My husband has been a NASCAR fan for many years, and often watches all three of the series events in a weekend when he can. My son-in-law is a sports enthusiast of every kind and I am amazed to see when I watch a sports event even on TV, the amount of fans in the stadium who are devoted to any given sport. Each fan there is excited about the sporting event and is not in the least bashful about showing appreciation when scores are made from his or her team or leads are taken by his or her driver. (There are as many women at these events as men who have their favorites!)
There is much shouting, jumping up and down with high energy, waving of hands and other sometimes unusual antics to encourage their favored athlete along. In the stadium, everyone seems oblivious to the person next to him whether he agrees with his favored star or not. Each seems interested only in cheering, sometimes for the sheer delight of cheering!
There is such passion for a sports event, sometimes in discussions between friends, when not at an event; the conversation can become heated with emotion when the topics of favorite sports teams or players arise. One will defend his favorite with all the merits he can think of and his counterpart does the same.
The opposite happens when we are in a group where the talk of Christ occurs. Often the topic is soon changed, if possible. Or the conversation stops all together and the group is soon down to one or two left chatting. Even in a church service many are very reticent about displaying any sort of emotion in worship for their Lord and Savior. People are afraid of being labeled a “fanatic” or looked upon as somehow being odd!
Our Pastor said recently that he loves to hear an “Amen” or two while giving a sermon. He said an “Amen” to a Pastor is like “sic ‘em” to a dog! How true! Yet, how few respond. It makes you wonder if the congregation is even listening to the message or are they there simply because it’s Sunday and it’s what you do on Sunday!
I wonder why it seems so natural or normal to scream and holler at a sports event but completely unnatural to lift up praise in a worship service. It seems our priorities are completely out of place. God is supposed to be first and foremost in our lives. It is Christ Jesus who wants to reign in our hearts filling us with love and joy so incredible we want to shout it from the mountain tops with friends and relatives. Instead our discussions and excitement lean toward lesser important and worldly things. Perhaps we need to rethink our values and reasons for excitement?
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:3
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