As the Tim Tebow craze continues (see the blog from November 17), we find ourselves back into the old question: "Does God Care About Football Games?"
The same question can be asked of any other sport, of course. We see athletes frequently claiming God's hand in their victories. These claims are always followed by someone arguing that "God does not care about football games." Then, of course, you get the old "with all the terrible things in the world, God is too busy to worry about football games." Or, finally, you get the "football just isn't that important anyway, why would God care?" response.
So, does God care about football?
When an unbeliever states any opinion about God, we can forget it having any validity. Unbelievers do not believe anyway. So, let's think about professing Christians who ask the questions.
This, of course, is a false question at its heart. The question presupposes that God exists in the same way we exist; that he is waiting to see who wins or how he can help his person win. We know this is nonsense. The idea that God is "cheering for" a team is nonsense. He is God. He already knows who will win and who will lose and how they will win or lose. He is not waiting to see what happens. He does not care in the way that we care.
But, of course, that does not really answer the question either. Those who say "God doesn't care about who wins a football game" are saying a lot more than they think they are saying. "It's just a football game" they will say. Well, no, it's not.
There are dozens of men whose livelihoods are involved in every game. Their errors and heroic acts will be judged by their bosses and they could lose their jobs. Jobs matter to God, do they not? Players are often injured, sometimes severely. God cares about injuries, does he not? Coaches are fired. Does that not matter to God? Christian coaches get fired, does God not care about them?
The Tebow crowds have the idea that God just "wants Tebow to win," but that means he wants the Christians on the other team to lose. Tebow is not the only Christian in football. Every time his team wins, some other Christian's team loses. Does God not care about the other Christians? That is ridiculous and Tebow would say it is ridiculous. God does not love Tebow more than his other children.
Each team has thousands of fans, hundreds of thousands, all of whom are impacted by whether their team wins or loses. Does God not care about them? Many of them are Christians. If a team loses, then its fans lose and this matters to them. So, when we say God does not care about football, we are saying God does not care about his aspect of the lives of his people. The circle of "uncaring" widens a great deal.
If the team loses, then fewer fans will come to the next game, impacting hundreds (thousands) of workers in the stadium, in the restaurants around the stadium, in stores that sell football gear. A family who normally gets a few hundred dollars from parking cars in their yard will get less now, money they could have used. Do you say God does not care for them, or for the people who are laid off in the stadium because attendance is down?
If the team wins, then people will be happy for a little while, if they lose, people will be saddened. Does God not care how people feel?
Eventually, you have to decide if you believe in God at all. A God who "does not care" about an activity that impacts hundreds of thousands of lives, in dozens of ways, seems pretty small to me. There are sixteen games a week, millions of lives being impacted, dozens of men being injured, thousands of jobs being effected, millions of dollars moving from here to there, but they say God does not care. This is absurd.
God is sovereign. To say that a team wins "because God wants Tebow to win" is just nonsense. God would not put one man above all other men in such a foolish way. God did not "choose" a team for some childish reason. He is sovereign.
Teams win and lose because of how people play, they play because of who they are, and they are who all history has made them. And God makes history. God cares about people in a far more comprehensive way that can be explained either by "He cares about football" or "He doesn't care about football."
Too often, we think that "God is sovereign" just means that He has the ability to control events. On the contrary, it means that events are all under His control. We each, as independent agents, work in accordance with who we are, with the skills he has given us, with the level of commitment and caring he has given us. The result is what God intended and decreed from the beginning.
My God is not careless, neither is He is a team booster. He is the soveriegn Lord of All. Including football.
The same question can be asked of any other sport, of course. We see athletes frequently claiming God's hand in their victories. These claims are always followed by someone arguing that "God does not care about football games." Then, of course, you get the old "with all the terrible things in the world, God is too busy to worry about football games." Or, finally, you get the "football just isn't that important anyway, why would God care?" response.
So, does God care about football?
When an unbeliever states any opinion about God, we can forget it having any validity. Unbelievers do not believe anyway. So, let's think about professing Christians who ask the questions.
This, of course, is a false question at its heart. The question presupposes that God exists in the same way we exist; that he is waiting to see who wins or how he can help his person win. We know this is nonsense. The idea that God is "cheering for" a team is nonsense. He is God. He already knows who will win and who will lose and how they will win or lose. He is not waiting to see what happens. He does not care in the way that we care.
But, of course, that does not really answer the question either. Those who say "God doesn't care about who wins a football game" are saying a lot more than they think they are saying. "It's just a football game" they will say. Well, no, it's not.
There are dozens of men whose livelihoods are involved in every game. Their errors and heroic acts will be judged by their bosses and they could lose their jobs. Jobs matter to God, do they not? Players are often injured, sometimes severely. God cares about injuries, does he not? Coaches are fired. Does that not matter to God? Christian coaches get fired, does God not care about them?
The Tebow crowds have the idea that God just "wants Tebow to win," but that means he wants the Christians on the other team to lose. Tebow is not the only Christian in football. Every time his team wins, some other Christian's team loses. Does God not care about the other Christians? That is ridiculous and Tebow would say it is ridiculous. God does not love Tebow more than his other children.
Each team has thousands of fans, hundreds of thousands, all of whom are impacted by whether their team wins or loses. Does God not care about them? Many of them are Christians. If a team loses, then its fans lose and this matters to them. So, when we say God does not care about football, we are saying God does not care about his aspect of the lives of his people. The circle of "uncaring" widens a great deal.
If the team loses, then fewer fans will come to the next game, impacting hundreds (thousands) of workers in the stadium, in the restaurants around the stadium, in stores that sell football gear. A family who normally gets a few hundred dollars from parking cars in their yard will get less now, money they could have used. Do you say God does not care for them, or for the people who are laid off in the stadium because attendance is down?
If the team wins, then people will be happy for a little while, if they lose, people will be saddened. Does God not care how people feel?
Eventually, you have to decide if you believe in God at all. A God who "does not care" about an activity that impacts hundreds of thousands of lives, in dozens of ways, seems pretty small to me. There are sixteen games a week, millions of lives being impacted, dozens of men being injured, thousands of jobs being effected, millions of dollars moving from here to there, but they say God does not care. This is absurd.
God is sovereign. To say that a team wins "because God wants Tebow to win" is just nonsense. God would not put one man above all other men in such a foolish way. God did not "choose" a team for some childish reason. He is sovereign.
Teams win and lose because of how people play, they play because of who they are, and they are who all history has made them. And God makes history. God cares about people in a far more comprehensive way that can be explained either by "He cares about football" or "He doesn't care about football."
Too often, we think that "God is sovereign" just means that He has the ability to control events. On the contrary, it means that events are all under His control. We each, as independent agents, work in accordance with who we are, with the skills he has given us, with the level of commitment and caring he has given us. The result is what God intended and decreed from the beginning.
My God is not careless, neither is He is a team booster. He is the soveriegn Lord of All. Including football.