Should you Watch Football?

Dear Uncle Brad,

Thanks for your letter. You made some good points about playing football. I know you’re not trying to spoil my fun and your concern is that I put the principles of Christ into practice. We know Christ’s return is near and we certainly don’t want him to come and find us right in the middle of doing something wrong.

Right now ,I’ m not completely convinced that it’ s impossible to play football without the desire to hurt the other person. I don’ t mind getting hit with a clean block or tackle. The contact feels good and I enjoy the competition, win or lose.

I know not everyone on the team feels that way and the coach certainly doesn’t. He thinks the only good game is one we win. A lot of the parents feel the same way. They complained bitterly last year when we had a losing record. For the coach, too, winning is the only way he can attract attention from other schools who might offer him a better job at the college level. Winners make a lot more money than losers.

But that’ snot my goal and I think I can play with a right attitude in spite of how the coach and other players feel.

What about you?

However, the real reason I’m writing is to make a few points about the attitudes of parents in the stands and by you and my Dad when you’ re watching games. I can’t believe some of the cries we hear from the stands. “Take his head off!” “Put some hurt on ‘im!” “Hit ‘im again harder, harder!”

Some of the fields are arranged with the fences close to the player’s bench so that parents can get right up to their kids. You should hear some of the advice they give! When we’ re playing in the rain and the field has puddles of water, some dad’s are urging their boys to hold the opponents head in a puddle. You know how dangerous that can be in a pile up when you’ re already out of breath. Somebody can drown that way. In the heat of competition, any idea of consideration seems to be replaced by heavy-duty violence. Sometimes it is downright scary what we hear coming from our parents.

And you must admit I’ve seen you and my Dad getting pretty excited even when you’ve been watching a game on television. I really have heard both of you gloat when an opponent was stretched out on the field: “he’ll never get up, what a beautiful hit!”

Is there any difference?

In regard to other matters, you have pointed out to me the force of Romans 1:32: “…they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” You’ve made the point that this provides a guideline as to what we watch or read. We can be watching somebody commit some awful sin and enjoy it almost like we were doing it ourselves. OK, I can see what you’ re getting at but doesn’t the same thing apply to you watching us play football?

Of course, we’re really just using football as a case in point. I’ve seen you and Dad come screaming to your feet when you were watching a boxing match on TV. In fact, you even throw a couple of uppercuts at the screen trying to help out the hometown favorite.

So what’s the difference? If it is questionable whet her or not I play football, isn’t it questionable whether or not you should watch it?

True, you bear no personal malice to the individual players, but neither do I. If some of the players switched teams, we’d be trying to protect them, not hit them. The same is true for you when somebody is traded to your favorite pro team, all of a sudden he becomes a good guy.

And there is no long-term personal hatred in this. Even with the players, we sometimes get together with fellows from the other teams and are perfectly friendly. All we are really talking about is the emotion of the moment. But what’s the difference between me feeling momentary anger and trying to hit somebody as hard as l can and you feeling the same emotion watching us? Either way it’s a wrong thing indulged in for a few minutes.

The emotion is the thing

I remember Dad giving an exposition on the teachings of Christ and he was hammering away at how they go right into the heart. He was quoting Matt. 5:21-22: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill.. .but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

His point was that ,from our point of view, there is a big difference between murdering somebody and being angry with them. A person can be angry with me all they like but until they do or say something that hurts me it really doesn’t make any difference to me. But that’s not the way God looks at it. He wants the emotions of our heart to be right.

That’s really a pretty basic concept of Christianity. I could see that easily enough. For example, when you read in Gal. 5:22 that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering…” these are all emotions.

So again I ask, what’s the difference? If you are going to experience hostility, anger and wrath watching us play, isn’t that just as bad as us acting out those emotions on the field?

A right cause

Like Dad said in that talk, anger is not inherently a wrong emotion. God experiences anger at the wicked. We can rightly experience anger at those who are cruel and oppressive and long for the day when we can help make things better in the kingdom. But I don’t think you getting all hyped up about who wins a football game is quite in that category.

So I agree , I’ll have to give some thought to playing football, but how about you watching it?

Lots of love,
Mark