Elders' Blog

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Pennant Races, Kickoffs, and Jesus

I encountered something in my browsing the other day the touched close to home. It started with:

What stirs your affections for Jesus Christ? And what robs you of those affections? Many of the things that stifle growth are morally neutral. They’re not bad things.

It continued:

The same goes for following sports. It’s not wrong, but if I start watching sports, I begin to care too much. I get stupid. If 19-year-old boys are ruining your day because of what they do with a ball, that’s a problem. These things rob my affections for Christ. I want to fill my life with things that stir my affections for him.

Ouch. That’s tough to hear in September in New England. The Red Sox are fighting for the Wildcard and the Patriots kickoff on Monday. It’s a great time to be a sports fan in New England.

But what if the Red Sox end up missing the playoffs? How bad was last September when Brady went down? Do these things rob my affections for Jesus? If your first thought when you heard of the Plaxico Burress shooting last year was, “Why not a year earlier?” (Patriot fans know why), well, that’s not really a Christ honoring thought, is it?

I’ll be honest – when the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl, it didn’t just ruin my day – it ruined weeks. I walked around in a funk for much too long. What I discovered was that I had placed my hope in history, in 19-0. Not in God. I love the way that the NASB translates Romans 5:5 – it’s the perfect counterpoint to what I experienced:

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

There’s nothing wrong with sports, nothing wrong with rooting for the home team. But don’t set your hope in the home teams. Even if they win, they don’t give you real joy. Don’t let sports take your affection for Jesus.

Posted by David Fenton on Sep 12, 12:06 AM

1 Comments

Thanks for this post, David. As a PCF staff, we recently read and reflected on the very article you were reading and had a great discussion about it. I highly recommend this conversation for married couples, too. Sit down with your spouse and a cup of coffee and ask each other these two questions: What stirs your affections for Jesus Christ? What robs you of those affections? You’ll be amazed at the depth and quality of discussion these questions can generate.

Posted by Stephen Witmer Sep 15, 10:31 AM

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