Professional sports are a unique phenomenon in American culture. It seems that the entire nation hung on the words of a young basketball star, LeBron James, yesterday as he announced his plans to take his talents to Miami. Cleveland fans were left heartbroken again. Media outlets across the country have chimed in their opinions on this subject. Sports talk radio ratings have gone through the roof as middle-aged, bald, fat men discuss random sports-related topics with one another and with other middle-aged, bald, fat men who call into their shows to discuss the issues. Thousands of fans fill up arenas, ballparks, and stadiums each year to show allegiance (or in some cases disgust) to "their" teams. Athletes are paid millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements. When an athlete makes questionable moral decisions in their personal lives, the fans will obsess over the circumstances and how it all could possibly relate to the performance of the team.
One word comes to mind when I look at the world of professional sports in America: worship. In my opinion, in many parts of America we have replaced the worship of God with the worship of professional sports franchises and star athletes. I understand it, I guess. America is obsessed with many different types of idolatry, whether it comes in the form of sports or in celebrities, TV, pop stars, or any number of other things. I would bet that even though we do not usually worship golden statues, we worship many more idols than any other civilization in the history of the world. We have made idolatry into a science. The worship of LeBron James is just the latest example of what I'm describing.
I have a little bit of a unique perspective on this topic. I used to be a professional athlete. For the arena football team I was on, it was all about entertaining fans, making money, and basically putting up a big fake front to the world so that the people in my city could escape their own personal realities for a few hours. This is what American people do when they attend a sporting event, or watch TV and movies, or play video games. They escape their own lives in order to enter into worship of idols in a fake environment which has been carefully crafted for them by entertainers. I remember that as athletes we would act one way in public for reporters and fans, and then privately we would make fun of the reporters and fans and how absurd everything was. People who are sports fans, the ones who obsess over their teams and listen to sports talk radio or watch ESPN or post comments about their teams on the internet don't realize that the athletes are not worshipping their teams like the fans or media do. They are just doing a job, just like the rest of us who work in any number of places.
I think that American Christians really need to examine ourselves on the issue of idolatry. We need to ask ourselves what we are worshipping. Are we worshipping God, the Creator of the universe and the One who will have nothing to do with idolatry? Or, are we worshipping TV, movies, celebrities, music, and LeBron James? Is LeBron James "the king" and "the chosen one" who we all need to "witness," or are we going to worship Jesus Christ as the King and Chosen One? The next time you sit down to watch an episode of your favorite TV show (maybe American Idol?) or raise your hands to the sky at a sporting event or a rock concert, keep in mind that your worship of men may be replacing worship of the Risen Christ. Imagine if the Christians in Cleveland decided to turn their attention away from the LeBron James saga and focus their time and energy on living out their functions as the body of Christ in a city just like every other city in America that has people living in poverty, brokenness and pain all over the place, and needs that can only be filled by people who are on mission with God as the centerpoint of their worship. Many Christians in Cleveland are crying out in pain about the injustice of the removal of their biggest idol. Where are the Christians in Cleveland who are crying out in pain about the poor in their city who are being oppressed, or the children in Cleveland who are going to bed hungry, or the sex trafficking going on in seedy parts of their town, or the violence on the streets of their communities? Christians can not have God work through them to transform people and places if their worship is focused on the idols surrounding them. We cannot have two allegiances... one to Christ and one to the idols being offered up by the world.
5 comments:
Bryan, I'm not sure I agree with you on some of your points...I know- you're shocked. I do think some individuals focus too much on sports and can "idolize" athletes in such a way that it takes their priorities off of what should be important - God, family and relationships. But, I also think many individuals watch sports, follow these idol's lives (Tiger woods for example) and get fascinted by them as a means of escape from their own pain and suffering. We all need a release at times and I feel it's ok to use these things as an escape, not an excuse.
Of course you would disagree! I love it. When a person needs an escape to ease the pain of life, should they turn to God or turn to idols? Wasn't God upset with the Israelites when they turned to idols instead of him when life got difficult? If that is the case, then how is that any different than Americans turning to idols instead of God to comfort ourselves in our modern world?
OK, first...I can' wait for deep creek. Next, after a stressful day or week haven't you sat down and thoroughly looked forward to watching a Steeler game or a Penguins game to relax and let go of the week? Or, did you crack open your bible for those 3 hours and delved into researching it?
Oh, deep creek is going to be fun! I love to play sports, and I do like to watch sports sometimes. I just think there is a line between what might be considered recreation or a hobby, and idolizing professional athletes or sports teams. And by the way, worshipping God does not just mean studying the Bible. That's why so many people have such an uninspired or dry view of what if means to be a Christian. We can worship God in many different ways, even fun and interesting ways, such as service, or the arts, or quiet time on a hike, etc. We can honor God by loving our wives well, and not making them sports widows. We can honor God by being a good father and actually engaging our children instead of watching sports games on TV. I have no problem with enjoying a game every once in a while, but many men totally check out on the responsibilities they have with their families and broader society in order to escape life by immersing themselves in idolatry that is catered to adult men in America. I just think this LeBron situation represents well the idolatry that can be played out in an extreme form in our society. Some guy in Cleveland is going to lose sleep tonight because LeBron abandoned the city, and meanwhile that same guy will carry no burden or thought whatsoever for the suffering of his own wife and kids or any other hurting people in that city. It just seems kind of ironic and odd to me.
Well said. I concur.
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