Those of you who will be admitted first to heaven no doubt are aware that pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 16 days and two hours, as I write. But some of you probably watch football.
The Super Bowl will be played this Sunday. If the game follows form, some athlete, at some point, will thank his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his success. Or he will score a touchdown and point to the sky.
What do we make of this? How involved is God in the Super Bowl? Is victory a sign of God’s favor? If so, what is the significance of defeat?
As a former sports writer who travelled with a few teams, I can tell you that the good guys don’t always win and that surly misanthropes and unrepentant serial adulterers are quite capable of publc piety.
All this has made me wish that athletes and other celebs would keep their prayers private. But perhaps there is value in celebrity witness? If so, is what you see on the Super Bowl the kind of witness we are looking for?