Sports and Sin

Even this morning, after nine hours of sleep and nearly 11 hours after an incredibly disappointing ending to the Wisconsin football game, I had to jump online to see what people were saying about the final hail mary play. Somehow, if some kind of national controversy had developed over night about the “indisputable” evidence that had overturned the final play, maybe it might take some of the bitterness away from the night before. But alas, nothing.

As much as it might have been therapeutic to write a rant last night about that final call, MSU was clearly the more disciplined team last night, and I’m not writing to vent or complain.

Quite the opposite. As much as sports have the ability to bring some sort of happiness, entertainment, and respite from a long and busy work week, they can also be a considerable source of stress and anxiety, and for me, they can even serve as an indicator at times of how incredibly messed up my heart is.

I don’t think you have to look very far to see evidence of this in American culture. Earlier this year, both sports websites and mainstream news outlets were reporting headlines of a baseball fan in San Francisco that had been brutally beaten by several other Dodgers fans. In 2007, there had been reports of men harassing women, throwing bottles at them, and even groping them at New York Jets games.

While sports certainly have the ability to evoke strong emotions, and large groups of people and alcohol often combine to make for dangerous situations, you can’t simply blame all of these events on sports. Something had been going on in these peoples’ lives and hearts long before they ever took the first swing, made their first harassing remark, or threw their first bottle.

But as with all sin, this can look much more subtle. For me it’s the sometimes hopeless, defeated feeling I get after a close loss, or the anger and frustration that sometimes rises to the surface after a bad call or poor performance by my favorite team. Somewhere, something went wrong, and what was meant to be enjoyable and entertaining at times becomes anything but a source of fun and entertainment.

Football is a good thing. Sports are a good thing. God created humans to be competitive, physical beings, so in some way, football and other sports exist that people may worship and glorify Him, whether by their play or enjoyment of life through sports. Things get a little bit more complicated when sports and how well our favorite team is doing dictates our mood and behavior.

Sports will at times inevitably lead to disappointment, even sadness. Our team can’t always win. I was created to experience both tremendous joy and deep sorrow, great accomplishment and disappointment, so is it okay that I experience some of those same emotions in the context of sporting events? Probably, but that doesn’t mean I’m proud of it.

Disappointment after my team’s loss is completely foolish and the result of the game is utterly meaningless in the scope of eternity. It’s then that I’m reminded of all the worthless things that I devote my affection and energy toward and how deep the rabbit hole of my sin goes.

If a last-second loss can have that drastic of an impact on my enjoyment of life in that moment, alarms should be going off all around me that my focus is not where it should be and perhaps, I need to let God do some work on my heart and let Him realign my passions with His.

But these moments also lead me back to the Gospel. Fortunately, I believe that because of the Cross and the empty tomb, there is much more life, love, and fulfillment to be found than what is available to me through sports.

And there is hope. Hope that my sinful heart and mind will one day be fully redeemed and made perfect, that I might love God and His people wholly and without distractions.

And praise the Lord, because, as much as I love the Badgers, it would be unfortunate if my fulfillment and happiness relied upon the performance of 19 and 20 year-old football players!

-CK