2 Cents

First we should remember 1 Timothy 4:4 - "Everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving..." Football (and for me basketball) is a gift from God. It is not wrong to sit down on a Saturday afternoon and watch a football game instead of spending the entire afternoon on your knees in prayer while fasting. Don't feel guilty if you love to watch the Cincinnati Bengals or the UK Wildcats lose another important game :) Football is naturally enjoyable to most men because of the way God created us - with a drive for being our best and performing well, with an inherent understanding of battle, discipline, teamwork, and victory/defeat. So in light of 1 Corinthians 10:31 let me encourage you to watch some football to the glory of God!

However second we need to always keep football (and basketball for me) in its place. In the end it is just a sport. May I never stay up late to watch a game that would make me too tired to get up early the next morning and have a quiet time before work. May I never sacrifice fellowship with others who don't care about football (or basketball) for the sake of watching the game. May I never sacrifice quality time with my wife or children for the sake of watching the game. May I never come to the point to where I can't honestly say God is infinitely more important than football. The day after the Super Bowl my life is always exactly the same as it was the day before.

I believe one of the most prevalent forms of idol worship in 2010 America is sports. So many people spend more money, time, attention, thought, and energy on sports than on God. This is evidence of idol worship. As one of my favorite preachers likes to put it... we come to the temple (stadium) and lift our voices in worship (cheer) to our god (the team). We give our tithes and offerings (buying tickets and apparel) and even ensure that we don't love Father or Mother or Son or Daughter or Spouse more than our god (the team). Our time spent with our god (the team) is non-negotiable and no one can schedule anything (even bible study) during our quality time spent with this god (watching the game). Furthermore we make it our goal to ensure that our children follow in our ways and worship and love our god (the team).

While we need to enjoy sports to the glory of God let us always be extremely cautious because the idol of sports is held by many, many people in our country above the true God of the universe. This is a very real temptation for me and others I know.