It happens once a week. It’s an event. There is tailgating. There are fantasy games where grown men compete in, even with money on the line. Oh and did I mention that it occurs on Sunday, when the Church, the redeemed, gather. Yes, it is football. If baseball is America’s favorite past time, then football is America’s golden calf. We worship football. And now with the Superbowl coming up this Sunday, there is more fuel to add to the fire.
It is not a question of whether we worship, but it is a question of what or whom we worship. Every human is a worshipping being. We all worship. The real question is who or what is the object of our worship.
So how do we determine who or what is the object of our worship? Very simply. The following questions can help.
What do we spend our time doing?
Around what do we plan our schedule?
What gets us excited so that we do it enthusiastically and with eagerness?
It was at seminary when I first observed the worship of football. It was during the hey day of the Dallas Cowboys during the early 90’s when they won 3 Superbowl’s. Seminary students would gather with the redeemed Sunday morning, then rush back to spend the rest of the day in front of the TV to worship their golden calf of football. These were men training for the ministry who would rather talk about football than about the Word. There seemed to be more eagerness about the game than the gathering of the saints for worship. They were more prolific in proclaiming the stats of their favorite team than in preaching the Word.
I am NOT saying one cannot enjoy sports. Some of my favorite times were sitting with my dad watching the Celtics defeat the Lakers for the NBA championship(1984) or the Patriots win one of their 3 Superbowl’s. What I AM saying is that if you are a redeemed person, your priorities ought to be determined by your passion for the Lord and His Word, not by your passion for the game and your favorite team.
Do you rearrange your schedule so you dare not miss your team play and yet if you miss hearing the exposition of the Word and the gathering of the saints it does not really bother you? Does your knowledge of your favorite football team stats surpass your knowledge of the Holy? Are you more enthused and eager to watch the Superbowl than you are to listen to the exposition of Holy Writ? Do you engage people more over Sunday’s game than you do over the Gospel?
When the Israelites demanded “make us gods”(Exodus 32:1, 23), Moses declared “You have sinned a great sin.” and the LORD said “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them”(Exodus 32:9-10). God is the only true God(John 17:3) and therefore He will not stand idle when we replace Him with false gods, idols. The Scriptures are clear on this. No ambiguity.
It is Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3
OR
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
Psalm 115: 2-8
OR
“I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.”
Isaiah 42:8
In the Hebrews text, the middle part of this verse in Isaiah is more emphatic.
“My glory to another I will not give.”
You are a worshiper. Question is: Who or what do you worship? Is football your golden calf? If so, you need to repent and turn to the only one who is the true God and eternal life, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5:20-21
