Super Sunday

by Dave Wilkinson

Romans 12:1-2

January 27, 2003

In each and every age in its long history the church has been faced with the challenge of other religions. Sometimes these have been rival missionary religions such as the Muslims, or the Mithrics of the late Roman empire. At other times, these have been the nature-oriented religions of an area the church was penetrating with the gospel -- such as Britain back in the days when many of my ancestors dressed in white robes and worshiped oak trees.

The response of the church to a direct challenge has always been strong. We have reaffirmed our faith and remained constant even in the face of terrible persecution. The times of greatest struggle have been the times of greatest growth. As one writer observed: “Christians are like tea-bags. You don’t know what they’re made of until they get in hot water.”

Strangely enough, the times when the church has faced its greatest danger have been the times of peace rather than the times of struggle...the times when it was easy to bend -- even at the risk of perverting the gospel -- in order to make everyone feel comfortable with the church.

It was out of this tendency that we adopted such pagan customs as the worship of trees at Christmas (while turning it into a Christian symbol of the resurrection -- evergreen in the midst of the cold). It was also out of this tendency that the Roman Catholic Church arrived at the strong veneration of Mary. Many of the pagan tribes that were being evangelized were used to the idea of a strong female figure in their religion...an earth mother or Astarte -- and the elevation of the Virgin met that need. It is also possible to make the case that this tendency toward accommodation had also brought the tacit support of the church to materialism and militarism in our own time.

In the face of all this, Paul says these words to the church: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In just two weeks I will begin teaching Sunday morning adult series on “Christianity and the Cults”. During this class we will look at a number of the more that 800 different cultic groups and sects in the church today...the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Christian Scientists and all the rest.

In setting up this class, I made a huge mistake. We will look at many interesting and influential groups. But we will not look at the most influential cult of all -- a group which influences our way of thinking as a nation and which attracts millions of worshipers each Sunday. I am speaking, of course, of football.

Is football a cult? Well, not really; at least not in the legal sense. To be considered a cult a group must masquerade as orthodox Christianity and football doesn’t do this -- with the occasional, possible exception of the Dallas Cowboys. And yet, there are very strong religious overtones to football -- both in the emotions it draws forth and in the lessons it teaches.

Consider first the rituals of football -- those things which arouse our emotions. The most obvious aspect of football is ritual. The game is carried out with a pageantry which is far more complex than that of Christian worship -- introduction of principals, music, dancers, mascots --and what every liturgist desires --participation by the faithful with joyful acclamations, rhythmic clapping and traditional chants. There are sacred days (opening day and today, Superbowl Sunday), canonized heros (Jim Thorpe, Bart Starr, Norm Van Brocklin, Joe Montana), and shrines like the Hall of Fame. There are miracles like the 49ers comeback win over the Giants earlier this month that happen just often enough to keep the congregants expectant for more.

Football certainly possesses the two most common characteristics of the mystery religions of the ancient world -- carnage and cleavage.

The mystery religions involved a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil in which the worshiper enjoyed vicarious participation. The future of the whole universe was considered at stake in this cosmic struggle.

If you don’t believe that the same element is present in football just listen to an ardent Denver fan sometime. A game ceases to be a contest between hired athletes from Notre Dame, Ohio State and U.S.C. It becomes an event in which the gods do battle on the field while we lend strength through our adulation from the stands. The question at stake is not: “Which city has the superior group of hired athletes?” but which city, which region, which way of life is better? It gets even worse on the college level where the prestige of entire states such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska rests on the performance of a group of young men who often don’t even come from the states they represent on the football field.

The other element in the mystery religions was the participation of the so-called temple prostitutes or “vestal virgins”. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here, but suffice it to say that this element added a whole new dimension to whet the appetite of the male participants in the cult.

And is it any different now? All during the game the sideline cameraman scans the grandstands for suitable female subjects. When one is found her face is flashed to millions of viewers. What that has to do with football I don’t know. The televised ads seek to sell beer with sex. And then there are the professionals; the Embraceable Ewes of the Rams, the Raiderettes, the Buffalo Jills, Denver’s Pony Express, the Seattle Seagals, and, above all, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

Carnage and cleavage -- for a popular religion the recipe is the same now as then. As CBS sports producer Chuck Milton explained, “The audience deserves a little sex with its violence.”

James T. Barber, Associate Professor of History at Western Kentucky University writes in the “The Christian Century”:

“For years now, certain sages have been calling football “America’s newest indigenous religion”; and the more I watch it, the more I tend to agree. It certainly has all the trappings of a cult: colored banners, armies of good and evil, frantic supporters, even its own mini-skirted vestal virgins to fan the flames. For those who play, it is an educational act, an immersion in truth. For the rest of us, who are too small or too clumsy or too old to play and have to watch from the stands or before television screens, it is not unlike a Latin High Mass performed by professionals for the edification and instruction of those deemed unworthy to participate personally.”

Football’s position in our society can be roughly compared to the position of the Roman games in the time of the spread of the Gospel. The dream of the young American man reared in the religion of the gridiron is not very different than that of the young Roman legionnaire. He believes that sacrifice and specialized daring lead to wealth and glory. He works for wealth and honor, the spoils of war.

And this similarity gives us an insight into one way the church may respond to the popularity of football. For just as Paul used the Roman games as an analogy to explain the gospel to his age, the church today can use football as a means of communicating the gospel to modern people.

