I sat there as a scrawny 7th grader holding my breathe as my soccer coach announced the most valuable player on the team…would it be me?
No…that year I received the “Hustle” award. Basically, I tried really hard, but wasn’t the best.
Even though the Jr. High soccer team I played for did not really matter to many…it mattered a lot to me. I tried hard and worked hard to gain athletic success through soccer. In high school, it meant playing club soccer in the spring, swimming for my school in the winter to stay in shape for soccer, swimming for a club in the summer to stay in shape for soccer, and playing school soccer in the fall…it was a year round process.
Enjoying Soccer as a gift from God…There was a part of me that loved (and still loves) to play the game of soccer. The joy of competition and working with a team is a gift from God and is used by God to build character and teach life-lessons.
Turning Sports into an Idol…However, there as another part of me that had turned soccer into an idol. It began to consume my thinking, my planning, and even my closet…all of my t-shirt had something to do with soccer. I’m ashamed to say this, but I even got a specialized license plate that said “Socer2″ on it (Socer1 and Hattrik were taken!). I gave soccer a place in my thinking, in my dreams, and in my schedule that revealed what I worshiped.
My Deep Idol…The game of soccer was not really what I was bowing down to. Instead, Soccer was a way for me to gain approval from others for achieving success. I thought if I gained that approval I would be happy. I beamed with joy when I found out I made the Varsity soccer team as a freshman and loved game days, when we would wear our warm-ups to school…I loved that people knew I was on the team.
Enjoying sports…When I made soccer into an idol, I didn’t enjoy it as much. I was constantly striving for success…to make the best team, to be the best, to impress coaches…and it was never enough, I always needed more. Instead of enjoying it, it began to own me like it was my master. It wasn’t until God became my source of joy that I actually began to enjoy soccer again and not be in despair if I wasn’t the best.
How do you think through this?
How do you make sure a sport has not become an idol?
What are some possible signs that a sport has become your idol?
What may be a Biblical principle that helps you think through whether or not you should skip Sundays or Tuesdays for sports?
What are other “deep” or “core” idols that people try to gain through sports? (my example was trying to gain approval from people for succeeding)
#1 by Sydney on March 9, 2010 - 1:46 am
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Basically, what it all comes down to is that God must want you in that place, with your team, to work for His mission. So it’s okay to miss church on Tuesdays or Sundays if God has called you somewhere else, but you need to have a good attitude about it both ways otherwise going to church or going to your sports event could become an idol.
I completely understand being bummed, even frustrated, that you have to miss church for another commitment you have, but then where is your heart? It’s obviously not in the Lord at this time, because then you would realize that He wanted you somewhere else, He needed you somewhere else. You shouldn’t be upset about missing church then, and realize the blessing you have received in God’s calling to be a light to your team.
Going to church isn’t necessary to be a Christian. Yes, it helps you grow because you learn about your God and you build fellowship and praise the Lord in this time, but you don’t have to be at church to do all that. And God must think that you can do all these things better while playing your sport, otherwise He wouldn’t have you there.
You also need to make sure you remember that it’s because of Him that you’re there; otherwise your sport will become an idol. You may start to take pride in how well you perform and forget the reason for being there.
This is something that’s hard to do, it’s a constant heart check and making sure you’re doing the best you can to carry out His mission, but He knows you can handle it. After all, He’s the one giving you the strength to do it.
#2 by Jonny Pickett on March 9, 2010 - 5:56 am
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I’m not one for long theological comments, so here it goes:
I have literally lived my sports life by the rule I had in T-ball, Coach Guy would say, Whats the number one rule? and we would go HAVE FUN! haha. By following this rule through the years I’ve realized sports just aren’t worth missing time with God, theyre only for fun. In reality, it actually appalls me that someone would miss youth for someone like homework, sports etc. What goes through my mind is: This is someone’s relationship with the God who created the universe, you and everything theyve ever known and you’re missing out on it to play with a ball for a few hours :/ Of course there are exceptions like being there for outreach or something of the sort but besides that it really disappoints me.
#3 by Rebecca Oliver on March 10, 2010 - 12:15 am
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America, and especially Southern California, has made a HUGE idol out of sports. We project hope and happiness on them. For some, it’s become the center of their universe and has given “purpose” to their lives. Even those who wouldn’t say that sports is an idol for them get too worked up during sports events. They (I’m including myself in this, sadly…
) begin to yell at referees who make awful calls, become stressed when their favorite teams are doing poorly, and often become irritable when they lose. I think its easy to make sports an idol because we project our hope for success in this life on the skilled players who are involved in the sport. When they succeed, we succeed, and when they fail, we fail. I may be totally off on this, but that would be my take on this whole thing. And by the way, great topic, Ken! 
#4 by Colin Cordill on March 11, 2010 - 5:55 am
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Sydeny basically took the words STRAIGHT outta my mouth….lol as a committed sports player i do haveta miss church sometimes and it sucks!!!! but then i use that time to glorify him and try to be a witness to the team mates around me
#5 by Sarah Rodriguez on March 16, 2010 - 1:36 am
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1 Corinthians 9:25.