I grew up in Alabama, possibly the worst football-crazed state in the union. I got out of the habit of watching games when I was in the Navy, and never got back into it. My life didn't make much difference. The fact that it didn't make much difference proves it was just a habit.
But that's not why I call it a religion.
You may ignore this as a rant from a bitter old band nerd, and you'd be partly right. I was in the band. I played saxophone, so I wasn't even cool among band nerds.
But that's still not why I call it a religion.
I've been in Sunday School classes where all anyone wanted to talk about was the previous day's game. Let me say that again. People cared more about how well a bunch of college kids moved a piece of leather up and down a field than anything God had to say. When that sort of thing happens, you're not worshipping Christ anymore. You're worshipping at football team.
Two events pushed me over the edge. The first was at a car plant where I worked. People were hooking up car batteries on the assembly line so that they could turn on the radios to listen to constant coverage of the hiring of a coach. If asked, they'd all say that Jesus had complete control of their lives, yet they were at anything that had to do with football.
The second happened that next fall. I had to go to this local Quik-E-Mart between SS and the main services, and in the short time I was there no less than three strangers approached me, wanting to know what team I was for. One guy even had reasons I should root for the same team as him. It made me realize that in 30-some-odd years no one has come up to talk about Jesus, but in a few minutes three strangers had walked up and evangelized for football teams.
Am I saying never watch a game or talk about it? Of course not. I do think John Piper had it right when he said, "You should care about sports, but not that much."
I was raised to be a fan of Alabama football, but Alabama football didn't die on a cross.
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