Playing With the Gospel
Why is it, that with no reason to speak of, I really, really like Greg Schiano, head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team?
Why do I, to the point of almost idolatry, follow all sports of the UAB Blazers, who rarely have any success at all?
Why do I dislike men I do not know, like Larry Brown and Nick Saban?
Why am I compelled, with no attachment at all to either school, to pick a team to pull for in any championship event - yes, even when my respected teams are not in the title game?
Why will cities riot when championship games are won or lost? Why will grown men cry, and all their problems, no matter how large, fade into the distance, as they weep uncontrollably after an upset victory or title win?
I'm not sure what it is, but like all sin, and like all good things, there is a shadow of the divine at work. By saying all sin has shadows of the divine, I do not mean that sin is holy, but that the person who is looking at pornography is using an empty substitute for love for the real thing from God. Or perhaps they are looking for something to control, as opposed to putting their lack of control over people or things, into the hands of a sovereign God. Good things, like marriage, are a mere shadow of the divine when it comes to the relationship between Christ and the Church. A cob web shows the order and creativity of a divine God.
In the same why, I am not sure how, but either in the idolatry of it or in the enjoyment of it, sports are a shadow of the divine. Perhaps its the human grasp of good and evil, rooting for the team you've deemed good, versus the other, evil empire. I'm not sure, but I'd love to find out.
Perhaps I like Schiano because he's a stayer. Asked by the mega-program & power-house Miami, to take over their team, everyone considered him gone from the proverbial peons of college football, Rutgers, but he's decided to stay and build the program from scratch instead of building on someone elses foundation. Maybe after seeing so many pastors use smaller churches to get to the bigger ones, as they always intended to do, I appreciate him.
Maybe my obsession of UAB is a shadow of my desire to, in the midst of all my insignificance, maybe, just possibly one day, be used of the Lord mightily.
Maybe I don't like Larry Brown & Nick Saban because they just jump around from job to job. Maybe I see a lot of what I don't like in myself with them - easily unhappy, never satisfied, always looking to the next thing, never content in the moment. Depending on circumstances for joy instead of God who gives it abundantly.
Maybe we rush the field or even cry or sometimes blow up cars over games & teams because of our innately given desire to worship, and with the pageantry and emotion and emphasis placed on sports these days, we finally find an outlet to express our God given nature to worship - it is simply misplaced.
One of our pastors just got back from the Asian Games. He used sports, since he used to be in coaching and has a physical education degree, as his platform. His report included how amazingly and easily sports transcended cultures between him - an American, and virtually the 10/40 window minus the African nations. One of the neatest parts about it all was the in-roads he was able to make, through the grace of God, meeting with Iran, Iraq, and the Maldives, just a short list, about coming to train their coaches.
Somehow, some reason, sports is a platform that erases cultural, political, and racial boundaries temporarily, and can be used by God to bring the Gospel, which will permanently erase the ultimate boundary between God and men.
Why do I, to the point of almost idolatry, follow all sports of the UAB Blazers, who rarely have any success at all?
Why do I dislike men I do not know, like Larry Brown and Nick Saban?
Why am I compelled, with no attachment at all to either school, to pick a team to pull for in any championship event - yes, even when my respected teams are not in the title game?
Why will cities riot when championship games are won or lost? Why will grown men cry, and all their problems, no matter how large, fade into the distance, as they weep uncontrollably after an upset victory or title win?
I'm not sure what it is, but like all sin, and like all good things, there is a shadow of the divine at work. By saying all sin has shadows of the divine, I do not mean that sin is holy, but that the person who is looking at pornography is using an empty substitute for love for the real thing from God. Or perhaps they are looking for something to control, as opposed to putting their lack of control over people or things, into the hands of a sovereign God. Good things, like marriage, are a mere shadow of the divine when it comes to the relationship between Christ and the Church. A cob web shows the order and creativity of a divine God.
In the same why, I am not sure how, but either in the idolatry of it or in the enjoyment of it, sports are a shadow of the divine. Perhaps its the human grasp of good and evil, rooting for the team you've deemed good, versus the other, evil empire. I'm not sure, but I'd love to find out.
Perhaps I like Schiano because he's a stayer. Asked by the mega-program & power-house Miami, to take over their team, everyone considered him gone from the proverbial peons of college football, Rutgers, but he's decided to stay and build the program from scratch instead of building on someone elses foundation. Maybe after seeing so many pastors use smaller churches to get to the bigger ones, as they always intended to do, I appreciate him.
Maybe my obsession of UAB is a shadow of my desire to, in the midst of all my insignificance, maybe, just possibly one day, be used of the Lord mightily.
Maybe I don't like Larry Brown & Nick Saban because they just jump around from job to job. Maybe I see a lot of what I don't like in myself with them - easily unhappy, never satisfied, always looking to the next thing, never content in the moment. Depending on circumstances for joy instead of God who gives it abundantly.
Maybe we rush the field or even cry or sometimes blow up cars over games & teams because of our innately given desire to worship, and with the pageantry and emotion and emphasis placed on sports these days, we finally find an outlet to express our God given nature to worship - it is simply misplaced.
One of our pastors just got back from the Asian Games. He used sports, since he used to be in coaching and has a physical education degree, as his platform. His report included how amazingly and easily sports transcended cultures between him - an American, and virtually the 10/40 window minus the African nations. One of the neatest parts about it all was the in-roads he was able to make, through the grace of God, meeting with Iran, Iraq, and the Maldives, just a short list, about coming to train their coaches.
Somehow, some reason, sports is a platform that erases cultural, political, and racial boundaries temporarily, and can be used by God to bring the Gospel, which will permanently erase the ultimate boundary between God and men.
