When Do Sports (and Other Things) Become an Idol?
by Heather Koerner on 08/12/2008 at 4:41 PM
"What kind of idols do we have these days?" my husband, the awesome Sunday School teacher, asked our class this last Sunday.
"American," I quipped. Te-hee.
Comedy moment aside, we were studying Acts 17, which tells us that while Paul was in Athens, "his spirit was troubled within him when he saw that the city was full of idols." There aren't many statues of greek gods around my town. So what, we were trying to figure out, is an idol in our days?
Several answers came out. Work. Money. Power. Fame. The standard Sunday School stuff. But we realized that the question is a complicated one. Literally, in biblical times, an idol was something that people bowed down and worshiped. Literal idols, of course, still exist. But most of us think of idols today as something that we make more important than God.
So I was interested to see a recent blog by Brent Nelson titled "When Does Sport Become Idolatry?" Nelson asks a good question: How do we know when things become "idols" in our lives?
Here's one test Nelson recommends: "One of the ways we can identify idolatries is to ask, 'Where are the sacrifices made?'" For sport, he gives some examples of sacrifices that signal a problem: sacrificing health through drug use; sacrificing the well-being of families; sacrificing integrity; or pushing children to their limits and beyond to elicit performance.
In other words, when we are sacrificing things that the Lord has told us are good (our bodies, families, character and compassion), we're in dangerous territory. (You might enjoy listening to Olympian Eli Bremer talk about the balance in his life on our recent podcast.)
"Above all," Nelson writes, "the greatest sacrifice one can make to the idol of sport is the sacrifice of our soul."
Both, I think, are questions I can relate to my life. 1) Is there something in my life more important than God? 2) Am I sacrificing those things that God has told me to honor or do in order to have it?
I think I'd also add a third question: What does God's Word tell me about it? After all, there are certain things (e.g. power and money and fame) that the Bible warns us about pursuing. Then, there are certain things that Bible encourages us to pursue (e.g. marriage and family and service). While I suppose the second group could technically become an idol (though I have my doubts about how often that really happens), I should be much, much more concerned about the first.
Nelson ends his blog with a verse from 1 Thessalonians. "May it be said of you and me, 'you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.'" Amen!
1. Tammy said the following at 4:55 PM on Aug 12:
The second group can become an idol if you pursue them more than Jesus
"Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Exodus 34:14 NIV
"You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you." Exodus 34:14 NLT
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33-34
Those verses clearly show that God is first then eveything else, even your spouse, kids, and/or service.
2. Bertha said the following at 5:58 PM on Aug 12:
I think marriage, family, and service can certainly become idols. In fact, I think it's actually pretty easy to make an idol out of a significant other. I know a girl who used to talk about how perfect and wonderful her husband was and in fact in her "testimony" actually praised him more than she praised the Lord.
3. Heather Koerner said the following at 7:02 PM on Aug 12:
Tammy (#1): As I said in the post, of course group #2 can become an idol. I just think it's much, much less likely.
Since God commends marriage, family and service, we know we can pursue them with His blessing. And, in fact, when we do them, we find out that they involve a dying of the self which further builds our love and dependence on Him.
The first group, however, feeds our love of our ourselves and, thus, competes with our love of the Lord.
4. Leah said the following at 8:09 PM on Aug 12:
"While I suppose the second group could technically become an idol (though I have my doubts about how often that really happens)"
Actually, I think it happens a lot. Especially family. You accidentally hinted at it yourself- parents pushing kids beyond their 'limits' to achieve (not only in sport, but academia, music, drama, who knows what). While sacrificing certain things for family is good, there are times that it isn't. Like perhaps sacrificing time that should be spent in church or studying God's word for time spent with family who scorn such things.
5. dana111 said the following at 8:26 PM on Aug 12:
I agree with the comments above. Marriage and family can become idols if they are worshipped more by an individual or a church than Christ is. If my status as a woman of God is determined by my marital state or by how many children I have birthed, then I would be tempted to say that the institutional church has put a higher emphasis on those earthly things than my belief in Jesus Christ.
6. Tami said the following at 8:51 PM on Aug 12:
"Here's one test Nelson recommends: 'One of the ways we can identify idolatries is to ask, "Where are the sacrifices made?"'"
*** Excellent question. I admit I had never thought about it that way before, but it is indeed a good question about whether something has become an "idol" in my life.
7. Texas Craig said the following at 9:18 PM on Aug 12:
One way Jesus gives us for measuring when we have idols in our lives is set out in scripture: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
How much money are you spending on your recreational activities? If, at the end of the year, you add it up and it is more than you gave to the work of the Lord that year, then that should give you pause.
No matter how uncomfortable it may make us, the true measure of how much we value something is based upon how much of our resources we invest in it. Whether it is time, money, or other resources.
Far too many Christians invest more time in their kids' sports than they do in ministry activities. That is troubling if we say we love God more than anything.
So, the question is when do things become idols? I think the easy answer is to just hold it up to what we invest in God's kingdom. If, we are investing more time, or money, etc. into something than we are investing into serving God, then we probably have our answer....
8. BDB said the following at 10:36 PM on Aug 12:
This post brings me to Isaiah 2:8
Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.
