SuperBowl 2013

Hey folks! So I shared a few thoughts last night after half-time at the Super bowl party, but I feel like I didn’t have enough time to wrap up some of the conclusions. For starters, here’s a recap of what I brought up:

Why do we watch the Super bowl? For entertainment? Yep! For fun times with friends? Certainly! To root for our favorite team? Well, at least some of us. To watch crazy funny commercials and enjoy the half-time show? Yep, that too!  Now, all of these are good things, but I wanted to challenge us to think a little more deeply about what exactly is happening around us. Last night, a large chunk of our country gathered around screens to watch the big game—starting with a stirring performance of our national anthem, punctuated by clever ads attempting to entice us into consumerism, and ultimately appealing to our desire to be entertained. The entire show is actually quite similar to the games you’d see in the Roman Coliseum in which gladiators would reenact famous battles and conquests while spectators rooted them on (except in this case the person you were cheering for might actually die). What was the purpose of these games? Entertainment? Sure. Fun time in community? I’d assume. Commitment to certain gladiators? Yeah, they would definitely have favorites.

There are tons of different motivations to be engaged in the spectacle, but there was one overarching reason to put it on: to captivate the minds of the people. When a nation isn’t conquering and expanding, games like this help to build a sense of cohesion and patriotism. We love to be part of the group.

Now, I enjoy watching the game as much as everyone else, but I just want us to stop and think for a moment. Because when we don’t actively invite God into every part of our lives and ask the Holy Spirit for discernment, then we can come dangerously close to allowing media to become the #1 influence over our decisions. And that is idolatry. And that’s a bad thing, if you didn’t know already. So, lesson one: ask for God’s eyes in everything you watch.

Secondly, we’ve been talking about the fruits of the Spirit lately, and this week was supposed to be our talk about peace. Unfortunately, I somehow rambled off without ever getting around to that part last night. I’ll try to make this brief. What is peace? It is not simply the absence of violence. Peace is spoken of in scripture as the state of wholeness and wellness in mind, body, and soul for all people. We also see a solid link between peace and righteousness all throughout the scriptures. We are at peace when sin and unrighteousness are no more. This is why peace through war makes little sense. Peace does not come with the destruction of evil but with the restoration of that which is lost. That is actually an extremely important point given what I discussed earlier. Empires tend to pursue peace through force, which is no real peace at all. When you exert force over another group for the sake of the well-being of your own, you deny the humanity of others and in turn distort your humanity as well. The way of Christ is the only true means of peace—sacrificial love that transcends death.

The peace that comes from the Holy Spirit is a fruit that springs out of our fundamental truth that we are made whole in Christ and no longer need to think of ourselves first. There is no worry. There is no desperation. Our horizon is extended beyond death, and what have we to fear? We are a people marked by peace.

All that said, I hope you enjoyed the game last night! May God continue to bless you with peace, joy, and love!

For an interesting read, check out: Half Time Disappointment and Human Trafficking in the U.S. by my friend Nate Addington.