Does God Care About Sports?

With the football season just days away I thought it was apropos to write on a subject I have wanted to write on for a long time but never did.  Does God like or care about sports?

There is no question that people everywhere like and in some cases LOVE sports, and are especially fanatical when it comes to their favorite teams.  And knowing that God loves His children and wants us to be happy, one might fairly assume that God likes sports too.  Does He?

Every Sunday you see someone pointing to the sky after a touchdown or thanking God in the post-game press conference.  They should, since without God, nobody could take their next breath, let alone catch a touchdown pass.  Sometimes you see the players on their knees praying for the game to go their way—for the other team to mess up so they can have another shot at a victory.  But is God listening?  Because, those might be His children who are asking their Father to help them, seems fine to me. He answers our prayers and wants us to be happy.  But does He also have children on the opposing team, or maybe some of them in the stands cheering for them?  Does God not listen to their same prayers for a victory?

Yes, God hears the prayers and He loves His children very much, but are these prayers in line with His will for humanity?  Or are they more like Hail Mary prayers hoping the receiver will come down with the ball?  Does He care about sporting events and trivial things like this just because we do?

My answer is no, He doesn’t.  Hear me out on this, please.

First, I believe that sports, like politics, are a huge distraction  and only seem to handcuff believers from being the complete witness the Lord wants them to be.  Sure they have a platform but the platform has walls.  Famous people are often cut off from the public, they live a different life and though they might care about someone or something, they don’t often get too involved as it can be humbling-realizing they could do so much more than they do.  Not to mention all the pressure and expectations from the lifestyle (media, teammates, fans, etc.).

Jesus asked the people to leave what they were doing and follow Him.  Sure, a sports star has fame and fortune and can use it for the Kingdom, but one man with nothing who is completely sold out to Jesus can be more useful than 50 pro-bowlers any day.  The Lord does not need someone with stature or fame, in fact, He selects the insignificant to trust with His power, so that only He will be glorified.

Our Father wants His will to be done.  He does not care about things like this.  We get to have “fun” and do live in eternal joy and fulfillment in Heaven.  Right now, we have to be focused on the task and be sold out so that we can fulfill His plan for our lives.  Then we can be in eternal bliss, not regretting one moment we spent in the trenches helping people.

The Great Commission is pretty clear.  We should not let ourselves be caught up in small things.

One more thing: When each team has believers on it, and both teams are praying for victory, how should God answer?

I believe that instead of asking God to provide a win or help with a play, believers should be focused on the mission—not caring if they win because it is temporal.   Asking for a win is selfish.  Instead of focusing on victory for themselves, they should focus on the people around them and see how they can help them.  There are many people hurting and in need of a friend.  Hopefully that “friend” will tell them about the Savior.

I don’t believe God wants us to pray for victories or special power to make plays.  I believe sometimes He might  help, but would prefer that we ask for the power to be all we can be for His service and not be so concerned about things that are meaningless in the great plan of God.  Every minute we spend doing hobbies, sports, etc, is a minute we could be helping advance the Kingdom of God.

Blessings.