I have served as a minister for over 50 years, and I recently encountered a situation that had never happened to me. Two weeks ago, I participated in the “Celebration of Life” funeral service for my friend Tom Childress. Tom grew up in Henderson, Kentucky, and had been a lifelong University of Kentucky Wildcat fan. Tom was such an avid UK fan that even when Tom’s granddaughter asked him to come to a University of Louisville game to watch her perform at halftime and to wear a U of L shirt in support, he could hardly bring himself to do it! U of L is the hated archrival of UK, so Tom decided to wear a UK tee shirt under the Cardinal shirt just so the U of L shirt wouldn’t touch his skin. That is super-fan commitment!
As many of you know, I have been an avid University of Louisville Cardinals fan since I first moved here in 1966. So, when the Cards were defeated by the Cats in the recent annual rivalry football game, I could not help but feel disappointed. While I strive not to let sports impact my mood, that loss really hurt. However, the next day came, the sun shined, and by the afternoon, I had put the loss behind me.
Or so I thought.
That evening was the “Celebration of Life” service for Tom. During the service, Tom’s daughter Cara, also a pastor’s wife, publicly expressed her appreciation for her dad’s influence. She then humorously added, “Of course, you know Dad was a big UK fan, so he would really have enjoyed UK’s BIG win over Louisville yesterday! And all of you know the pastor here is a big U of L fan, so we are going to play this next song just for him!” Suddenly, the UK fight song came blaring over the PA system. All the rabid Wildcat fans began to clap in unison, laugh, and gloat. At a funeral! In the church chapel! I was in agony. No one had warned me – not even my friend FORMER friend Bobby Bowman who was in charge of sound for the service (and is also a UK fan).
Of course, I am good friends with the Childress family, so it was all in good fun. That experience served as a reminder that sports can be a fun diversion. It is healthy to have meaningful hobbies that serve as temporary diversions from our daily routines, and for many of us, sports provide this. However, the danger lies in letting any diversion become an obsession and, in a real sense, a god. It can dominate our conversation, consume our thoughts, drain our resources, and dictate our mood. If a sports loss leaves you depressed for days or threatens your friendships, then sports has become your false god. When this happens, you violate the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
I recently saw a video depicting a Florida State fan who, upon learning that the 13-0 Seminoles had been left out of the FBS playoffs, stormed out of a worship service in frustration. I once officiated a wedding ceremony that was delayed for 30 minutes because the annual UK-U of L basketball game went into overtime, and the groomsmen refused to stop watching the game on TV in the waiting room. Pastors in college towns have reported declines of more than 10% in church attendance if the local team loses on Saturday night. Some have even watched a basketball game on their iPads during their child’s Christmas play. And I know of some churches in Kentucky that have changed the time of their regular scheduled service because it conflicted with an NCAA tournament game. Our emphasis on sports can easily get out of proportion!
As followers of Christ, let’s remember where our real hope lies. 1 Peter 1:3 reads, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
Our ultimate hope must be based solely on Jesus Christ. All other hopes, including our favorite athletic teams, are dying hopes. Only Jesus provides us with a living hope “…that can never perish, spoil, or fade kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). Jesus alone is to be worshipped and praised. One hundred years from now, the athletic contests that seem so important won’t matter because “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).
If our primary interest in life is sports, then we are like the foolish man whom Jesus describes as having built his house on the sand. One day, a storm will come and whisk it away, and the foolish man will be left with nothing.
The old hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” summarizes this lesson well:
“On Christ the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.”
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
