Spartans, Tigers, and Jesus?

Guest Post by Josh Montague

There is no better time of year for the baseball and college basketball fan. As baseball’s spring training winds down in Arizona and Florida, the college basketball tournament heats up across the country. I was raised in the shadow of Michigan State University, earned a Bachelor's degree there, and have remained absolutely loyal to the green and white despite living in Oregon and Wisconsin. My first professional baseball game was with my dad, grandpa, and uncle at ancient Tiger Stadium in the magical year of 1984. We sat in the right field porch behind Kirk Gibson and squinted to see my favorite player, Sweet Lou Whitaker, snag grounders at second base.

I tend to invest too much into sports (more on that in a bit). So I've limited myself to following one sport at a time. Since the college basketball and professional baseball seasons sync up nicely on the calendar, I'm either rooting for Tom Izzo and Draymond Green to cut down the nets or I'm watching Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander plow their way through the rest of the AL Central.

In my adopted home state of Wisconsin, sport is king. Some dude up the street has painted his minivan green and gold and affixed a gigantic "G" on the side. This van sits parked on the street during the day and is seen as perfectly normal. In Madison, under the reign of King Bucky, I've endured more than a few jabs and barbs as UW got its revenge on MSU in the Big Ten Championship game last year. But that was football...

Sports can very easily take over my life, just as it can take over my writing.

The Apostle Paul enjoyed his sports metaphors. We're to run the race, fight the good fight, and beat our bodies like an athlete training for the game. Perhaps if sports had evolved to where we’re at now, Paul would have said we needed to leave it all on the court, fight through tackles, and swing for the fences.

Stephen Altrogge, in his short and helpful book, Game Day for the Glory of God, lists some of the joys of sport:

• Excellence–We were created with an inherent appreciation and love of excellence. Our amazement at an extraordinary athletic feat should fuel an amazement at the God who created all things and does everything with excellence.
• Victory–“Victory in sports is a faint reflection of our victorious God. He’s created us to love victory. ...Not for your own glory or honor, but because in victory you will see a glimpse of God himself.”
• Self-Forgetfulness–“It’s good for us to forget about our needs and desires from time to time.” Baseball allows me to point to the big picture. A temporary setback like a loss to the Indians doesn’t negate the larger victory. Sounds a bit like Romans 8.
• Character–“Playing sports allows us to develop character traits that will help us throughout our entire lives.”

To Altrogge’s list, I might add a few more joys:

• Camraderie–Whether we’re part of a softball team or bemoaning the state of our brackets with friends, sport provides a forum for teamwork and friendship.
• Mission–I have missional opportunities on the court in my local playground, with other parents watching my son’s little league team, and lifting weights in the gym that I would never have in the church office or on Sunday morning.
• Exercise–“...bodily training is of some value.” (1 Tim. 4:8)

As with anything, though, our sinfulness can take a good thing and make it bad. A love of excellence and victory easily becomes pride and arrogance.

Here are some of the dangers of sport I’ve noticed in the lives of myself and my friends:

• Misdirected worship–G.K. Beale argues that we become what we worship. I can very easily become this, and at tournament time that can be almost literal. My love of the game and excellence and camaraderie find me quickly worshipping the gift rather than the Giver and worshipping what is temporary rather than eternal.
• Pride–When the UW students show up on Sunday morning after their school suffered at the hands of the Spartans, I get smug. I have this smile on my face of superiority. It’s ridiculous. Our sense of accomplishment can be affixed to an athletic team rather than to the cross. My teams will lose and my superior attitude will be shattered, but Christ won and nothing can take that victory away.
• False Joy/Sorrow–After the Tigers lost to the Rangers in the 2011 ALCS, I was emotionally and physically down. My sons were even worse. Nothing this bad, but too many of us attach our emotional state to a game rather than to the work of Christ.
• Time & Money–I like watching a ballgame with my sons. But the temptation is often to spend more time leading my fantasy baseball team than leading my family. Sports is big business and in our culture we tend to give of the first-fruits of our time and money to this idol.
• Wrongful Enmity–This one’s tough to write about. I hate Duke. As a pastor, I can justify this by pointing out their mascot is demonic. Even more difficult is my scorn towards the University of Michigan. I have a visceral reaction whenever I see a UM jersey. There’s really no justification for this enmity. The gospel has to eclipse silly rivalries.

So as the US is currently losing billions of dollars of productivity to college basketball, let’s enjoy the drama, the excellence, the athleticism, but make sure our worth and joy comes from the gospel and our worship is directed to the God who gives us all good things.

And Go Spartans!