Monday, January 30, 2012
273 - No Contest for Real God
Spirituality Column #273
January 31, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)
No Contest for Real God
By Bob Walters
How ironic it is that while much of our culture is quick to deify athletes, large swaths of our culture want nothing to do with God.
Not really.
Not the actual REAL God, the one who created things for His own glory, who created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27), who reconciles all things back to His Holy name through the saving grace of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18). The God whose love, mercy, judgment and eternity are all promised in the Bible.
Let’s not confuse worshipping THAT God with the much more comfortable folk-hero worship of athletic deeds, heroic honors, won-loss records (heavy on the “won”), and glowing championships through which we experience immense but untoward and vicarious pride. That’s the god we want; we can control that god. We can buy a jersey or a game ticket. We can cheer or jeer. That athlete god has no hold on us; we are free to go worship elsewhere whenever we get bored or find a better god.
Sports are fun, no doubt. Athletic contests – when we participate in them – reveal great truths to us about our physical skills, mental perseverance, and endurance. I worked in and around college and pro sports for a large portion of my career – with enormous enjoyment and satisfaction – as a sportswriter and sports publicist. Been there, done that, had an all-access pass.
But here’s another holy irony. While there are exceptions, most athletes I’ve been around are quick to point out they are not God, or even gods. Athletes work hard, respect their abilities and those of their opponents. Athletes know that a locker room, a basketball court, a football field, a race track, a whatever, constitute an eventually equalizing and humbling human arena that, win or lose, enforces the earthly limitations – the non-Godly impermanence – of one’s physical, mental, and athletic capabilities.
That’s the inside truth of sports – limitations. When we deify an athlete, we are accepting limits because we are able to define what we expect that god to be. When we are disappointed, it’s real easy to swap gods.
When we accept the inside truth of God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth and all things seen and unseen, then we have a God we can’t control. We have a God so big He gives us the freedom to find Him in faith and to worship Him with endurance and assurance.
Don’t worship a limited god we make; worship the unlimited God that made us.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com, www.commonchristianity.blogspot.com) figures more folks would love Tim Tebow unconditionally if all they knew about him was his humanity. His Christian faith is truly annoying (frightening?) because it’s about God, not the fans.
January 31, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)
No Contest for Real God
By Bob Walters
How ironic it is that while much of our culture is quick to deify athletes, large swaths of our culture want nothing to do with God.
Not really.
Not the actual REAL God, the one who created things for His own glory, who created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27), who reconciles all things back to His Holy name through the saving grace of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18). The God whose love, mercy, judgment and eternity are all promised in the Bible.
Let’s not confuse worshipping THAT God with the much more comfortable folk-hero worship of athletic deeds, heroic honors, won-loss records (heavy on the “won”), and glowing championships through which we experience immense but untoward and vicarious pride. That’s the god we want; we can control that god. We can buy a jersey or a game ticket. We can cheer or jeer. That athlete god has no hold on us; we are free to go worship elsewhere whenever we get bored or find a better god.
Sports are fun, no doubt. Athletic contests – when we participate in them – reveal great truths to us about our physical skills, mental perseverance, and endurance. I worked in and around college and pro sports for a large portion of my career – with enormous enjoyment and satisfaction – as a sportswriter and sports publicist. Been there, done that, had an all-access pass.
But here’s another holy irony. While there are exceptions, most athletes I’ve been around are quick to point out they are not God, or even gods. Athletes work hard, respect their abilities and those of their opponents. Athletes know that a locker room, a basketball court, a football field, a race track, a whatever, constitute an eventually equalizing and humbling human arena that, win or lose, enforces the earthly limitations – the non-Godly impermanence – of one’s physical, mental, and athletic capabilities.
That’s the inside truth of sports – limitations. When we deify an athlete, we are accepting limits because we are able to define what we expect that god to be. When we are disappointed, it’s real easy to swap gods.
When we accept the inside truth of God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth and all things seen and unseen, then we have a God we can’t control. We have a God so big He gives us the freedom to find Him in faith and to worship Him with endurance and assurance.
Don’t worship a limited god we make; worship the unlimited God that made us.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com, www.commonchristianity.blogspot.com) figures more folks would love Tim Tebow unconditionally if all they knew about him was his humanity. His Christian faith is truly annoying (frightening?) because it’s about God, not the fans.
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