I was watching a panel of American sports stars on ESPN this past week debate the World Cup. This was a panel of ex college and professional basketball, American football and baseball stars.
I’m not sure if this debate made me laugh or made me annoyed and frustrated. As you may well know I am a huge football (soccer) fan and in my view the world cup is the greatest sports event on the planet, so any debate of things of the football nature has my attention.
The reason this debate made me a little crazy was that these stars were debating what they believe was wrong with the World Cup. The main criticism came from the view that there should be no draws! This panel believed that every game should end in a win or a loss. Some couldn’t believe they played for a whole 90 minutes without there being an eventual winner. I couldn’t help but laugh at how a group of people who do not normally follow the sport, where talking about changing the rules of a game that has been around for the past 150 years and is adored by the majority of the world.
I’m sure most American’s would agree with the panel and the reason for this is that in all honestly the culture and sports following in America does not lean towards a football (soccer) mentality. Most American’s want lots of points, timeouts, multiple substitutions and most of all a result.
This reminds me a little of Christianity in the Western world. The way we conduct our Christian lives in all honesty is far from the way the disciples did when the church began. They gave up everything for their faith, they suffered, they went without, they stood against the religious system of their day and they spread the news of Jesus Christ like there was no tomorrow.
I wonder when we changed our system so it would suit our culture? I wonder when a church building became the focal point of Christianity? I wonder when receiving became more important that giving? I wonder when education became more important than passion? I wonder when fighting became the norm instead of loving? I wonder when our jobs, families and social activities became more important than carrying a daily cross of sacrifice?
It probably happened one day, when a group of people decided the Christ system did not fit into their Christian system and the church gradually became what we know today.
I wonder what would happen in America it we embraced soccer as football and if we in the West got back to pure, raw, authentic Christianity? I know for sure the second one would result in thousands of changed and transformed lives! The first one, I’m not holding my breath!
June 16th, 2010 at 10:28 am
My only reason for not liking soccer is the same reason I don’t like baseball. I find it to be very boring. I played both as a child, but watching it is tough. After watching some of the World Cup I realize I like watching kid’s games more than the professional version.
I think I missed the connection between authentic Christianity and soccer though. Unless, it kind of seems like you view soccer as the THE true, original, sport? Which, clearly there’s no such thing but if there was, things like soccer, baseball and American football couldn’t be it since they’ve only been around a short time in light of all of history. Even American football has been around over 150 years, and baseball much longer but still not that long.
I admit it proudly, I’m a huge American football fan and nothing else seems to come close to that for me. It would take pages for me to really explain why though.
“I wonder what would happen in America it we embraced soccer as football and if we in the West got back to pure, raw, authentic Christianity?” – those are two separate, unrelated things and I’m on board with the 2nd part!
June 16th, 2010 at 11:29 am
That’s funny how passionate you get about American Football. That’s exactly how passionate people are in Europe about Soccer and they don’t get Amercian Football at all, they think it’s boring, lasts too long and doesn’t flow!
I think what I was saying is that so often we change things to fit into our culture and I think we have done that in terms of following Jesus Christ over the last several hundred years.
As for soccer in America! It will never catch on fully! ha!
June 17th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
To me, the main reason American’s can’t get into soccer is probably more about not having local teams than anything else. The Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team was pretty big here fore a while, and still kind of is.
If they could put teams in some big cities, it could happen. People would want some rule changes probably, but I don’t even know enough about it to guess what that would be.
As for Christianity, I think it adapts to the culture around it in order to spread. That’s a good thing, until it (usually churches) stop adapting and then they’re irrelevant. Or, as you kind of referred to, the methods become more important than the gospel and the relationship with Christ.
A good example is buildings. In our culture, where people go to buildings for everything (school, work, entertainment), buildings make sense. Especially here in the northeast where there is a strong presence of Catholicism (formers), a building equals legitimacy and trust. It’s not right, but that’s how it is. So, if done well, buildings can be a great tool for the gospel in America. Like anything, you can overuse it or use it unwisely, but buildings are still a great resource in my opinion.
Tony Morgan had a great post about that where he realized that even in West Africa buildings were important for spreading the gospel, when he would have thought the complete opposite. I don’t think some of the people that commented understood his post though.
http://tonymorganlive.com/2010/02/14/does-the-church-need-a-building/
June 16th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Hey Alex,
I would say the reason people in America do not find soccer appealing is because they do not understand what is going on. They most likely have not played soccer on any type of competitive level and therefore do not appreciate the level of play. They do not comprehend the difficulty of controlling the ball or passing the ball. I’ll bet you dollars to pesos that the majority of people watching in the states do not realize that they are actually running plays on the field, like they do in basketball or football. Anyone that has really tried any sport should have a greater understanding and a whole new appreciation for the professionals of that sport.
As for tying this into Christianity, not sure I can but I would say that most people either don’t understand or have forgotten what was done for them. Also, people tend to get caught up in life and forget that everything is hinged upon God. “Life” can slowly crowd in and move God out. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” It really is simple, just follow God, daily. Take 15 min. today and spend it with God, don’t answer the phone, give that time to God. Don’t worry about tomorrow just focus on today, just 15 minutes that’s all. As people remember/understand what Christ has done for them and begin to put God first in their lives the passion will rise yet again.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I knew there was a reason I liked you Chuck! ha!
On a serious note, it’s funny you say that about being crowded out. I was talking with Raquel the other day about that very same issue, so often we have to watch ourselves that we don’t crowd out God!
Good stuff man!