This week they will play the Super Bowl. Super Bowl 46 I believe (I never was very good with Roman numerals.) I probably have seen them all, but maybe not in their entirety. Some I have quit watching because they were boring. Some I didn’t get to see much of because we were at a Super Bowl Party and there was much more socializing going on than game watching. There was a period of my life where I missed the Super Bowl because I was leading an evening worship service. I remember those services well because it was usually me, the organist or other musicians, and four other people who didn’t care about football! During that phase of my life, I recorded the game on my VCR (remember those?)
The Super Bowl has become an all-consuming phenomenon. Media coverage is continuous for the two weeks leading up to the game. Everyone gets in on the act of predicting results and choosing their favorite teams. The Super Bowl is the most watched television program of the year. Becky doesn’t like football, but she does watch the Super Bowl because of the commercials. She finds something else to do while the game is being played and rushes back to watch during the commercials! This year I may record the game so we can watch the commercials again, not the game.
Some people deride all the attention given to the Super Bowl. It is just a game. There are much more important issues for us to spend time and money on. People in the world are still hungry, at war, dying of disease, and being ill treated. I read an article this week about increased sex trafficking of minors being brought into the host Super Bowl City for the weekend. Millions of dollars are bet on the Super Bowl.
I don’t disagree that there are more important issues in the world than a football game, but that doesn’t change the fact there will be a Super Bowl, and all the hoopla that goes with it will continue.
There will be a segment of Christians who will lead an outcry that a football game gets too much attention and that they would hope that God would garner as much attention. Certainly God’s rule and reign and the salvation of mankind merits more attention than a football game. Whenever I see Christians protesting the Super Bowl I cringe because those protests are the very kind of thing that leads to a segment of the population viewing Christians as judgmental and critical.
I could complain about the Super Bowl; all the attention it gets; all the money that is spent; all the things that deserve a fraction of the focus. But that wouldn’t change anything. The culture isn’t changed by lobbing grenades at cultural icons from a distance.
I think God uses me to change the world differently. God wants me to love the people that I encounter every day; to show an interest in the activities of children and adults; to listen to the stories people try to share; to simply be nice to everyone....everyone!; to speak the truth in love.
The world is changed by each of us reflecting the image of Jesus every day, in every situation, with every person we meet.
So, I will join the rest of America and enjoy the Super Bowl, both the game and the commercials.
Oh, by the way....Go Patriots!
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