Suppose we celebrated our individual and group acts of faith, justice, and love with the enthusiasm of sports fans. Would people want to join in?
I had dinner in New Orleans the night before the Super Bowl with a good friend who always provides deep discussion about important issues. We were joined by my wife and his wife and mother. He turned the conversation to an America article about youth sports, but the conversation ultimately ranged all the way to the Super Bowl.
The opening question was whether our culture’s excessive focus on youth sports, with parents chauffeuring their children all over creation for soccer matches and other contests on Saturdays and Sundays, was causing an exodus of people from the Church.
That led to a discussion of whether for some people, their involvement in youth sports is an attempt to fill a gap created because they have already turned away from religion and are looking for community and transcendence elsewhere. Is the mania that sometimes surrounds professional sports part of the same trend? And what are the spiritual implications?
Sports provide opportunities for teamwork, character development, and purpose
Although overzealous parents can turn their children’s experience of sports into a cauldron of anxiety, self-doubt, and worse, youth sports offers many benefits.
Participants can learn the value of teamwork and how to contribute to a team effort.
They can develop virtues and character traits that may last a lifetime: determination, fortitude, humility, leadership, integrity, patience, collaboration, sacrifice, self-control, equanimity, respect, responsibility, and much more.
They can gain a sense of purpose and belonging as they find that their efforts matter to others in their common pursuit of shared goals.
Does church provide young people with similar opportunities? Where are they given the opportunity to “do” their faith in ways that require teamwork, build character, and provide purpose?
Professional sports offer fans things they don’t find in church
We can ask similar questions about fans of professional sports. Being a fan can create experiences of instant community. All I have to do is where the cap or jersey of my team and I will instantly connect with people. Here is an example: Today, as my wife and I walked along the Mississippi River in New Orleans, we encountered a man wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap. Having been a San Francisco Giants fan for much of my life, I acknowledged his cap and started a conversation. Two strangers, both visiting New Orleans from far-off places, instantly bonded over baseball.
Does it substitute for the communion of believers in church? No. But is it a good thing? Absolutely. God made humans to be social creatures and human connection is a good thing. It’s part of being who we were meant to be.
Does being a church member give us similar opportunities?
Being a fan sweeps people up in a greater sense of purpose. On top of that, people experience moments of intense happiness, even if it is short-lived. These things are not inherently bad. In theory, we should be able to find more perfect forms of them in the Church, but many fans don’t actually find these things at church. Could we change that?
A Church that celebrates its acts of faith like sports fans, with Super Bowl enthusiasm
Consider a thought experiment with me. Imagine a church that is doctrinally the same as it is today. But imagine what would happen if we made a few tweaks to how we lived our faith:
Suppose we treated all church members and potential church members as part of our “team” (which they are).
Suppose we saw the goal of the “game” as being to make Jesus present in everything we do, everywhere we go, all the time (which it is).
Suppose we encouraged people to look for opportunities in everything they do throughout every day to make a good “play” by making Jesus more present (which is our goal).
Suppose we challenged ourselves to bring the values of our Lord into every aspect of our businesses, our governments, our social institutions, so they treat all people with dignity and justice (which is part of our calling as the People of God).
And suppose we celebrated every time a successful play was made (yay!), a near-term goal was achieved (touchdown!), a long-term shift was accomplished (game!), a lifetime of dedication to the work of God’s team was brought to its successful end (champion!).
What might this look like?
Suppose that when Catholic Charities fed a 100 people, the whole church celebrated.
Suppose that when a parishioner reached out to someone and became a trusted companion accompanying them as they faced cancer treatments that might or might not be successful, we all did high-fives.
Suppose that when Catholic Relief Services provided a new well to a village in a developing country, freeing up countless hours previously dedicated to walking for water, allowing more girls to go to school, saving everyone from constant bouts of dysentery, we all did a dance in the end zone of our parish.
Suppose that when an employee found the courage to say to a boss, “I can’t do that; it wouldn’t be ethical,” we all jumped for joy.
Suppose that when a justice group convinced a member of Congress to vote against a proposal to cut food assistance, we all did the wave.
Suppose that when a despondent neighbor was invited to church and came, or a parishioner welcomed a new immigrant or stranger, we all cheered.
Wouldn’t that be a church worth going to? Who wouldn’t want to be a part of Team Jesus, if that's what the team looked like?
Suppose that instead of bemoaning the fact that sports is stealing people away from church, we instead re-imagined how to do church in a way that people want to be part of – not by changing the doctrine but by changing the communal experience so that we celebrate faith like sports fans at the Super Bowl. Wouldn’t that be a game-changer?
May we develop the Super Bowl spirit where it most fully belongs: in the People of God!
