Our Idolatry & Jesus - James McManus
I am writing this article on Saturday morning, September 4th … which is the date of two holidays, one official and one unofficial. The unofficial holiday on this day is the start of college football season! This is the day that many of us in the South have circled on our calendars. We put on our school colors, plan our day around the games we want to watch, and mentally and emotionally prepare to see how our beloved college team fares in their first game of the season. Who knows, maybe this year your school will win the National Championship! If you are a long-suffering Gamecock fan like I am, what we are really wishing for is to win the SEC East and maybe beat Bama for the SEC Championship … this could be our year with our new coach, Shane Beamer!
A marker of being Southern is our love for college and high school football. We plan our schedules around these games. They can dictate our mood if our team wins or loses. Sadly, it can also dictate how many people are in church on Sunday morning.
I realize this blog is read mostly by pastors, and I know we are all on the same page when it comes to the idolatry of college football - and, let’s call it for what it is, because whenever we put anything before God, then that thing becomes an idol. Many of us have been frustrated by those congregants who would never miss a Carolina/Clemson/UGA/Bama/Auburn/UT game, yet they won’t blink an eye about missing worship. “Preacher, sorry we weren’t at church this past Sunday - we were at the game and didn’t get back home until late so we slept in … we missed getting up in time for church because we were up late watching the games.” That’s idolatry and it can be frustrating. Many of us will be watching the same games - yet we set our alarm clocks so we can be up in time to prep for worship and our sermons. Why can’t our people do the same?
In times like this, I am tempted to put college football in my bullseye and start firing everything I have at it … making comments from the pulpit, making comments to people, posting things on FB about the importance of worship and how every Christian needs to be there, no matter what their previous night looked like. I want to point all my theological cannons at the base of the idol of college football and blow it to smithereens. I want to see all my congregants in worship, every fall Lord’s morning, even if their eyes are red and blurry from a late Saturday night.
Yet, I wonder, is that the right thing to do? Is it right for me to load all my theological cannons and shoot at the very thing that I enjoy as well - I just try to enjoy it in more moderation and with an eye to the fact that I have to be at church on Sunday - that’s what they are paying me for! Is this the right approach for an under-shepherd of God’s precious flock?
On Wednesday nights, we have started going through Sinclair Ferguson’s book “Lessons from the Upper Room.” If you are familiar with Dr. Ferguson, then you know this subject is right in his wheelhouse! The first couple of chapters deals with the account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in John 13. One of the points that Dr. Ferguson makes is that Jesus is modeling for the disciples the true Golden Rule of the Christian faith. Many folks know the Golden Rule as stated in Matthew 7 “do unto others as you want them to do unto you”. Dr. Ferguson makes the point that Jesus doesn’t treat the Golden Rule as something separate from Him. Rather, it is a rule that comes from Him and He is so intimately tied into that He models it for His people, such as in washing the feet of His disciples. That takes the Golden Rule and gives it this subtle tweak, “How has the Lord Jesus treated me? Then that is the model for the way I will treat others. With His help I will display the same grace He has shown to me!” We aren’t to think of it as “How would I like them to treat me? Then I should try to do the same for them.” It’s about how Jesus has treated me, so that is how I should treat others.
How has Jesus treated me when it comes to my struggles of idolatry? With grace by pointing me to Him. Instead of passively-aggressively going after my idols, Jesus treats me with grace by reminding me how much better He is than my idols. He is faithful to show to me over and over again how much better He is than anything else I am tempted to put in His place. He is faithful to remind me how much more He loves me than my idols, because, in reality, my idols are seeking to destroy me. He is faithful to remind me of the blessings that come only from Him, and the burdens that come from my worshipping my own personal golden calfs. He is faithful to remind me that He alone is Jesus, and He alone is worthy of my worship.
Brothers, what you and I need, and what our people need, is more Jesus. We need to live as Paul - for me to live is Christ. We need to live as John the Baptist - we decrease so Christ can increase. Our people need that from us and for them to do the same. What they don’t need is pastoral passive-aggressive attacks on their idols. I have found in my own ministry that when I try to handle it that way, I tend to drive them more to their idols, because, at the end of it all, I am just being a jerk to them. I have yet had someone tell me they started coming to church more because of a Facebook post I made. On the other hand, I have had folks tell me that they started coming more because they like to sing to Jesus, pray to Jesus, hear about Jesus. They want more of Jesus, so they come to the very place where Jesus should always be made the most of. Does that mean they need to hear about obedience and piety in Christ? Absolutely! But, it should first be heard from the person and work of Jesus, and not from a passive-aggressive stance. Show them you love them like Jesus has loved you. That will make all the difference.
So, brothers, I hope your college team does well - unless it’s the Clemson Tigers - to that I just say “GO GAMECOCKS!” I hope you enjoy all the college and high school football games you get to attend or watch. And, I hope your congregants keep coming to church instead of skipping out. But, if they do - and they will, it’s in our sinful nature to do so - keep on pointing them to Jesus and trust in the work of the Spirit of Christ to draw them closer to Him.
Oh, what is the official holiday of today? World Beard Day - celebrated the first Saturday of every September. Happy World Beard Day to all my bearded brothers!
