Lesson 4 - Sports by gracelutheransaz

LESSON4

IDOLSWENEVERKNEWWEHAD— SPORTS

Whateverwegiveourselvestoinworship,thisisourGod.Sometimes,becausethe word worship oftengetstoonarrowlydefined,weassumethatworshipismerelya musicalstyleorsomethingthatwedoforaperiodoftimeonaSundaymorning.The ChristianpastorA.W.Tozershedssomelightonthistopic.Heoncefamouslysaid, “IfyouwillnotworshipGodsevendaysaweek,youdonotworshipHimononeday aweek.”1 He’sright.Idolatryiswhenwetakesomethinggoodinourlives,but misuseitbyglorifyingittospirituallyunhealthydegrees.Wethenmakesacrificesof otherthingsasanexpressionofloveandrespectforthatspecificidol’sglory.

Imagineforamomentthatyouareanalienfromafarawaygalaxywhois transportedintooursolarsystem.Asyoubeginexaminingearth,youzeroinonthe UnitedStatesonapleasantSundayafternooninautumn.Ifyouhavetoguesswhat peopleworship,I’mguessingitwouldn'tbetheGodoftheBible.

Yourspaceshipbeginstohoveroveramajormetropolitanstadium.Dominatingthe landscapeofthecity,youseeabilliondollarstructure(thatis,temple).Yousee seatsthatareveryexpensiveyetsoldouteveryweekend(thatis,offering).Yousee drovesofpeopledressedinparticularcolors,stuffingthemselveswithfoodand drink(thatis,specialdressandfeast).Youhearloudmusicandcontinuouschanting (thatis,harmoniouspraisesandcriesoflament).Youseescantilycladwomen standingnearthemainaction,leadingpeopleincheers(thatis,playingtolustful desires,aswasoftendoneinpaganrituals).Pointbeing,asavisitorfromouter space,piecingtogetherwhatyouarelookingat,youwouldprobablyassumeyouare viewingaworshipserviceaslarge,passionate,devoted,vocal,andgenerousasany otherworshipserviceintheworldthatday.You’dprobablyberight.

Ofcourse,aloveforsportsisnotinherentlywrong,butadisproportionatelovefor sportsis,infact,idolatry.

Revelation 5:6-14

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twentyfour elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Note: While not describing an athletic event, the Revelation scene depicted here by John is perhaps the closest scriptural picture we have to the enormity and grandeur of present-day sports. The rise of the Colosseum and expansion of the festival games in Rome, which occurred around the time of the New Testament writing, largely parallels the overwhelming thirst for professional games we now see in America.

1. Invividdetail,thistextisdescribingaheavenlyworshipserviceinallits overwhelmingextravaganceandmajesty.Describethesights,smells,andsounds ofthescene.

2. Professionalandhigh-levelcollegiatesportsareonlyonewayinwhichsports impactourlivestoday.Ifyouhaveafalsegodofsports,whatmightyour “sacrifices”tothisidollooklikeinthefollowingcircumstances?

• Yourownrecreation(examples:golf,bowling,softball,etc.):

• Yourchildren’sathleticinvolvement(examples:soccer,volleyball,etc.):

• Yourfavoriteprofessionalorcollegiateteamorsport:

3. Whatdoyousupposeissoalluringaboutsportstosomanypeople?

4. Oneoftheproblemswithgettingridoftheidolsofourheartsisthatwecan’t just eliminate them.Wehaveto replace them.MuchlikeinthefamousartifactswappingIndianaJonesscenein Raiders of the Lost Ark,yourheartisapedestal thatneedsacontinuousweightpresseduponit.Ifyouaretoremovetheidolof sports,youhavetopressdownequallyhardwiththetrueGod.Howmightyou restatethegospelintermsthatresonatewithasportsenthusiast?

Furthermore,ifthepicturewe’veseenhereinRevelationchapter5does describesomethingclosetoachampionshipgameexperience,howmightthis shapethewayweperceiveandshapepublicandcorporateworship?

BONUS MATERIAL

1. Intheintroductionofthislesson,weintroducedthehypotheticalscenarioof alienobservation.Wesaidthatwhateveranalienwouldseeussacrificingfor, gatheringfor,andofferingpraiseto,thatwouldlikelybeseenasbeing worshipedbyus.Inotherwords,suchpracticesmayexposeourhiddenidols. Takeamomenttodiscovermoreaboutyourpotentialidolsbyworkingthrough thefollowing:

• Forwhatdoyousacrificemostinyourlife?(time,money,thought)

• Forwhatareyouinclinedtogatherwithothers?

