It is fascinating to see the simultaneous rise in the esteem of sports and professional athletes along side of the rapid moral decay of our society - let alone the personal moral fiber of the athletes themselves.
There is no question if our world is accelerating in its greed – perfectly illustrated in our current economic situation. And no question as to our growing pursuits in moral debauchery – we need look no further than the proliferation of new laws from a mere two generations ago, and the massive overpopulation of our prisons for validation of this proposition.
At the same time, there is no question if we as a nation have ever been more fixated on sports (and to be fair, with entertainment in general) than we are right now.Think for a moment of all the entities and careers that spin around the sports world. Marketing, recruiting, training, coaching, sales, management, graphic design, web development, facilities, medicine, rehabilitation, scouting, promotions, agents, food, drinks, commentating, reporting, sideline reporting, - you even need people to work the parking lot! This is a tiny list of all the things that go into professional sports.
Now lets rewind history about two generations back. How much of this stuff existed? How many of these jobs were filled by one guy or by the players themselves?
What complicates the problem is that we have difficulty thinking the world was ever any different than it is now. Try to imagine a world before ESPN (which came out in 1979)! You used to have to wait for the evening news for the scores – heaven forbid. We are in a time of of extreme instant gratification. Nobody waits for the news today. We check the score at work, play by play.
Back when the second World War broke out professional baseball was so decimated by players joining the military they resorted to recruiting youngins – 15 year old Joe Nuxhall made his debut in June of 1944. Now how many professional athletes today join up for our military campaigns? I say this not as a means to shame but more for the purpose of marking the cultural side we are a part of.
And with all of this there has been the inevitable backlash. While most kids like sports many have come to despise sports and have rejected them out of hand – as if they were a source of evil themselves. These are people who have thrown their hands up at the evil they have seen in the sports world and so have checked out of the game entirely.
Naturally all of this comes to an inevitable collision in the home and in the local church. The constant competition for young peoples’ time and energy gives birth to consistently conflicting schedules, demanding coaches, frustrated parents and bewildered pastors.
So what ought we do as people who want to honor God in our actions?
First off, I would prescribe a different antidote over abandonment. This really won’t fix anything and most often is just the exchange of one idol for another.
I would say that we must start by challenging ourselves and our affections to make sure we are not unduly bound to this world. We need to know with certainty that in our participation in sports, as a player or as an observer, we seek to honor God with it. We must at all times remember such passages as 1John 2: 15-17 "Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."
The truth of God must guide our actions while we are involved, in any manner, in athletics.
With this all said you might accuse me of a bias against sports. Fair enough. C.J. Mahaney (author of “Humility, true greatness”) has done a spectacular job addressing this issue. In fact it is without a doubt the best dealing with the subject as I have heard.
Feast on it. enjoy.
