The god of this age

It is NFL season again, and I am loving it! My Colts are 2-1, Peyton Manning’s Broncos are dominating the league at 3-0 right now, and probably the thing that makes me the most happy is the Steelers are 0-3 and are below the Browns in their division…talk about humiliation! Here in the area that I live in, football is king. Friday nights are spent at your local high school watching your team play, than Saturday’s are spent watching your college team play, and then Sundays are spent watching the NFL. Now don’t get me wrong, I love sports! I thoroughly enjoy NFL season, and harassing those poor Steelers fans in our church. I love to watch soccer, and keep a very close eye on the English Premier League. I regularly listen to ESPN Radio, and stay up to date on what is going on in the NBA, MLB, and whatever other sport they happen to be talking about. So don’t be thinking that I am hating on sports. But what I have come to realize is that in our country, sports is and has become one of the most prominent gods of the age.

II Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (NIV) When we think of a false god, we may think back to Old Testament times, when Israel was worshiping carved images of Baal or Dagon, or to the Greeks and the Romans and their temples and statues to their false deities. However, I think perhaps we need to rethink our idea of what a false god is. World English Dictionary defines god as “any person or thing to which excessive attention is given.” The harsh reality is that sports, along with other things such as wealth, family, relationship, or career, has become a god in the lives of many Americans throughout our nation, and not just the unsaved. The passage in II Corinthians says that the god of the age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. It goes on to say though in v. 5, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” If we as Christians are being pulled away by the exact same gods as the unbelievers are, how can we expect to preach Jesus Christ to them to open their eyes? We must recognize the gods in our lives, so as to put them away. Here are some of the ways that I believe we place sports above God in our lives.

1. Our money

The average cost of a NFL ticket varies from team to team, but is typically at or above the $200 dollar mark. Now I am not here to tell you that it is wrong for you to go to an NFL game, but I do want to challenge you with the question of whether you are willing to spend that same amount on the Lord’s work. Many times I hear people say they can’t afford to tithe, and yet they just took a trip to Disney, or to a pro sporting event, or just bought the latest I-phone. The reality is that all of us here in the USA have the money for the things we make a priority. It is not my place to tell you what I think you should or should not spend your money on, but if you have money to spend on other things, and you do not have money to give to God, than those things have become a god in your life. I am not here to tell you how much you should give to your local church, but I do believe it is a biblical principle that we decide how much we are going to give God, and then no matter how difficult it is, no matter what financial circumstances arise, no matter what we have to sacrifice, we give God what we had “purposed in our heart.” (II Cor. 9:7) Don’t allow sports to become a god financially!

2. Our conversation

Again, please don’t misunderstand me, I am not trying to say that it is wrong to talk about sports. I believe that sports can be a valuable tool to use to build a relationship with a non-believer to seek opportunities to share the gospel with him. I love to talk about sports! If I get a chance to let a Steelers fan know how much I am enjoying watching their team play right now, you had better believe I will take that opportunity! However, are we just as ready and eager to talk about the Lord and our relationship with Him as we are about our favorite (or least favorite) sports team? I Peter 3:15 says that we should “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…” If somebody asks you for your opinion on that controversial call in the fourth quarter, I bet you have an answer. If they ask you who the best quarterback in the league is, you will explain why Peyton Manning is the obvious choice. If they ask you who is going to be in the World Series, you will have arguments for your favorite team. What if they ask you to explain why you believe in God? What if they ask you what it is that makes you different from your other co-workers? Are we ready to give an answer then?

3. Our time

This is probably the biggest area of our lives in which we struggle with making sports a god. I absolutely know it is for me. I spend probably a few hours every week, reading articles about my team, watching them play, listening to commentators talk about them, and making tweaks to my fantasy team. Is there anything wrong with watching a sporting event? Is it wrong to be involved in a fantasy football league? Is it wrong to know the stats on your favorite players? No it is not! However, what is it that you are devoting your time to? Now I am not saying that you need to take a notebook with you, and keep track of how many hours you spend on sports as compared to how many hours you spend with the Lord, although that may be a good idea for some of you. What I am saying, is which one gets the priority? Any time that I ask somebody how there devotional life is, and they say that they don’t have time for their devotions, I call them out on it. That is absolutely not true! You say you don’t have time for a few minutes in God’s Word? Did you check your facebook today? Did you read any articles on ESPN today? You say you didn’t have time for church, yet you spent three hours in front of the tv watching the game? In my opinion, our distribution of time is the biggest demonstrator of who or what our god is. I am not saying that in order for you to be able to watch a 3 hour football game you have to spend 3 hours reading God’s Word. I will say though, if you had the time to watch football for 3 hours, and you say Christ is your Lord, you had better make time during the day to study His Word and talk to Him.

Over and over again I see in our country that sports have become the god in the life of Christians. They come to church, as long as the game isn’t on at the same time. They read one verse on their “verse of the day” app on their phone, and then spend the next hour checking scores. They pour hours and hours into disciplining their bodies to be a good athlete, and are unwilling to discipline their minds and hearts to be faithful servants. (I Cor. 9:24-27)

I want to leave you with two verses. The first I am sure is very familiar to you.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heave, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Where is your heart? Where do you spend your money, your conversation, and perhaps most importantly, your time? Do your actions demonstrate that God alone is your God? Or do your actions demonstrate that sports, or money, or a relationship are your god?

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtoaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not Him. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon…..And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.” And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, “Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand? Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. (Judges 10:6-14)