Foundations for Our Future (54)
by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Many a household is filled these days with the sound of football rivalries, and seemingly non-stop games and commentary. For some it is almost an addiction, for others just good fun, yet for not a few want to scream “stop.” Of course to true fans that last idea is insane. The non-fan has a different definition of insanity.

There is nothing wrong with sports being “good clean fun,” as folks used to say when I was a boy. Then came television, and soon after that cable and satellite broadcasting. My late father was a pioneer in those last two businesses, so I know them well. Sports became big business, and amateur athletics was forever changed.

Here we are on the ninth day of Christmas, and if I am not careful I will sound like a scold. I do not want to be. I love Army beating Navy. But I do want to ask a question of my brothers (and some sisters too) about where our deepest passions are? Why can we scream and holler (me too) at a football or basketball game, but be like stick figures when we attend worship? Is worship that dull? At the beginning grown men fell before Jesus and worshipped him. (Matthew 2:11) Shepherds, who were tough men, went back to work “glorifying and praising God.” (Luke 2:20)

What if this year we asked God to give us an even greater passion for him and his truth, than we exhibit for sports? Do we have enough faith?