The Struggle with the Super Bowl

Status
Not open for further replies.
I played football all the way up to the 12th. grade,then enjoyed and still enjoy College Football from time to time. The Super Bowl so called to me is anything but super, so it is not a struggle for me to watch or not watch.It's just another game be it the last game of the season between two pro teams who may not even be the best teams in their divisions. Lords Day blessings trump it with no problem at this time in my life,but if my heart grows cold toward my Lord well just about anything can distract me in that state of soul.
 
What do you guys think about having a page on my internet browser showing me the live score and checking on it once to a while to see how the Packers are doing?

Jason, it is a matter for your conscience and your conscience alone. As for me, it wouldn't let me off the hook, since someone has to maintain that website on Sunday.

Interesting point here Pastor. I have always been under the impression that watching sports on the Lord's Day violated the 4th commandment because we are to rest from our own recreations and give the day wholly over for worship. Is the reason that sports violates the 4th commandment due to the players having to work? For example, lets say I videotaped a ball game from Saturday where no one was caused to work on the Lord's Day. Would it be permissible in your opinion (or others) to view this on the Lord's Day? I am thinking that it is both reasons (both the work and the refraining from recreation) that deem Sunday football to be a violation of the 4th commandment, but now this gives me new food for thought on Pastor Greco's earlier question about if it would be permissible to watch a taped version of the Super Bowl on Monday. I think I've confused myself...:confused:

WCF 21.8
This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
 
Andrew, for me it is both reasons, as you suggested. Not only is someone else working on the Sabbath for my amusement and entertainment, but also I am not resting from those recreations that I would normally do on other days of the week.
 
I hate football, so I'll probably watch it, not being a slave and all.

I'm sort of in the same boat--not that I hate football. It's more that I'm am indifferent to the extreme. I've never liked watching it, even though I was an avid player up to college. The only way I ever know when the Super Bowl is on is when these discussions come up on the PB.

But, no, I'm not going to watch it, despite Tim's back-door challenge. ;)

I can't really take Rob up on his challenge, either, because it's not really a challenge for me. I haven't watched it in at least 25 years.
 
Would it also mean that you should not get up and leave the room during a commercial?

That was part of the discussion that I read. No bathroom breaks unless the game is underway.

As I said, I'm not convinced, but it is an interesting intellectual exercise in light of the Standards.
 
I said, "I think he isn't asserting that we have liberty."
And I'm saying that there was no false pretense in the way he worded, but you imputed that to him by calling his challenge facetious. I'm not trying to be a stickler here, really. I just think that he meant well, but you took it to be a veiled condemnation.


I've TOTALLY explained myself to death, and I don't even know why. I feel like I imputed nothing. I said exactly what I felt he did. He granted that some of us may at least feel that we have the liberty. Instead of dealing with that, he asked us to ignore that liberty. That is a ridiculous request to make of someone, right? I think I gave him good advice:
I think this post would make more sense and be more honest if you tried to convince people that it is actually wrong, rather than tried to "challenge" us to ignore our liberty (since you are, albeit facetiously, granting that we may have it) and go to bed early.
I did not call his post, nor see it, as a veiled condemnation. I really thought it was wrong to approach something as if it were a matter of liberty and then ask people to forgo their liberty, even if he were only using the liberty thing for argument's sake.

Greenbaggins could see the confusion and explained it nicely.

I think a lot of the difficulty here is that Robert is saying that some people believe that they have the liberty to watch the SB, but he doesn't believe that. He is trying to enter the ground of the other position, and then make a suggestion on that basis. As I read him, what he is saying is that there are more profitable ways of spending one's time on the Sabbath, even if someone believes that the SB is not a violation of the 4th commandment.


---------- Post added at 06:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:28 PM ----------

Would it also mean that you should not get up and leave the room during a commercial?

That was part of the discussion that I read. No bathroom breaks unless the game is underway.

As I said, I'm not convinced, but it is an interesting intellectual exercise in light of the Standards.

I'd think advertisers and the products they represent aren't aware of who watches or who reads what ad. They get paid just for making the commercial. The event or TV show gets paid just for airing it. They use ratings to show how many households have that program on, but if they are guaranteeing that someone is watching it, they are lying. I think all companies know that people aren't compelled, morally or otherwise, to watch their ads, or else they wouldn't work so hard to make the ads entertaining.
I don't think that me skipping an ad could at all be me stealing from the company producing the product in the ad, since what do I owe them? And the other categories, the ad company and the TV program, again, get paid regardless. I know you also aren't convinced that it is stealing, but I wonder what those that are would say of my analysis.
 
