By Jerry Norman
With the Super Bowl behind us, and March madness just around the corner, we thought we’d look into sports and faith. The connection? Well it seems that in addition to the most obvious, Tim Tebow, there are many sports figures that don’t mind discussing their faith. Like Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens and basketball’s Jeremy Lin.
And, of course, like most things that capture the public imagination, there have been surveys on sports figures and faith. The Barna research organization recently did a study that found most Americans say their sports heroes have more influence on society than do church leaders. Don’t know about you, but I’m not surprised. Today’s idols are celebrities. And sports figures, even at the high school level, are celebs. In fact Country Music Superstar Kenny Chesney recorded a song about the high school heroes, “The Boys of Fall.” It was a huge hit.
How do Americans feel about such public expressions of faith? Barna says, “When asked about the matter in general, adults say they favor professional and prominent college athletes talking about their faith in media or events seen by the general public (61% support this while 12% do not). Another one-quarter of Americans (28%) are simply undecided on the matter.”
But the faith of celebs has nothing to do with the public’s devotion to them. It’s all about the national preoccupation with people who appear on TV, in film, music or on radio. What’s idolatry? Celebrity worship is the modern version. We don’t need stone idols. We have live ones every night on the screen that occupies our living rooms, family rooms and bedrooms. In fact one show was named for it: “American Idol.”
So what’s wrong with that? Nothing if you just enjoy a few TV shows. But when stuff that doesn’t have a thing to do about improving life dominates your life, there’s no room for the important parts. Let that go on for years, and a big chunk of your life can be wasted. And you can never get it back.