• Aboutwhatdoyoumostregularlyoffereffusivewordsofpraise?

Read Acts 14:8-18.

8In Lystra there was a man who was sitting down because he had no strength in his feet. He had never walked because he was lame from birth. 9When he was listening to Paul as he was speaking, Paul looked at him closely and saw that he had faith to be healed. 10Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.

11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form.”

12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the main speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, because he wanted to offer sacrifices along with the crowds.

14But when the apostles Paul and Barnabas heard about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, 15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men with the same nature as you. We are preaching the good news to you so that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways. 17Yet he did

not leave himself without testimony of the good he does. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and fills your hearts with gladness.” 18Even though they said these things, they had a hard time stopping the crowds from sacrificing to them.

2. InLystra,PaulandBarnabaswereconsideredtobegodsbecauseoftheirgreat accomplishment(thatis,healingamanwhohadn’tbeenabletowalk).Inwhat waysdowetendtodeifyprominentathletestoday?

3. HowdidPaulandBarnabasrespondtothecrowd’spraiseinaverynoncelebrity-likemanner?Howisthisatemplateforustohandlesuccessandwords ofpraiseinourlives?

4. OnanotherofPaul’smissionarystopswrittenaboutinActs,wefindoutthat idol-craftingwasabigbusiness(seeActs19:23-27).Howdotelevision,the Internet,andfantasysportsfollowthepatternofthisancientindustry?

Acts 19:23–27 (EHV)

23During that time there was more than a minor disturbance about the Way. 24A certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little income for the craftsmen. 25He called them together, along with the workers in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this income. 26You also see and hear that not merely in Ephesus but throughout almost the entire province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large number of people. He says that gods made by hands are not gods at all! 27Not only is there danger that our trade may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be considered worthless. Then she will suffer the loss of her magnificence, although she is worshipped by the whole province of Asia and the world.”

Read Deuteronomy 29:16-28.

16You yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the midst of the various nations we encountered. 17You saw their detestable things and their filthy idols of wood and stone and silver and gold that were with them.

18Make sure that there is not among you a man, a woman, a family, or a tribe whose heart today is turning away from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Make sure that there is among you no root that is producing a poison plant and bitter wormwood. 19When such a person hears the words of this oath, he might congratulate himself in his heart and say, “I’ll be safe, even though I’m proceeding in my stubborn way.” By acting this way he will destroy the watered ground as well as the parched.

20The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger and jealousy of the Lord will smoke against that man, and all the curses written in this document will come to rest on him, and the Lord will wipe away his name from under the heavens. 21The Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, in keeping with all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law.

22And when the next generation, your children who will come after your time, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land have seen the plagues on that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord struck it, they will say, 23“Sulfur and salt, conflagration for all of its land! No planting, no sprouting, no maturing crop in it! It will be like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his fierce anger!”

24Then all the nations will say, “Why did the Lord do something like that to this land? What is the reason for this burning, this fierce anger?”

25Then they will say, “It is because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26They went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods that they had not known and that he had not allotted to them. 27So the anger of the Lord burned against that land to bring on it the entire curse written in this book. 28The Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, in rage, and in his great wrath, and he hurled them into another land, as it is to this day.”

5. AccordingtothissectionofScripture,fromwheredoGod’speopletendtograb falsegods(vv.16-18)?Whatdoesthistellusabouttheleveltowhichwevalue thethingsthattheworldaroundusvalues?

6. Oursinfulnatureunderestimatestheseriousnessofidolatry(seev.19).Lestwe forgetwhatacriminaloffensedisorderedloveandidolatryis,remember,how didGodreacttotheIsraelitesworshipingfalsegods?

FURTHER PERSONAL TESTS FOR THE IDOL OF SPORTS

Doyouagreewiththefollowingstatements?

• “I’msometimesabitgrumpy,cranky,andirritablewhenIgointoworkor schoolthedayaftermyteamloses.”

• “Ioftenofferlargequantitiesofmoneytosupportthe‘localdeities.’”

• “Imorequicklyriseoutofmychairinjubilationatthesiteofmyteam scoringthanatthethoughtofmySaviorleavinghisemptytomb.”

Whereinyourlifedoyoutendtoexhibitthemostpassionandexcitement?

Howmanyavenuesdoyouhavetoreachyourfavoritesport(orsport’steam), hobby,orrecreationalactivity(forexample,magazinesubscriptions,apps,TVs, Internetsites,seasontickets,videogames,apparel,etc.)?