Romans 1:28-32: And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

These are the culminating words of the first chapter of Romans. In them, Paul shares with us the impact that idolatry has on the heart and soul of a person. He also lays out for us the outcomes of the sphere of the flesh that seeks to conform us.

Previously I suggested the following ways to determine an idol: “There are a few simple ways. One it is where we invest our time, energy, and talents. Two is where we spend our money. Three is the outcome that the idol produces.” With this in mind I am going to point to another of the great idols of American culture: SPORTS!

American culture is positively obsessed with sports, football, in particular. I am as guilty as anyone and often have to check in on myself with the Holy Spirit. Every Saturday of the College Football season I wear something with the Texas A&M logo on it and I pay close attention to the outcomes of those games. This year I had the opportunity to attend the first game between TAMU (my alma mater) and The University of Texas in over a decade. This was a huge deal in my home state. Such a big deal that I seriously considered whether I might quit my job if my boss had not approved my request for the day off!

Sports has not always been an idol in America. All of our professional sports leagues were once smaller and college sports more regional and of interest primarily to alumni. But idolatry corrupts slowly. The historian in me would say that what changed was the rise of television and income inequality. Television provided more exposure and profits through licensing agreements and media rights. As income inequality rose, the promise of wealth and scholarships through sports led thousands of parents to invest more time and money into helping their children develop into top-tier athletes.

Not all of this is a bad thing. Children being involved in youth sports teaches many good life lessons if done right. It also keeps them from mischief and danger. I know many parents that choose to program every moment of the day for their children to avoid the child ever being in danger or left with idle time for drugs and sex. There are many wonderful stories of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who have achieved many great things through sports. Idols in modern culture can be quite tricky to recognize because they are not typically giant statues made from ivory and wood that people are worshipping.

Make no mistake, sports can become an idol. In my first pastorate, I had a conversation with a dad of three children. At the time, they would miss worship fairly regularly because they were in a travel baseball league for their son. They attended tournaments all over Texas and neighboring states. This was true for a lot of parents. The Dad asked me if I thought it was wrong that they were not in worship as often. As a pastor you learn that people often ask you questions about things they already feel guilty about in hopes that you will exonerate them. I said it was really about choices. I also asked if they ever attended worship in the town that the tournament was held in. He said they did not and asked me what I meant about choices. I said as parents where we put the emphasis and the energy communicates to our children what is valued and important. Whatever we choose it will be shaping ourselves and our children for good and for ill. Sports being emphasized will hopefully develop the tenets of sportsmanship, tenacity, and teamwork. What it will not do is teach them about a Creator for whom they should be grateful toward nor a savior that loves them. Choices.

Soccer was the first youth sport in America that invaded Sunday mornings for practices. This was a pragmatic decision because that was the day that practice fields were available to them. The parents and youth involved though were the ones who had to decide if Sunday morning worship was more important or not. When the NFL first began televising games the noon kick-off was deliberately scheduled to allow for those on the east coast to attend church before the game. Sixty years later the NFL broadcasts 3 games a year on Sunday mornings because they are played in Europe. Again, the airtime is pragmatic in nature for that is the time, in the USA, that the game is being played at the “normal time” in Europe. The decision as to skipping church to watch football is not pragmatic at all. It is a matter of devotion and allegiance.

If how we use our time is a measure of a potential idol, then sports certainly qualifies. In 2017, there were 134000 hours devoted to broadcasting sports in the USA. The equivalent of 15.29 years!

70% of that time was devoted to NFL broadcasts. Full Disclosure there is an NFL game on my television as I type this. This is not to say that we shouldn’t watch sports, rather as Christians we should be mindful of the time we spent on watching sports versus the time we spend worshipping God, loving our neighbors, and devoting ourselves to prayer, etc.

