Taking an “L”

Feb 1

When Sports Become an Idol

“Come on! What are you DOING?!”

My friend sat quietly, a few rows back from the screams. She’d come to Memorial Coliseum that afternoon to watch her daughter, a star for the Kentucky women’s basketball team. Gracious and humble, the last thing my friend wanted was to draw attention to herself. But moments like these made it hard.

A few minutes later, her daughter missed another jumper. As the ball sailed off the rim, the woman a few rows in front of her was at it again. “Are you kidding me?! What was she THINKING?! She’s so stupid!”

Her blood boiled. She hated these types of situations, but, as a mom, this rabid fan had left her no choice. Gently, she tapped the woman on the shoulder.

“Why don’t you try pulling for them, instead of pulling against them?” she asked politely.

The woman ignored her, only responding with more hate. But suddenly, she did a double-take between my friend’s face and her daughter’s picture on the jumbotron.

“Is that your…daughter?” the woman asked softly.

”Yes.”

Embarrassed, the woman sank down into her seat. Looking straight ahead, she remained silent for the rest of the game.

Something About Sports
Even if nobody’s mother is there to hear me yell at their child—I’m guilty of it, too. Every Saturday, my living room floor becomes my own sideline. I know the players can’t technically hear me, but it doesn’t stop me from shouting a few choice-words at them through the TV.

“He’s awful. We suck. These refs are so dirty. What a moron! We’re so stupid. Take that guy out, he’s so bad. Why is our coach an idiot?”

On and on it goes. One by one, I dissect each player, critiquing their every move at a sport I barely played myself. How did he not see that? What was he thinking? We need a new coach!

The truth is, I wouldn’t stand a chance out there. And let’s be honest, you wouldn’t either. However, there’s something about these games that drive us crazy enough to crucify coaches, scream at student athletes, and make an absolute fool out of ourselves as fans.

Ah, yes. Welcome to the real American idol—the world of sports.

Idolatry
Even though the Bible only references sports a handful of times, it has even more to say about idolatry.

Paul cautions the Corinthians, Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14 NIV

But this advice goes even further back. As God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses, he tells us, “You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” Exodus 20:3-5 NLT

We don’t often think of God being jealous of our affections, but He is. His desire is for nothing in this world to be more important than our devotion to Him.

You’ve probably heard Scott Nickell say this before, but when a good thing becomes an ultimate thing, it becomes a destructive thing. But how do we know when our love of sports has crossed that line?

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but it’s happened many times throughout my life as a diehard Kentucky basketball fan. I once stayed in bed one Easter Sunday and cried. Not because I was sick, but because I was nursing my wounds from a tragic Final Four loss to Wisconsin the night before.

We’re often more devoted to our teams than we are to the gospel. And that’s a giant fumble on our part.

Stats vs. Scriptures
One of the complaints I’ll often receive from young adults about the Bible (primarily from men) has nothing to do with its content, but more to do with their struggle to retain or remember what the Bible says. When I recommend trying to memorize scripture, many roll their eyes and say, “Oh no. I could never do that. I can’t remember anything!”

I understand memorizing scripture doesn’t come naturally for everyone. However, I can’t help but feel a little bit puzzled when minutes later, that same guy will rattle off a quarterback’s stat line from three games ago like it’s nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, I can easily recite all of Kentucky’s eight NCAA titles. (Come up and ask me anytime, I won’t think it’s weird.) But when we start knowing more stats than when we do scripture, we’ve got a problem.

The fact of the matter is, we either remember what’s important—or we remember what’s important to us. If we’re not careful, those can become two very different things.

Don’t Hate the Player
Several years ago, some friends and I sat down at a restaurant for lunch. We put in our orders and shot the breeze as we waited for our food, when suddenly, one of the servers walking through the restaurant spilled a large tray of ice water onto the floor.

Immediately, my friends and I sprang into action, grabbing every napkin within a five foot radius. Several others did the same.

The young woman’s face was red with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry,” she said, apologizing over and over again.

Sensing her pain, an older gentleman softly spoke to her. “That’s okay, we all make mistakes.”

My friends and I joined in. “Yeah!” We shrugged nonchalantly. “We’ve all been there!”

Holding back tears, the young waitress replied, “Today is just not my day! I was late to work this morning, and now this. My boss is going to kill me.”

The old man put his hand on her shoulder. “We won’t let him!” he said with a smile.

I can’t speak for the other tables she served that day, but she got a great tip from everyone at mine. I even overheard the old man stop the manager and tell him what a fantastic job she’d done.

Let me make something clear right off the bat: My friends and I weren’t being heroes that afternoon. We were just being human. Humans who understood how difficult it is to be one.

Now, imagine for just a moment that when that server dropped her tray, the entire restaurant broke out in chants of “YOU SUCK!” or started a Twitter campaign to get her fired.

I’m not questioning the differences between working at a restaurant or playing in a college or professional game—or even the magnitude of the mistakes in either arena. But what I am questioning is why we have grace for one, but not the other.

I understand most of the diehard fans out there reading are probably saying, “Connor—you don’t understand. PRO athletes get paid MILLIONS of dollars to perform well. They better be able to catch that pass or knock down a free throw!”

I get it. But since when did the amount of money a person makes suddenly take them beyond human status?

Let me ask it a different way: Are you perfect at your job? I’m not talking good—I’m talking perfect. Furthermore, do you have the kind of confidence to do it everyday, without error, in front of thousands of people?

I’m not saying we can never be upset when the outcome of a game doesn’t go our way, or even frustrated with the player who caused it. But what we have to remember is that the player is still somebody’s son or daughter—and I’m not talking just about their earthly mom or dad.

God the Father has never pulled against them—He’s only ever cheered for them in life. And as followers of Jesus who understand that He is the only perfect player to ever step onto the field, we’re called to do the same.

Paul’s Prize
Paul is a great coach, to us and the audience he’s writing to. He encourages the people of Corinth to remain steadfast and keep their eye on the ball. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NIV

The worldly wins you and I often chase after are meaningless, whether it’s on the floor or in the stands. However, as Christ-followers, we’re running a race with the kind of prize that will last forever. And the best part is, Jesus already won.

Because of what he did, perfectly, our mistakes don’t determine the outcome of the game. Instead, we get to celebrate with him, and be crowned with an eternal victory.

And that’s the kind of “W” I want everyone to experience.