Comments on: Holy Competition? The Religiosity of Sport’s Entertainment http://renewaldynamics.com/2010/06/14/holy-competition-the-religiosity-of-sports-entertainment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=holy-competition-the-religiosity-of-sports-entertainment Official Blog | Regent University School of Divinity and The Center for Renewal Studies Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:54:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Wolfgang Vondey http://renewaldynamics.com/2010/06/14/holy-competition-the-religiosity-of-sports-entertainment/comment-page-1/#comment-1361 Wolfgang Vondey Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:48:59 +0000 http://renewaldynamics.com/?p=1583#comment-1361 Marc, I resonate with your comment. When I lived in Boston, during the time the Patriots were dominant and the Red Sox finally won the World Series, a woman on TV said, “Now my life finally has meaning.” Although not intended as a theological statement, it was a very religious utterance. When sports replaces Christ as the giver of meaning, the mechanism is fully exposed. Unfortunately, when sports means that much to someone, they are not likely to notice.

]]> By: Marc Santom http://renewaldynamics.com/2010/06/14/holy-competition-the-religiosity-of-sports-entertainment/comment-page-1/#comment-1349 Marc Santom Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:31:58 +0000 http://renewaldynamics.com/?p=1583#comment-1349 Yeah, some really good thoughts there, Dr. Vondey. As someone who loves and adores his Sunday afternoons watching the NFL on TV, I am one who, despite my love for the game, is finding it more difficult to pledge my allegiances to the wide world of sports quite as easily. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a die-hard, hopelessly devoted Pittsburgh Steelers fan. A large part of the reason I am is, without question, culturally based. It’s virtually impossible to grow up in Western Pennsylvania without playing football, thinking about football or cheering at football games on the weekends–especially for the Steelers. Simply put, it was part of family heritage and the black & gold cultural landscape.

Your blog made me think about how my loyalty to the Steelers have been so integral to my identity. Friends of mine from all over the country think of me when the Steelers win or lose. When I travel through airports, I love to don my Hines Ward or Troy Palomalu jersey. When I moved to Detroit and showed up in restaurant with my Steeler jersey, some other Steeler fans crowded around a TV saw me and welcomed me into their game-watching clique. Why? Because I was like family to them. It makes me feel better about myself to be identified with the team that has more Super Bowl victories than any other NFL team. It’s like I’m living a vacarious-victorious life b/c of my attachment to them and identification with them. It’s weird when I really think about it.

So why do I not seem to be as eager to be identified with Christ? I’m not one to wear Jesus garb or Witness Wear–and not just because they are usually cheesey. And I know that being identified with Christ in His suffering and victory goes much, much deeper than what I wear or say–but I’m just examining my motives to see why I find it so easy to identify myself with this “sports entertainment idolatry” and much harder to, in the grittiness of life and relationships, to share Paul’s declaration found in Galatians 2:20. My life is “hidden with Christ in God.” And while that may not necessitate me dumping all of my Steeler loyalty, it does beckon me to be more moved by the Spirit of Jesus on a daily basis than it does to find fanatical joy or heartbreaking misery based upon the outcome of Sunday afternoon’s game….I’ve got some more pondering to do :)

]]>