Money spent is another measure. No matter how we look at it the money is huge. This week a professional baseball player signed the largest sports contract in history at $765 million over fifteen years. Pundits predict that the player, Soto, will be solely a designated hitter for the last 10 years of his 15-year agreement meaning he will be paid tens of millions to do nothing except hit a little white ball. Professional sports in the USA resulted in $14.3 billion dollars in salaries for all involved in 2023. Global professional sports revenue in 2028 is estimated to be $680 billion. New NFL stadiums are billion-dollar buildings. The most recently constructed one is SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. It is the 4th most expensive building ever constructed. The list of the 30 most expensive buildings in the world is dominated by casinos, which brings us to gambling.

Professional sports leagues in the United States have all partnered in the past few years with sports betting. Broadcasts include tips on bets to make. Young people in the United States are learning about betting lines, over /under, and parlays. Gambling, when it becomes an addictive vice, is particularly pernicious. It is one of the few vices that can literally take everything a person has in a single day and now all of our professional sports outlets (not to mention their media partners) not only support gambling but actively encourage it.

While gambling is not specifically listed in Paul’s list of the vices that idolatry promotes (I have no idea if there was a Latin word for bookie in Ancient Rome) it certainly can be a vehicle for wickedness, greed, malice, and inventing evil.

Paul culminates that list with the damning phrase “not only do they do these things they give hearty approval to those who do.” Along with sports-betting, here is where we see examples of the outcomes the idol produces. In my lifetime the greatest NFL QB of all time is known to have cheated at the sport. We learned that one of the great College Football coaches of all time knowingly kept an assistant in his employ for years who molested young men. In both instances winning was more important than integrity. There are many other examples of wickedness across sports from gymnastics to basketball to soccer. When sport becomes an idol, it makes winning a virtue rather than an outcome.

What are we to do with all of this? Sports, like politics in the previous post about idols. can be a good thing. There are many virtues to sports and they play an important role in our lives. Politics, particularly, in democratic and republican (or democratic republics like the USA) forms of government provide a good means of distributing power and providing for the general welfare of their citizens. At the same time, politics and sports can become idolatrous and prevent the development of the fruit of the Spirit in the Christian. They can disfigure the individual Christian and produce in us attitudes and allegiances that run counter to our calling as Christ followers.

In modern culture, idols are not often foreign gods but forces in our cultures and societies that can corrupt believers. This is not really different from the idols we see in the Biblical times. The foreign gods that first the Israelites and early Christians faced were not actual gods rather they were representations of cultural forces that threaten fealty to the one true God. They demanded acquiescence to cultural norms that encouraged behavior inconsistent with the call to love YHWH with all your heart, soul, and strength; and, to love your neighbor as yourself. We have seen how sports can distract the believer from time spent in worship. Sports can also encourage an attitude that winning is the only thing that matters even to the point of accepting and encouraging the odious behavior of those who are the best at the sport. Sports increasingly encourages the vice of gambling as well with all of its potential destructive force on individuals and families.

The message of Romans is that there are forces at work in the world (the sphere of the flesh) that seek to conform us to their version of reality. These forces seek to train our souls to accept the supposed virtues of the world and divert us from depending on the Creator. Conversely, those who are alive in Christ are to be shaped by the ever-transformative work of the Spirit and the rule of Christ in our hearts (the sphere of the spirit). Therefore, it is incumbent on the Christian to constantly be checking on our beliefs and how we got them. We must ensure that we are spending adequate time to allow the practice of the faith to shape and mold us. We do this through the rhythms of prayer, worship, and scripture study. We do this through the willful and counter cultural striving to love our neighbor. We are to practice forgiveness and mercy. We are to care for the poor and the stranger in our midst. Later in Romans, we will look at the practical aspects of this Spirit life. The first step though is for us to be honest about the idolatrous forces at work in our world and through prayer discerning the hold they may have on our hearts and minds.

Blessings to you in your journey. Vaya con Dios!

As always, the above is freely given, and all are welcome to use it. If you do it would be nice if you mentioned where you got it. Finally, if you know someone who might benefit from reading these posts please share the URL or email with them.