moment, Lily figured out what was so great about sports. They take your mind off your troubles, if even for a moment. And deep down, we all needed that perfect week.” So many justify that sports is a “release.” When in actuality it is in an idol.
Deep down people yearn for victory. People yearn for meaning. People yearn for rest. People yearn. Today, people tend to look to the court or the field to find this satisfaction. They rally around a coach to lead them to victory (and often pay million dollar contracts to secure the best leader). They compete or cheer for the sake of winning that they may be on top and secure meaning. They get lost in the excitement of competition to “release” from their work struggles, family anxiety, or personal problems.
When people look to sports to fill these deep down desires, they replace the living God with an idol of sport. We are too find our deep down satisfaction for victory, meaning, and rest in God alone. Finding them in sport is temporarily filling the problem. God gives ultimate victory as death and sin have been swallowed by the cross of Jesus Christ. Meaning is found in God’s mission to fill the earth with his glory and bring sinners to become worshippers. Was it not Jesus himself that said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…?”
Do you replace God with Sport. It can sneak up on us, but where is our devotion: Christ or competition?
August 31, 2011 at 7:20 am
Perhaps part of this desire for “release” is due to people’s sedentary lifestyles. If it is referring to restlessness, than it could due to men having desk jobs and spending a lot of time on computers and other technologies rather than working outside, working on their farms as they would have done when people relied on subsitence farming. So perhaps this is one reason for the popularity of sports amongst young men in particular, who probably have the most energy, being young and strong but often spending a lot of time at the books rather than in physical labour, which they might have been doing more of in past times.