What kind of message are we sending when we have Super Bowl parties at churches? Why not have a party every NFL Sunday?

Super Bowl parties at church? WHAT IN THE WORLD!

Anywhere except NJ, I guess.

------------------

What's interesting is the Lord may use the NFL to force churches to return to Sabbath observance.

From a Washington Post article: NFL Pulls Plug On Big-Screen Church Parties For Super Bowl - washingtonpost.com

But this year, Immanuel's Super Bowl party is no more. After a crackdown by the National Football League on big-screen Super Bowl gatherings by churches, the Springfield church has sacked its event. Instead, church members will host parties in their homes.

The Super Bowl, the most secular of American holidays, has long been popular among churches. With parties, prayer and Christian DVDs replacing the occasionally racy halftime shows, churches use the event as a way to reach members, and potential new members, in a non-churchlike atmosphere.

"It takes people who are not coming frequently, or who have fallen away, and shows them that the church can still have some fun," said the Rev. Thomas Omholt, senior pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in the District. Omholt has hosted a Super Bowl party for young adults in his home for 20 years. "We can be a little less formal."

Ministers are not happy.
 
Hmm, seems we had a rather heated discussion about this before, with more than one stone cast. I really don't care much about the Super Bowl. But I do enjoy a good football game. And it is an opportunity for fellowship with other believers. So, I'll go watch the game and enjoy the fellowship.
 
Well, to make your scenario more apt, it'd be like eating a meal at a restaurant on Monday that you knew for certain it took the cook Sunday to prepare it.

Or, reading a good Reformed book you ordered last week, and which was delivered on Monday - you know it was "in transit" on Sunday. Somebody had to work on Sunday (e.g., UPS pilot) to get that book to you.
 
Let's all pray, that as earlier scheduling practices changed the date of games, e.g. "Monday night football" the Super Bowl becomes

a Saturday night event!
 
Last edited:
I don't understand why people who don't like football are so anxious to watch the Super Bowl. It really is football at it's worst. (At least it was when I stopped watching.) The score is rarely close. The commercials interrupt the flow of the game. It's played in a dome or fair weather city. It is gambling, not football that makes the event what it is. If you don't like football already, you won't like the Super Bowl.
 
I am one of those who "think they have liberty" and am still going to watch the game. I am not going to be able be at my church on Sunday due to my work schedule but will still worship God on Sunday. Even still, I will be participating in a Super Bowl party after the end of the service. I have yet to be pointed to a passage that, conclusively, points that we must not do anything "recreational" on Sunday.
 
Isaiah 58:13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.
 
Isaiah 58:13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.


Sorry Edward! Didn't see that you beat me to it.
 
.


Is not watching a football game a rather large amount of time to spend
on any day of the week on something of such little worth or importance
when we consider our never dying soul, on it's way to the great eternity.


Have a good Lord's day,


.
 
Last edited:
I fail to understand how a group of people watching a game on television together constitutes fellowship with one another.

If fellowship is the goal, why not gather together for a meal and prayer or study of the Scriptures ? This seems a more appropriate SB Sunday alternative.

Besides what is the Super Bowl compared to the worship and adoration of the Triune God?
If the Lord's Day is about taking aside all worldly cares and recreations and turning from our own ways and desires how can we possibly fulfill the commandment by turning to a desire to see a certain team get a ball across a line?
 
Last edited:
I don't understand why people who don't like football are so anxious to watch the Super Bowl.

Because it's more than just the football. It's the whole spectacle. If you were to poll a sampling of those who watched last night's game, I'm certain that the majority were watching for reasons other than an interest in the game itself. The festivities that surround the Super Bowl are what mostly attract people. The wings, beer, chips, dips, beer, pizza, sausages, BBQ, and beer are what people get excited about. That and the time spent with friends.
I watch the Super Bowl every year, but usually I have little to no interest in the outcome of the game.

It really is football at it's worst. (At least it was when I stopped watching.) The score is rarely close.

6 of the last 10 Super Bowls were decided by less than a touchdown.

The commercials interrupt the flow of the game.

The Super Bowl is the one time in the year when people DON'T ignore the commercials. Frankly, I hear of lots of people who care more about the commercials than the game. Again, it's about the whole experience, not the 60 minutes that the game clock is running.
 
