I've been mentally chewing on several things ever since I heard last week about NFL officials bullying a church (which now has a great letter from the pastor about the situation) into shutting down their Super Bo... er, Big Game Party.First, I'm still bothered by the NFL's stance. They have apparently tried to soften it in the wake of an angry blogosphere and overall public reaction. But somehow I don't think that is going to resolve this issue. I have a feeling this will eventually end up in the courts or on law books somewhere some year.
Second, this whole situation has reminded me of how powerful sports have become in our society. I enjoy watching a football game (especially when it's players are only carrying footballs and school loads, not multi-million dollar contracts), or a baseball game, or a hockey game, or even a college wrestling match (which I might get to do this Sunday). But when a sporting organization can bully a group around like this, and still 91 million people watch the game, I think it speaks volumes about our culture. As one young adult said on the Men's Retreat last weekend in response to another man's comment about Christians boycotting the game - "like that's gonna happen!"
Third - For some reason some of my own advice came into my head. A few months ago, the Watershed leadership team made a difficult decision to close the forum. This naturally angered those who frequent the forum and made it part of their weekly or daily lives. In the midst of the furor, I encouraged the members of the forum to look for the opportunity in the midst of the frustrating reality. I was extremely proud of Joe and some others when they took the advice and started a whole new forum for young adults in Cedar Rapids and beyond.
So if I were to take my own advice, I should be looking for the opportunity in the middle of this frustrating NFL situation concerning churches and their use of a particular game. I love what my executive Pastor sarcastically said on his blog - the opportunity waiting for churches is to get a liquor license and then they are good to go!
But perhaps the opportunity that is REALLY before us is to watch the game with neighbors or co-workers or others we should establish a friendship with, some people who may not know Christ. Many churches want to use the Super Bowl to elevate people's thoughts higher and get them thinking about Christ. But perhaps that would be accomplished to an even greater degree if the church was out among the community.
Photo Credit: The Day / Chris O'Meara
2 comments:
Wow... interesting stuff. I'm glad that the church chose to obey the law. If Christians have a beef with the law then they should do what they did and send letters asking for the rules to be changed while remaining obedient.
From an outsiders perspective it doesn't look good when a fan favorite sport is being boycotted by whimpering whining Christians. It would just be another example of self righteous Christians complaining about how bad other people/companies are...
"I have a feeling this will eventually end up in the courts or on law books somewhere some year."
Personally, I hope this never happens. It seems like Christians are willing to file a law suit about anything. Granted, it's our right as Americans to file suit, but that doesn't mean we have to do just that. I'm sure Paul would have discouraged Christians from acting on every right afforded to them by the Roman Empire.
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