Collideoscope

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Here's an interesting article by Mark Galli, called The Prodigal Sports Fan, for us sports fans who sometimes find it hard to keep our priorities straight.

It is mighty difficult to tell if sports—or knitting or cooking or gardening or fishing—has begun to replace one's love for Jesus Christ. This requires patient spiritual discernment, which in turn requires the Christian community—either a small group, an accountability friendship, or a spiritual director. It also requires fierce honesty with oneself.

It is impossible, given the saturation of sports in this culture and the weakness of human nature, for the Christian sports fan to keep his loyalties straight day in and day out. The sports god is an enticing deity: he offers splendid moments of transcendence while never demanding that we take up our cross, forgive our enemies, or serve the poor. No wonder that we sometimes spend too much time with this benign god.

But if we've met the true God, we'll eventually be disappointed by this idol. In the end, a god who makes no demands is a god who doesn't love. He only wants to use us, not mature us into the image of Christ. So, we prodigal sports fans will find ourselves returning to the Father time and again, seeking forgiveness for falling for the promise of transcendence without holiness. And our gracious Father, true to his word, will embrace us and throw us a party, where there will be chips and dip, and joyful conversation, and even some friendly banter about who is going to win the World Series this fall.