Greetings, .
One has the feeling that one should rant and rave about the foolish, indeed, sinful excesses of the Super Bowl and all professional sports in general. The outrageous salaries, the total disregard of the fans and their concerns, and the huge business profits at the expense not only of the fans but also of all hard-working tax-paying citizens who are rooked into thinking that spending all of that money on a sports stadium and team is actually going to make money for a community, when the facts prove otherwise, all give rise to great concerns for justice and morality. Add to that the disregard for the health and welfare of the athletes themselves. (I know, you say so what if their health is ruined – they made all those huge salaries and can pay for the best of care. Tell that to Joe Namath.)
I remember when the members of one of the greatest football teams of all time, the Baltimore Colts with Johnny Unitas, which won the first Championship Game against the New York Giants, all had to have regular jobs in the off season in order to feed their families. (And by the way, that was actually the New York Giants, as opposed to the New Jersey Giants who will play in this Super Bowl.) Now the amount spent on the Super Bowl this year will be over $11 billion, with another $11 billion plus spent on gambling on the game. The cost of a 30 second ad is $3.5 million; the average seat costs $4,000, and the luxury box seats are $80,000 each. This has accurately been described as our version of the Roman gladiators battling it out before the frantic fans in the coliseum.
As disturbed as I am by all of this, I must confess to an equal sense of outrage at the entertainment industry, which not only fleeces its fans, but often uses its product to push a political/social agenda which is quite contrary to Christianity. My distress even extends to the world of classical music and opera, where a few stars also make outrageous salaries while the business interests do little if anything to promote the music and its benefits among the masses as they should. Such greed and “star” orientation combine to harm the very musical system they are supposed to be promoting. And one can certainly not forget the leaders of big business and politics, who take home obscene amounts of money while laying off thousands of hard working employees because “their salaries are too high,” or politicians who spend millions of dollars to gain a job which pays something in the neighborhood of $174,000 per year, and then have the gall to tell us they are not compromised or corrupted by it all.
Thus it is hard to get too emotionally upset about the Super Bowl. Instead, one was simply left with the necessity of going out to provide some food and comfort for those in need, who were not able to watch the great event on television. Perhaps one of the saddest aspects of all this is that if those who are homeless should find their situation improved, they would probably seek the same self satisfactions as the rest of us. Oh, wait a minute, all around Baltimore and Washington homeless people are gathered around portable, battery operated televisions watching the Super Bowl. One group I know even has a bar-b-que, and their chicken is really good. One is upset with the whole mind set of our society. To do justice is to work to correct the wrongs, as in caring for the homeless, to oppose the systemic racism of our current society, and to insist on truth in advertising, news and text books. To do justice is to oppose the oppression of those who are “different” from us, to be concerned for the right of all people to live, love and repent of their sin. To do justice is to speak to out in favor of those political situations where God calls for freedom and peace. Or, if you are having a Super Bowl party with friends, consider making the decision to make a contribution to those in need equal to what is spent on the party. Take the opportunity to have fun and do some good at the same time.
We, the “little people,” sometimes bemoan the amount spent by the defense department – that is a subject for serious debate. However, we, the “little people,” could easily cut the spending on the Super Bowl and its gambling in half and have some $12 billion to go a long way toward solving the systemic problems of homelessness.
So there will be many opportunities to make a difference for God. There will be many opportunities to do God’s will and to bring in the Kingdom. Let Super Bowl Sunday be for us the challenge to truly be one with God, doing God’s will in our society.
Yours & His,
DED
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