Sport and Idolatry
by Julie Walton, Ph.D.
Calvin College
I just finished a frustratingly familiar talk with a colleague about sport and our apathetic response as Christians. While I watched in dismay from home, he actually attended the UM-Oregon football game (debacle, I would call it) where, for a second week in a row, the party-hearty folks in the Big House found nothing worth celebrating. My friend decried the worship of the game, the millions of misdirected dollars, the wasted energy and resources poured into a 3 hour, Saturday afternoon spectacle. What if all that money- (spent on RV’s for tailgating, Lexus cars for getting to the game, on tickets, and Go Blue sweatshirts, and uniforms for a hundred fellows who will never play a single down, not to mention on obscene coaching salaries (far above the average professor’s)- for heaven’s sake, what if all that was instead directed to needy people, neighborhoods, and schools? When I saw fields of white from pom pom waving fanatics on Saturday in Happy Valley, I truly ached that nowhere on earth do we ever see such enthusiasm and energy and adoration for Christ. Well, I guess when football is one’s god, it’s easy to be let down, led in and out of strange ecstasies like a sad, worn-out crack addict, and left holding an expired ticket to heaven. Christians! It’s not sport that’s run amok, it’s us! It’s time we began speaking out. It’s time we returned sport to its proper place of play- where we delight in God’s company as we strive, with teammates and WITH our opponents, to play and delight in each other, in God, and in the play itself. If we are to get it right, we must put first things first, and that means shunning the modern-day farce of sport, and helping our athletes and coaches and fans focus on using play and sport to delight in God. :lol:
Hello,
I am not sure if anyone is still checking these comments or not, but I figured it was worth the chance. My name is Joe Crispin as is evident above. I am a professional basketball player who loves the Lord and thus, the kind of theology embraced and taught at Calvin College.I am looking for a book entitled, The Image of God in the Human Body : Essays on Christianity and Sports and was wondering where the best place to purchase it might be. As one who makes his living playing the game of basketball (presently in Turkey), and one who one day, Lord willing, plans to coach the game of basketball, I am also continuously looking for people who want to think through and talk about competition and the glory of God. So thank you for the many thoughts posted on this page.
p.s. I played college ball at Penn State, so I know those Happy Valley fanatics well!
Posted by Joe Crispin on 12/11 at 03:21 AM
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