Turning Worship Into Sport and Sports Into Worship
Worship is a privilege, an opportunity to come into the very presence of God to offer Him our praise and adoration. The desire to worship should fill the heart of every child of God (Psa.122:1) for all that He has done and will continue to do on our behalf. Sadly, many of God’s own children have to come to view worship as a weariness and a bore (Mal.1:13). Instead of actively participating in the worship of the Almighty, some are content to come into the assembly and abide as spectators. They sit idly as the prayers are led (1 Thess.5:17), as songs of praise are sung to God (Heb.2:12; 13:15), as the word is opened and proclaimed (2 Tim.4:2), as the death of our Lord is commemorated in the observance of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor.11:23-26), as we have opportunity to give back as we have been prospered (2 Cor.9:7), as souls respond in obedience and humility to the gospel message (Acts 2:37). Many treat worship and the church much like they do their favorite football team. It intrigues me that when a football team is doing well, “we” are winning. Even though the spectator is not involved in practice or preparation, or in the actual game-time execution of the plays, many so associate themselves with the team that they consider themselves a part of it. However, should things not go as well as these spectators would like, then it is no longer “we,” but “them.” The worship spectator invests no energy or time in preparation for worship, and is only superficially involved in the actual worship itself. They may very well draw nigh with their lips, and honor the Lord with their mouths, but their hearts are far from the Almighty (Matt.15:8). With little to no investment of themselves in worship to God, it is easy for the spectator to grumble and complain about what “they” are doing at church when things don’t go as they would like. Those who complain about getting nothing from the worship are usually the ones giving the least in worship to God! Worship for many has become a spectator sport.
Sadly, there are others who are turning their sports into that which they worship. I have had parents tell me that their child made a commitment to their particular team when they signed up to play, and they wanted their children to honor that commitment. Parents, you made a far greater commitment to the Lord when you obeyed the gospel (1 Tim.6:12)! While it is important that we teach our children to honor their commitments, and to be those who are not quitters, it is also important to teach our children that there are going to be difficult decisions in life, and that doing what is right is not always the easy choice to make (Rom.12:1-2). If we as parents do not choose the Lord above all else, then we are setting our children up for heartache and spiritual failure as they grow older (Josh.24:15; see also 1 Sam.3:13). I recall an elder in the Lord’s church telling me that he did not think the Lord would hold it against him if he were to miss services to attend the World Series, for, as he put it, it is a “once in a lifetime event.” We must get our eyes off the temporal and look toward the eternal (2 Cor.4:18)! The general rule is this: as children grow up and leave home, parents start to get more serious and their spiritual lives, realizing that they are drawing closer to the end of life. As they do, they take a greater interest in the spirituality of their children, only to see that their children have chosen a life of temporal trinkets and worldly pleasure rather than a life of service to God. You see, a lot of “important” things come up that they choose over attending worship or Bible study, like their job, their vacations, their recreation, etc. Parents begin to wonder “where they went wrong.” Might it be that while they were young, you chose softball and soccer over services, baseball over Bible class, football over fellowship with the saints? Let your children play ball and enjoy it, but teach them to be serious about their Christianity. Let’s not allow it to be the other way around—serious about their ball, and playing Christianity!
-Patrick Morrison
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