9. Ting said the following at 12:48 AM on Aug 13:
Another general question we can ask ourselves in testing for idolatry is, "Could I refrain from following/playing this for a week or two?" If we could do so without much difficulty, the danger level isn't as high.
As a hockey fanatic, I've had to fast in watching the games knowing that I've invested myself way too emotionally into my favorite team. Boy was it hard!
10. Dan Gill said the following at 9:38 AM on Aug 13:
Anyone who doesn't think sports can become an idol needs to come to small town Texas on a fall Friday night. Football is more than a religion - it is life itself to many folks.
11. J said the following at 10:41 AM on Aug 13:
I have to agree with Bertha (2) that a significant other can easily become an idol. That happened in my most recent dating relationship: inadvertently, over the several months we were together, I gave him the #1 place in life. I realized what was going on, and asked God to help me give Him His rightful place back. Be careful what you ask for in prayer, because we broke up soon after that. :)
Regarding what Ting (9) said about being able to refrain from following or playing a sport for a week or two, what about just exercise? I can't refrain for that long without feeling absolutely horrible. I have to run, rollerblade, hike, or SOMETHING. But those are all things that are beneficial. I wouldn't consider them idols, though I'd have a really hard time managing without them.
12. Jo said the following at 11:05 AM on Aug 13:
9. Ting: Good test that. I've done little 'fasts' of things in the past to make sure didn't become too important to me. I stopped buying clothes for a while when I was a young teenager, and I stopped listening to music for a bit too - that one was hard. I keep thinking I ought to fast the internet for a week or so...
13. April L. said the following at 12:03 PM on Aug 13:
Bertha (#2),
Maybe you could clarify your point a little more?
You see, 97% of the women I know spend more time complaining about their husbands than praising them. I think the Bible is clear about how we should build up others and not tear them down, but I see very little of this being done even among Christians.
A girl like the one you mentioned seems (to me anyway) less likely to fall into idolatry - it sounds like she is truly respecting and loving her husband in the best Biblical sense. The number of times "Praise the Lord!" comes up in a person's conversation does not really have any bearing on their faith.
She DOES seem likely to provoke jealousy in others, of course, but that is a different subject. (If all women spoke well of their husbands perhaps singles wouldn't be so anti-marriage?)
And Leah (#4),
Your point still seems to back up what Heather is saying - family is not the idol in the cases you brought up - it is the thing to be achieved, don't you think?
14. Bertha said the following at 4:23 PM on Aug 13:
April,
I tend to think a person can love and esteem their spouse without thinking they are perfect,or at least presenting their spouse to others as if they are perfect.
15. Leah said the following at 10:47 PM on Aug 13:
April- They're both the idol. A parent wants to take pride in their family's achievements.
16. Rachael said the following at 11:14 AM on Aug 14:
April (13) wrote:
"You see, 97% of the women I know spend more time complaining about their husbands than praising them. I think the Bible is clear about how we should build up others and not tear them down, but I see very little of this being done even among Christians."
Sad about the 97% part!! And complaining about non-husband things is often rampant. Unspoken mind complaint is also easy to do. I wonder when "sharing" about negative things can count as complaining, and when it can count as sharing life realities/burdens. Perhaps if you talk about the things objectively without a lot of emotion it can count as sharing a burden? Anyway, details, details...
But if we are married, we should definitely be careful about the way we talk about our spouses. I hope I will be good about this. The thing is that I am sometimes too open about things, so if people 'pry', negative stuff might come out. So hopefully I'll learn how to guard my words even if something about a future marriage relationship is really hurting me. I suppose some hurt would be able to be shared, but some would probably have to be private and between me, my future husband, and God.
I wish sometimes people didn't always want to know the "details" on things. I think I sometimes don't want to share as much info. as I sometimes do.
And, I think there's a greater tendency for women to 'open up' to each other and talk about things that aren't always necessary. I think about my relationship with my two best friends ('best' as in they're close and I've known them for years). We don't get together all the time, but I feel like when we do and it's just the 3 of us, we 'share' about what's going in in our lives. That's natural and normal. But I think it would be nice if we were in the habit of bringing God more often and more deeply into the conversation. Like I wish it was natural for us to spend less time catching up and talk deeply about the Bible and God. But we don't really get together very often, so I suppose that might be more practical if we hung out more often.
Anyway, I think someone told me (and this is his opinion) that when guys get together it's more shallow.
I know that guys can be deep. I bet there are a lot of guys who have wonderful, deep spiritual conversations with each other, but I do have the impression that women might tend to more often trail into life-sharing and maybe gossip than men.
Just a bunch of random thoughts...
17. Jake said the following at 1:27 AM on Aug 15:
Along with "J in comment 11. The same thing happened with a relationship I was in. The person I was with had become my idol and everything i did and thought seemed to revolve around her. The Lord wasn't my first desire, and the relationship only lasted a few months, and I'm so glad that it did. When the Lord isn't our deepest need, satisfaction and joy, nothing goes right and our joys and desires are never filled or complete unless they're in Christ alone.
A way i think sports can be an idol is when we give up our sunday or worship service to go and play a sport.
