HAVE SPORTS BECOME AN IDOL?

The Jesus First Movement 

I love sports, especially basketball. For some, it’s football, baseball, volleyball, wrestling, dance, or, in our part of the world, rodeo, which I also love. These are all great activities and have the ability to grow some values in our children, such as hard work, unity, teamwork, patience, endurance, and overcoming adversity. However, They do not deserve the elevated status we have given them. Sadly, we have made sports an idol. You may think that I am being too hardcore, but consider this. How many Christian parents skip Church for sports tournaments throughout the year? Worshipping God is a command on the sabbath, and the sabbath rest is given to us for our benefit. We choose to show our children what we worship by our actions by ignoring the sabbath. I question why we ignore God and His commands on such an important issue. Here is the thing. We can still participate in sports and enjoy them without making them an idol in our lives. I hope to give you a new perspective today. An idol will steal our affection and our time away from the object of our worship, who is Jesus.  

In a time when everything in life attempts to steal our affection away from Jesus, we need to be intentional. Following Jesus means that there will be things in our lives that we have to deny. In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This means that there will be some good things that we will have to say no to. A follower always puts Jesus first. Peter, James, and John left their boat and gave up fishing, Matthew left the lucrative lifestyle of being a well-paid government official, Simon the Zealot left his life of fighting for justice from the oppressive Roman government, and Jesus left the majesty of heaven for a world infected with sin. So, what we do shows what we love. We can say we love Jesus, but if all of our time is spent watching, studying, practicing, and playing, do we really love Jesus or sports? To be clear, I am not saying we must give up sports altogether. I am saying that they should take their proper place in our lives. God commands us to devote one day to worship and rest. One day! And we have polluted that day with anything and everything but God.  

The answer to the problem is not compromise. The answer is surrender. If you feel convicted, it is not this article; it’s the Holy Spirit. Pay attention to God’s voice on this, ask Him if you need to make some changes, and then make them. For some of you, it will be to stop allowing your kids to participate in sporting events on the sabbath; for some, it will be to spend less time reading about the Huskers; for some, it will be to cancel your ESPN subscription, and for others, it will be to intentionally focus more on the Lord as a family during this busy sporting season. I can honestly say that this has also always been a struggle for us. My wife and I would do things differently if we could go back. We allowed our kids to participate in Sunday tournaments even though we always ensured that we found a church to attend, even if that meant they had to miss a game or two. We thought this was a good balance, but honestly, it wasn’t. We came home worn out and then had to start the week tired and unrested. Remember, God made the sabbath for a man, not man for the Sabbath. The sabbath is for your good to help you in your everyday rhythms in life. Sadly, there is so much pressure on kids to play, which is confusing from a practical point of view. How many kids will even go on to play in college?  

Not many. Yet we act like our kids need to develop their skills at a high level. Who says? Did you know that Steph Curry’s mom did not allow him to skip church for basketball? You CAN develop their skills without a club team or a Sunday tournament. Both of our kids were good/average athletes growing up. Carlie blew out both her knees in high school, and Caden excelled in high school athletics, placing in the top five of the state for cross country and track in two events. This was great, but neither benefited from traveling all over two states to play club sports. I stagger to think about all the money we spent on hotels, uniforms, fees, and food, as well as all the time we spent not connecting as a family and time away from our church family. I’m sure we could have gone on a couple of epic vacations as a family every year with all the money we spent on weekends at some sports tournament. Time is not on your side; in less than twelve years, your kids will leave your home with all of the priorities you have instilled in them. If your priorities have been sports, theirs will be too or anything other than God. If your priority is Jesus and family, then theirs will be too. That, my friends, is a sobering thought. There is grace in this for everyone. I know that not everyone will agree with me on this. It is sad that almost every Sunday from January to March, families are missing from our pews because of wrestling, basketball, dance, etc.  

I had a thought today while driving home from a great family vacation with our two adult children, who are now in their 20s. What if Christian parents in mass started to stand against participating in kids’ sporting events on Sundays? We could call it the Jesus First Movement. Around here, that would significantly affect those events, forcing them to move them to a different day. I don’t care if there isn’t another day to move them to priorities; they are still priorities. If they don’t, it’s okay. We will often be forced to stand alone and be mocked as Bible thumpers or Jesus freaks. Saying you are a Christian is easy, but following Jesus is not. I want to encourage you to follow Jesus in everything. I pray this becomes a nationwide movement that will reconnect families to God and one another. When people ask why you are making decisions contrary to our culture's flow, you can tell them, “Jesus first.”