Sport of the gods

This Spring Andrew, age 12 #70 in this picture, decided to go out for football.  His team will have a Jamboree this Thursday.  It will be his first organized football game. 

This morning at breakfast we joked about what archaeologists would say about football if they dug up a stadium 5,000 years from now.

Here were the possibilities we came up with:

1.  They might consider the stadium to be a temple or place of worship (every town has one).

2. They would suppose that the team mascots (Oakman Wildcats) would be city or regional gods.

3.  What we know as players would be participating in battle to honor their god and to show their devotion to him (her).

4. The cheerleaders could be thought of as high priestesses (my son almost shot milk through his nose at the thought) who lead the worship. "We are the Wildcats, mighty, might Wildcats . . ."

5. The fans are the worshipers praying to their god for victory confirming his acceptance of their sacrifice.

6. The concession stand is where worshipers can procure grain, animal, and synthetic sacrifices to offer to their god by leaving portions in the stadium (worship arena).

Why else might sports (football, baseball, basketball, softball, etc) be confused as our national religion by those who study us in the future?

Scott

iPods and iDols

This note is from my niece in Florida. She sent this message out on FaceBook. Melanie is a great young lady who takes after her Uncle in Alabama ;-) - Her dad is my brother.

I'm unsure if any of you found out that I ended up washing my iPod in the washing machine last week. I got it out before the next load went in.

I was a mess after that. Being in band its hard for me to not listen to music. So I complained to my dad saying, "Dad its impossible to live without my iPod" (don't take that literally).

He looked at me and said, "Melanie, do you think your iPod is an idol?"; it hit me right then, that even if we don't know it , some of our possessions can be IDOLs.

Please comment or write back about your opinion on idols.

Thanks , may God bless your day.



On a side note: Happy 20th Anniversary, Amy -- Thanks for saying, "yes"!
Scott

Tattoo My Face, Pierce My Ear, My Nose, My Tongue, My . . .

Not long ago I went to a restaurant and had concerns when the wait staff assigned to my table had a tongue stud induced speech impediment, something gold protruding from the side of a nostril, and a gold loop through their left eyebrow. This event can left me wondering how sanitary can all that be? Especially a pierced tongue. If a waiter or waitress does not care appear to care about their own health, why should I think they care about mine?Maybe you have similar concerns . . . or not.

I admit that the preceding thoughts are just that . . .thoughts. They are my thoughts and that is all they are ultimately worth. Recently someone asked what the Bible says about tattoos and body piercing. After giving it some thought, I wanted to share my answer. Let me begin by saying that this article concerns multiple piercings and not an earring or two. It concerns what some call "body art" and not a personal tattoo.

What does the Bible say about piercing and tattoos?

There are two Old Covenant passages we should look at as we begin to find an answer. These two passages are part of the Laws God gave to Israel through Moses. They served a purpose for the people then and have a principle that applies to us.

• Exodus 21:5-6 – "But if the servant plainly says, `I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."(NKJV)

• Leviticus 19:28 – "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord." (NKJV)

Exodus 21:5-6 is a law concerning masters and slaves. If a slave chose to continue in his master's service after being offered freedom, his master would pierce his ear signifying perpetual servanthood. The slave volunteered to be a servant for life. This passage has no specific application to the body piercing that is part of our culture. This passage does however teach us the depth of dedication we should have for our Lord and Master. Compare Romans 6:16-18 where Paul tells us that we are slaves of the one we obey.

Leviticus 19:28 is in the context of warnings of idolatrous worship. God gave Israel laws that prohibited them from imitating the ceremonies of those worshipping idols. The mutilating of the body in this passage is how many cultures mourned for their dead. They would cut their skin to show sorrow to their gods and neighbors. The tattoos were symbols in memory of the dead. (Pulpit Commentary, Vol II, p. 289.)

Again there is no specific correlation to our present culture of piercing or tattoos. The message for us is that we are "called out," separate from the world. Compare Deuteronomy 26:18 and Titus 2:14. Like Israel whom God called out as His own Special people, so are we as Christians today. We cannot allow ourselves to be molded by the world. This thought does speak to tattoos and piercings. Who am I trying to be like? Who am I molding myself after? Am I imitating God or the world?

Now we need to turn to the New Covenant. Paul talks about jewelry in 1 Timothy 2:9-10. " . . . Women adorn (yourselves) in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works."

Paul is contrasting the worship of the true God with worship of idols. Worship of idols was a social event. Participants wore their best to impress each other and to impress the gods. Paul is telling Christian women that godliness and good works are more important to God, not how much gold they can wear. This passage teaches that we are to always be modest in our manner of dress. We (men, women, boys and girls) are not to dress to attract undue attention to ourselves. We live life to give glory to God and not to self. Peter says the same thing to wives in 1 Peter 3:3-4.

So what does the Bible teach about body piercing and tattoos? It says very little. What can we say then? Is it wrong to pierce my ear, nose, eyebrow, tongue, etc.? It is sinful to cover my body with tattoos? To answer in one word, "yes." Yes, if I am doing it to draw unnecessary attention to myself. It seems that the motivation behind today's cultural tattoos and piercings is to get attention. It is ostentatious, self-serving, and rebellious in nature, and that is what makes many tattoos and piercings wrong.

Four Questions - OK Five

A great Sunday at Parrish. Attendance was good for both services and Bible Classes despite severe weather and allergies. Worship both times was uplifting as Ryan Mullinax lead us in singing Sun AM and his dad, Keith lead our worship Sunday evening. Ryan is one of our great young adults at Parrish, he was a teen at Oakman High School when we moved here a decade ago. Now as a young father of two (about to be three), a high school science teacher, baseball coach, and football coach, he is also a leader at Parrish. Ryan and Britney are a great asset to our church family.

Sunday mornings sermon consisted of four questions and a fifth one as a concluding thought. Here are the questions along with a thought about each one:

1. Who do you love? That question seems simple enough. Since I asked this in a sermon, you know the answer was God, Christ, Church, or maybe your spouse. But then again, there are other things that we love. Answer question number 2 to really see who you love?
2. What is your focus? Paul says in 2 Cor 4:18 that the things that are seen are transient, and the unseen things are eternal. John says the world and its desires are passing away (1 Jn 2:17). Stop for a moment, what do you spend most of your time doing? Do you focus on entertainment, business, sports, family, or self? What you spend time with is your focus, and I dare say your focus on what or who you love. Who you love and what you focus on determines your answer to question three:
   
3. Who (what) do you worship? One definition of an idol is anything that takes the place of God in our priorities. In modern western culture we can list a few idols quickly: entertainment, self, money, sexuality, and sports. That last one even has temples (stadiums), high priests (star athletes), vestments (uniforms), congregants/devotees (fans), and rituals (music, seventh inning stretch, etc.) Who do you worship?
4. Now, what will we do? James says to put away the things of the world (Jas 4:4-10) and to flee from the devil and cling to God. Can I put away my idol(s)? Will I?

Joshua challenged Israel with the following words, "choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Josh 24:15) -- The fifth question is: What is your choice?