The Lord set aside one day for us to worship Him, to come into His house to praise and glorify Him, to be in His presence, and I know so many Christians who just skip church and take most of the Sunday to go to a sports event. I was on a basketball team and did that one Sunday, and I felt horrible afterwards. I told myself..awe its just one time, God won't mind. Now i realize that was Satan telling me that. Here I was knowingly missing church, skipping out on worshipping, praising and being in the presence of the Author of Life, the Creator of the Universe, my Heavenly Father who died for me and set aside this day for me to be with Him in His house. All so I could go and play a sport with my team, "which was so much more important than worshipping and being with Jesus Christ." Not. I played horrible that game. And I actually had the audacity to pray and ask God to help me play good too. I look back and I wonder how I could have done that. "uhh.. God I know I'm skipping out on worshipping you like you told me to, and I know I've played hoop all week, but today's game is really important, and being in this gym is more important and pleasing to me than being in your House, being with you and worshipping you, so... please help me play good and our team win.." Wow. That's really what i was saying when I prayed to ask for His help and blessing. Exodus 20:8-11 says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God...For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and mad it holy." He made the Sabbath for us to worship and enjoy Him on, not ourelves. He made it for us to spend time with Him in His house, not in the basketball gym like i did.
18. Roger said the following at 12:10 PM on Aug 15:
Racheal (16) - you may want to read 1 & 2 Timothy and try to step out of your western culture that has made individualism a liberated right and an idol.
Jake (17) - I understand what you are talking about a bit having achieved div 1 bb. It sounds like you are compartmentalizing God into a Sunday God and the rest of the week is separate and we live differently in the other six days. Is God only present in a Church building? The Bible says that our bodies are the temple of God. It is important to find one day of rest out of seven, but it is also necessary to consider what that one day looks like. Most of what churches do on Sunday is not Biblical if people are taught to think that is where they need to go to meet with God. A Christian is the temple of God 24/7/365.25 days a year, commissioned to communicate Christ in word and deed to the world, and to build up other Christians so that they are equipped to minister in the world also.
19. Jo said the following at 1:33 PM on Aug 15:
Roger #18 -
Are you sure you meant to reply to Rachael?! Her post said nothing to provoke yours...
20. Rachael said the following at 1:59 PM on Aug 15:
Roger,
Hey. I've lived in a non Western culture for about 3 years. I interact with people of non-Western cultures all the time for my job, and much of my life has involved people of non-Western cultures for the past 8 years, but, thanks!
Do I sound individualistic to you? Yeah I have a lot of opinions. Yes I'm open. But you know what? I'm also often quiet. My personality is actually often soft, whether it looks like it or not from my comments.
I also am often in the habit try to be very painfully honest, so if people pry, I may end up telling more of my heart than I want.
But, thanks!
21. Rachael said the following at 2:44 PM on Aug 15:
(I can't yet see the comment I just wrote in response to #18, but I believe I wrote something about how I can attempt to be painfully honest at times, but actually, in case someone attacks that, don't worry, most likely there will be very personal info. about my relationship with my future husband will not be divulged to anyone outside of us and God, though if something really concerns me I may carefully talk to my mom about it, but I guess to clarify my comment #16, basically I think it's sad that a lot of women complain about their husbands, and I hope I'm not one of them, unless it's about quirky stuff (especially if the other people already know that quirky stuff) that my future husband would be okay with and shrug/laugh off and that I'd be okay talking about if he were in the room with me. And even then I should be sensitive -- like if the husband is fragile/hurt about that, then that kind of talk should cease. Basically, I think it can be easy for people, especially women, to talk about things about people's lives that are unnecessary to talk about, and it's possible I may find myself in situations where it would be easy to say things I'd later regret. Still, though, I'm often very reserved, so, no need for further 'attack or something' :) )
22. BDB said the following at 3:28 PM on Aug 15:
In the same vein as what Rachael (#16) was saying...
I've definitely noticed that people who STAY married have a tendency to always, always, always speak respectfully of their spouse, even when they are not around. I've watched other people who regularly flirted with non-spouses and spoke disrepectfully of their spouse or the opposite sex and they ended up divorced. It's something to be taken seriously.
Recently I was around a group of women who started talking a lot. They were extremely critical of certain men, and managed to spend hours being rather harsh and rather loose with information.
Eventually they noticed I was quiet and started prodding me. Since I had already realized that they couldn't be trusted with anything important, and I didn't have a long-term relationship with any of them, I did my best to be polite. But it was a stark reminder that gossip is a sin!
Recently I've been pondering the cost of automobiles and wondering when it becomes idolatry. When you buy new instead of used? When you buy a luxury brand? What if you buy a pre-owned Lexus instead of a new Honda - is that more spiritual because it's better financial stewardship? Or less spiritual because it's focused on creating an outward appearance? What is an appropriately spiritual ratio between a car payment and tithing? Should you tithe twice as much as your car payment? Should they be equal?
As people have moved towards putting their kids not just in school sports, but also off-season "travel ball" clubs to make them more competitive, I wonder if the huge investment in time and resources is inappropriate compared to, say, serving the poor.