Are You Idolizing Sports Above Jesus Christ?

Do You Idolize Sports Above God?

Sports are a major factor in many societies across the world with many people especially men watching sports daily. It is quite common for a lot of people to discuss when the next game is coming on and even for people to place bets on which team will win, especially during the championships. However, many people fail to realize that they have made sports their idol God without even realizing.

You must understand that there is nothing wrong or sinful about watching sports but spending all your time on sports instead of God is where idolatry comes in. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Many people fail to realize this scripture is a reality that we must all pay attention to as it is one of God’s 10 commandments.

Many people when they read this scripture might believe that only worshipping another God or being apart of another religion falls in line with idolatry. However, the true definition of idolatry is putting anything above God. This can be your kids, spouse, friends, materialistic possessions, and sports.

Many people put sports and their respective leagues such as the NBA and NFL above Jesus Christ. It sometimes used to baffle me when I would hear people especially men who can memorize athletes and their stats. They can tell you how many points, assists, rebounds the average NBA player is averaging per game but can they tell you about their spiritual walk with Jesus Christ.

Let us face the reality in the fact that keeping up with sports and memorizing an athlete’s stats is not benefiting the average person’s life. Many people idolize sports but is there life fully in order? Are you exceling in your dreams? Are you satisfied with your career? These are some questions that people should consider.

Memorizing another athlete’s statistics is not doing any justice to your life or helping you to get further. I have seen arguments and fights break out especially with men often arguing over which player is better, which team will win the championship this season etc. They are fighting over sports while the athletes are rich making millions and these men arguing are working regular jobs often that they do not enjoy.

Imagine fighting over athletes and arguing over which NBA player or NFL player is the best when they do not even know that you exist. Imagine a person arguing over if LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the best basketball player alive when both men do not even know who this person is. This is why it is essential that we live in this world as followers of God, but we are not of this world.

The world follows trends and idolizes athletes while failing to worship the Most High God. They can tell you everything about an athlete and their performance than they can about God. They even can quote an athlete in game statistics but what about keeping up with their own personal life statistics such as following God, having the right friends, or making the right choices.

When you learn the reality of this truth, you realize that sports idolatry does not even make sense. People fight over sports while the athletes get richer from people watching sports on TV, buying tickets, and buying merchandise. In the end, the athletes win and make money while the fans are left being fans with no personal connection to these sports stars.

Now ask yourself this question: If something bad happened to you such as a car accident God forbid, would these athletes or celebrities overall reach out to you? If we are being honest, the answer 99.9% of the time would be no. People around the world get excited and idolize athletes while on many occasions, these athletes mainly care about themselves and their inner circle.

Your life and what your going through is not even on their mind or their focus. There are millions of people around the world with athletes on their phone wallpaper, bedroom posters, backpacks and some fans even paint their favorite sports team on their body when going to the game. Now these scenarios help illustrate how prevalent sports idolatry is in society amongst many people.

Let us factor in how this makes God feel who is the creator of everything. Let us dive into this from God’s perspective. Imagine creating humans and they worship the created over the creator. A person would rather look up to an athlete than God who wakes them up every day and God allows them to have jobs, food, clothes, houses etc.

God allows you to have breath in your body and has kept many of us alive even in situations where we sinned against God. ^“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2^nd Peter 3:9).

God even loved us to the point that God the Father sent God the Son who volunteered and died for our sins to have eternal life. God loved us so much that he did not want us to perish and go to hell and burn in the Lake of Fire forever. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus Christ died so that we can be free from sin and to allow us as human beings to be able to enter heaven after we die. Now ask yourself this question: Would your favorite sports team or athlete die for you if they knew you were in trouble and needed help?

We can confidently say no to this question and now see why idolatry is such a dangerous sin to be in. God has been so good to us and for us to neglect God or put anything above Jesus Christ is unexplainable. Idolatry is a sin that is often not discussed even in church, but it is a dangerous sin that will lead many into eternal fire.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Let us not fall away or turn from the Most High God who has done everything for us even dying for our sins. Jesus Christ who is God in flesh came to earth, was persecuted, beat up, and hanged on a cross in pain just so we as people would not have to face eternal fire. If this does not explain how much God loves us, then I do not know what will.

Jesus Christ deserves all the praises and let us worship him and not put sports or anything above him. There is a classic phrase used by those who play basketball competitively that “ball is life.” However, let me rephrase that and let us now state that Jesus Christ is life.

Let us honor Jesus Christ and put him first in our lives as we will give an account for everything including what we put as first place in our lives. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2^nd Corinthians 5:10).

Athletes are just people just like you and me with the only difference being that they are famous and rich. However, they still eat, drink, and feel emotions just like us as regular people. Further, highlighting the reality of idolizing athletes as being a funny idea.

Once it is finished, everything on this earth will pass away including sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and other sports organizations. Every athlete and those inside these sports organizations will have to face God just like me and you. On Judgment Day, there fame cannot help them, only a relationship with Jesus Christ can.

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).

This is why sports idolatry can be dangerous as you may not be aware of how your favorite athlete lives there life when the cameras are off. Imagine trying to emulate a certain athlete who might not even make it to heaven and be rejected by Jesus Christ on Judgment Day. Thus, the only person that we should emulate and look up to is Jesus Christ.

People can always disappoint us or turn against us, but God will be with us if we stay in his will and live for Jesus Christ. The time is running short as each day is showing how close we are to Jesus Christ returning to earth. Now is not the time for distractions as the second coming of Jesus Christ is at the door.

The enemy loves when people are distracted and sports is one of his main ways to keep people especially men’s minds off God. Let us not live for this temporary world as Jesus Christ is returning to judge every man according to their deeds. What we spend mot of our time doing and what we worship the most will play a part when God judges us.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not love this world as our love is in God. We worship God alone and no one else. Let us idolize Jesus Christ and put nothing above our Father in heaven. God bless.