There is a danger here of course. If people come to identify the two together too much, they might model their concept of an all-knowing God after an all-knowing Terry Bradshaw. That could be disastrous for their further Christian growth. The other danger is that over-reliance on the football analogy could rapidly turn off many women in the congregations. I have heard one woman give as an argument for women ministers the fact that a woman minister would not be as likely to tell her congregation that “Jesus is the quarterback and we should let Him call the plays.” I felt free to talk about this today only because 125 of our women are away at their retreat.

Still, the analogy does have great possibilities for communicating the gospel to the popular mind of our day. The trouble is that it hasn’t been done very effectively.

One prominent Christian leader made the attempt when he spoke to the Baptist World Congress back in 1965. He explained in great detail that just as a defensive player must get past a certain blocker to get the quarterback, so must every person go through Jesus Christ go get to God. That makes very little sense unless Jesus is a barrier to be jumped or knocked down and God is an opponent to be sacked.

The football players aren’t much help either. One of them tells us: “God is a great General Manager. Jesus is a terrific coach. Life is a terrifically great game if you’re playing for those two. It’s OK to gamble of fourth and one but don’t gamble with your soul.”

The pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma designed his football theology along these lines:

A “draft choice” is the selection of a pew, near to or away from the air conditioning vents.

“In the pocket” is where too many Christians keep their tithes.

A “fumble” is a lousy sermon.

And a “two-minute warning” is a deacon in the front row taking a peek at his watch in full view of the pastor.

It’s interesting but not exactly the stuff designed to meet the deepest needs of human life.

George F. Will, writing in “Newsweek”, states that Football combines the two worst features of American life -- violence and committee meetings. He states his belief that the football season is a punishment set by God. I would certainly not go that far. Football is an enjoyable game. I like it.

The problem is when we let football, or anything else in life, teach us, without us paying attention to what it is teaching us. It is when this happens that we need the words of the Apostle Paul: “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What does football teach us that is contrary to what the word of God sets down as the good, the acceptable and the perfect?

Football glorifies winning. To quote one popular coach, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing!” Another famous college coach told his players, “Losing is worse than death because when you’re dead, you don’t have to face yourself in the morning.”

Football glorifies winning -- being number 1. But Jesus said, “The one who would be first among you must become the servant of all.”

The Cherokee Indians called their version of lacrosse “the little brother of war.” Football fills the same role today. Football glorifies violence. And, as Proverbs 11:16 declares, “The violent man attains riches.” But Jesus calls us to peace.

Football glorifies the young and healthy -- the doctrine being that by the age of thirty any young man, given lots of hard work and a little luck, can be both rich and crippled for life. But Jesus spent time with the lame, the ill, the helpless -- even if they had never played ball.

Does all this mean that football is bad? No. It’s a game. But it does indicate that, unless we are aware, it will subtly influence the way we view life. In the words of historian James Baker, “For half a century now, football has been telling us who we are and what we will be. We made it and now it makes us.”

It may even influence the way we view the Lord.

Those who are subconsciously taught by football to view life as a “win or else” proposition will see the Christian faith as being similar to that old ad where a balding middle- aged man without pads ran behind one pro team of beefy huskies through another equally beefy bunch to the security of an end zone free of financial worries. When trouble and persecution come, how will they handle it?

There is a tendency today among those raised in the winning tradition to interpret Jesus and the disciples as a first-century Coach of the Year and his all-pro players. When, suddenly these persons are confronted by the Jesus who was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, how will they handle it?

We must let Christianity shape our view of life and not let life shape our view of life or of Christianity -- or we are being conformed to the world.

And it’s not just football! How about the movies we go to, and the television shows we watch. What are they saying about life and what does Jesus say about what they are saying?

Another area is popular music. I am sure that each of us could listen to a rap station for five minutes and find several examples of ideas being presented that are contrary to the call of God for our lives. That’s almost too easy.

But it’s also true in other music. Take the semi-classic “I’m in the Mood for Love”. Listen to the words:

“I’m in the mood for love,

Simply because you’re near me.

Darling, whenever you’re near me,

I’m in the mood for love.”

That’s not a good example of self-control. And self-control is one of the fruits of God’ Spirit.

Or look at advertising. What is it teaching us? It is teaching us that happiness is to be found in “faster starting, brighter laundry, quicker relief, anti-perspirant power, fresher smoke, longer protection, shinier floors, crunchier goodness, springtime freshness, crispier chips, sexier lips, slimmer hips, and a smooth-riding trip.”

But Jesus said, “Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed, for a person’s life does not consist of possessions.”

In another place, Jesus asked (according to the Wilkinson paraphrase), “What will it profit a person to have whiter teeth and fresher breath but forfeit his soul?”

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds!”

A bunch of years ago I had the opportunity to go with a study group to the mission field in Guatemala. One of the things I saw there really ties in here.

In the Guatemalan highlands is a town called Chichicastenango which is populated by persons of almost pure Maya Indian blood. In the center of the city is the Catholic Church which, following the Spanish conquest, was built on the site of a destroyed temple to the Mayan gods. The people have accepted Jesus Christ as God because He is the God of the conquerors and therefore must be very powerful. Each Sunday morning they go into the church and burn incense and light candles at the altar. And then, following worship, they go outside to the steps of the church to burn incense and pray to the Mayan gods. They don’t want to miss any bets.

We may smile at this lack of theological understanding. But what is the real difference when we are taught by the ways of our culture and conformed to the ways of our society rather than conforming our culture to Christ and the way He calls us to live?

Today is Super Sunday. I fully intend to watch the game. I mean -- how about my Raiders.

But Sunday was “super” long before the National Football League came, and it will be “super” long after the National Football League is a footnote in obscure history books -- because Sunday is the Lord’s Day and the Lord is alive.