SportS, EntErtainmEnt

that takES you to hEll

Perhaps when you think of idolatry you think only of graven images or the gods of a false
religion. But this can be furthest from the truth. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the
wrath of God is coming.” (Col. 3:5) The wrath of God is coming for those that practice idolatry.

When we make something other than Christ our primary focus or goal we are clearly are engaged
in idol worship. We worship in what we believe we desperately need to be happy. (James 4:1-3) You
adulterous people! Do you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? (James 4:4-5)

In the Sports and Entertainment arena we have one of the biggest idol worship among us today.
There are so many professing Christians that are literally sucked away in this kind of idolatry. Keep in
mind idol worship is what we:

• Adore (football, etc.)

• Sacrifice for, (missing church, prayer, etc.)

• focus on, (spending 4-6 hours watching sports when you can spend that time studying God’s
word)

• submit to, (dedicated to watching your favorite sitcom TV show when you need to dedicated with
God’s word)

• seek after, (pursuing stadium tickets when you should be pursuing God)

• hope in, (Oh, I can’t wait to watch the game or show when you need to be hoping in Christ return)

• serve to, (serve others by having a party when you need to be serving God with a zeal)

• give to, (giving others invitation to your party when you need to be giving others the true Gospel)

• speak about, (hey, how about those Steelers when you need to be talking about Christ)

• look to for peace, (woman wanting an outcome in a sitcom when you need to find peace with
God)

• Spend a great amount of thoughts, time, energy, and resources on, (sports jerseys, TV sitcom
series, beating yourself up in traffic for the concert, etc. when you need to have your thoughts,
energy all wrapped up with God)

Mar. 2, 2010 DwellingWithGod.com By Jay Gheen

 I’m sure most of us in the world perhaps are aware of the TV show “American Idol.” Sadly there are
probably many professing Christians that could name all the characters in this TV show than they could
repeat from memory a few Bible verses.

I once was listening to a Christian radio station and I remember the radio hosts talking about
“American Idol.” A Christian radio station was discussing who won or who got kicked off that previous
night. From that point on I started questioning perhaps there was something wrong with the music.
Because if God wasn’t working in the DJ through the radio station than he can’t be working in the music.
Later, I realized that music is not Christian worship. You can put the name Christian on the label; you can
put the name Christian in the lyrics. But it doesn’t make it Christian. Music is entertainment in of itself.

You take the game of football for example. Many professing men would seek to go to the earliest
church service the church has to offer so they can hurry and watch their idols all Sunday afternoon and
night, sucking down potato chips and choking on soda pop instead of spending time with God in the word
of God. (Matt. 24:49)

There is a servant of God who seeks God through His word. There is a servant who loves the
word of God. There is a servant of God who loves to spend time in prayer with God. There is a servant of
God who desires righteousness and holiness. There is a servant of God who begs God to bring His
kingdom and usher in His victory or the wicked.

Then there are servants of idols who will not give up their TV. There are servants of idols who
will not give up their material things. There are servants of idols who will not give up their wealth. There
are servants of idols who seek pleasure and comfort. There are servants of idols who desire a person.
There are servants of idols who desire good health. There are servants of idols who will not give up their
ambition.

In the end all idol worshipers will have their part in the lake of fire. “Little children, guard
yourselves from idols.“ (1 John 5:21)

Mar. 2, 2010 DwellingWithGod.com By Jay Gheen