THE TRAGEDY OF SPORTS IDOLATRY IN AMERICA:

Dearly beloved, friends and fellow soldiers: Warm Christian Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Now I’d like to address a long over due topic found in our American culture, which is sports idolatry. In expressing my own personal and spiritual opinion here, I’d like to specifically address what I believe is God’s point of view on the way the entirety of our nation has clung to Sports in general as a focus of worship and allegiance. But a man might retort me and say that this is just a business, albeit entertainment, it’s just another form of a livelihood that men make their living on. And that would be a true statement if it could just stand alone without all the trappings that it has progressed into. The same man might argue that there are Christians in every sports field as well as fornicators, drunkards, drug users, homosexuals, women chasers, and ungodly and worldly men. But the Idolatry and the great sin that it has become to our nation is far deeper than just being a microcosm of a cross section of men in our society. It is how it’s marketed, and it is how the people have responded to it. To list just a few of the egregious failings and obvious sins of the American people in regard to sports idolatry, let me name just the big ones. If one would look upon it, as from a spiritual point of view, you could almost see the parallel of the church. The God of Heaven has His house of worship, His people, His ministers, His organizational activities, and the god of this world has his own. The people come into the stadium or arena and pay their (ticket) offerings and tithe at the door, they purchase intoxicating libations (the Joy of Holy Ghost-in church). They feast their eyes upon the beautiful bodies of female flesh and lust in their own hearts for them (keep in mind these women are the daughters of some father, and the wife of another man). Sports fans not only spend great sums of money to purchase the tickets and products of these teams, but millions of dollars in advertising money goes for the commercials that are run. And perhaps the most regretful failing or sin which occurs regarding sports idolatry, is the consumption of time. Men are at the sports bar or at each other's houses during sporting events, when they could be in church, praying or reading the Bible. They drink alcohol to excess, they cuss, they gamble, have women (sex with women), and it’s all connected to or surrounds every facet of almost every sport. Men have stopped going to church on Sundays and Wednesday, they have stopped praying and reading the bible in favor of watching their favorite sports team. And have you not noticed how the devil has placed one form or another of sports to go year round? Football from August to February, Hockey, Basketball and golf from October through June, and baseball and Nascar for the spring and summer months. And let’s not forget bowling, tennis and the Olympics. Just as in the church where you have a people, a building, an offering or tithe of money, a Joy and delight in the object of their affection (God, His Word and His Spirit), the sporting world has it’s own. It has a building or a playing surface, it has a ticket to get in, (an offering/tithe), it’s has the joy of alcohol and the flesh of women, the reward of victory (or like salvation in the church). That victory often brings a large sum of money, in which to reward the players, whereby they can obtain any lustful thing they want. Many of which in the NFL, NBA and Baseball have turned men’s heart towards drugs, women, and gambling. My point is, that Sports in America has grown from a simple form of entertainment and skill, into a plethora of sins ranging from sinful lusts of women, drunkenness, gambling, cussing, and the neglecting of God and His house. Is watching a game of any sport on TV or going out to the ballpark constitutes sin? That would be wrong to say, but what Sports has grown into, and the response from the American fans has reached the tipping point to God. Now after reading this, one might imagine that this is or was my own personal sin or error, and not to cast aspersions on others. But I will remind you, that if I have been caught up in this web, and it’s obvious by looking at TV or the sports pages, that the entirety of America has also. And speaking as a man of God trying to correct a great wrong, What I say is the truth, regardless if I was caught up in it or not, albeit, I did not do many of the things listed above, but I was guilty of wasting God’s time and other fleshly things. But again, a man might say that all sporting teams have such men who commit gross sins, but let me tell you my friends, viewing idolatry as an ignorant middle eastern or far east person praying to or bowing down in front of a wooden image with incense burning, is not the only form of idolatry, it goes far deeper than that. It is the occupying of the affections, the time and the adoration of a man’s heart away from God. God is a Jealous God, and He will not endorse the idols of this world to compete for His heart or love. Sports in its purest and original form, is innocent and produces no harm to those who use its enjoyment for extra curricular activity. But when it begins to usurp the time and affection and dedication of one's heart before God, it has become vain and sin. And yet, I can honestly say to anyone reading this, that if you have your priorities right with God, then going to the golf course, the tennis court, the ball game of any kind, is nothing more than fun and exercise. But to indulge yourself with the sinful ways sports has become, then you may want to reconsider whose property you are. Seek the Lord while He may be found, for in the days to come, after the Millennium, after the world is burned up and made anew, there will be no more remembrance of the things that were done here on this side of fire/the former earth.