I like a party and a good reason to gather with friends for food and fellowship. So, always feel like a spoilsport telling people they should not watch the Super Bowl, or any other game on the Lord’s Day.

But, the moral law remains: 24 hours in seven days belong to the Lord; and he has given them to men for the care of our souls.

Whether one starts the Lord’s Day at midnight or sundown is of less importance, if one is consistent. In most places, evening services will come after sundown, at least part of the year. And, one will have other things they must sacrifice on Saturday evening. Adjusting the Lords Day for the sake of Super Bowl is less than genuine. Better stick with the common practice of the church, midnight to midnight. Everyone determining the beginning and ending of their Lord’s Day for themselves does not lend itself to public worship of Christian fellowship.

Had a wonderful Lord’s Day yesterday. As usual folk come for 10 AM Sunday school, followed by 11 AM worship, followed by a fellowship meal together (as half the congregation drives some distance to church), followed by a catechism class, with some time for fellowship and prayer afterwards, followed by evening service at 5 PM, followed by another fellowship meal for those who can stay, with the last people leaving between 9 and 10 PM. These saints love God and enjoy each other.

One new visitor (attending only a couple weeks, and learning about the reformed faith) declared after, “I’m so glad I came to evening worship rather than watching the Super Bowl.”

How can anyone maintain that highly paid professionals engaged in business on the Lord’s Day, for profit and the entertainment of millions, with all their logistical and media support (certainly not conducive to most of them worshipping) is God honoring or in conformity with his moral law found in the 4th commandment?

“The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law; and, in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin; from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation; as also, in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind” [WCF XX:1], and leaves the conscience “free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.” [WCF XX:2] “They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. [WCF XX:3]
 
I realized this morning that I have not turned on our TV set once in 2011 (since early December actually, If I recall correctly). Granted, I have watched college football games and some movies via laptop/internet, but I haven't exactly missed the TV set.
 
As one who could have previously been considered an omnivore when it comes to sports, yet whom by God's grace has been "always Reformed" (that is, Reformed since conversion 13+ years ago), allow this poor layman his two cents on these matters. Which can apply to sports of all kinds...

It is my practice to rarely, if ever, watch "live" television of any kind. Oh, yes, we have it on in the background sometimes, but 98% of the time we are watching a pre-recorded program. Which allows us to skip over the commercials. (I must say, the argument about not watching commercials being akin to theft was a new one on me. Needless to say, there is no obligation to watch these. Which makes the Super Bowl that unique 'event' where people are actually paying attention to the commercials! Something that would usually be considered "a necessary evil"!) If you wish to watch less sports (as I do), simply learn the outcome in advance. That is, after all, the lure of most sports, besides an appreciation of people's God-given skills - like a good story, not knowing the outcome (but thinking you can predict it!)

I daresay, with regards to professional football, that there is even less reason to watch it on Sundays with the advent of Monday night (and now the occasional Thursday night and Saturday evening) games. And you can even watch certain games in a condensed form during the week thanks to the NFL's own channel. Other than man-made tradition, there's no reason that games couldn't be played on Saturday nights instead of Sunday. Though does that make it really "better"?

The fourth commandment arguments are always the most heated because they force you to look at your own heart, and to exercise charity in looking at others'. Clearly watching Sunday football cannot fall into a work of mercy or necessity; and yet there are Christians who watch and/or participate in it. I will grant that some people may not be spiritually weakened by such practice though we as Reformed Christians have been warned against it; I prefer the positive argument which is, given a choice between hearing the Word of God (including preaching of course) and any other activity on the Lord's Day, why wouldn't you choose the Word?
 
I never watch the SuperBowl - but even before I was a Christian, I just never cared for sports. This Sunday we went over to watch the game for an hour with some friends from Church who had invited us. I dutifully sat down and observed the spectacle that unfolded.

The game itself? It was boring - nothing much bothered me. But the commercials? Yikes. I had to look away at some of them. And the HalfTime show? (I left shortly after since we had to put the kids to bed). All I know is that I saw a female singer gyrating and that did it for me.

So besides the issues of the Sabbath (which I am constantly convicted of for my lack of foresight and dedication in planning for it) - I personally am too convicted in watching something like the SB. I know it's cool and hip these days to say that churches can have fun "just like the world", but I cannot conceive of some of that imagery being portrayed being shown in a Church for a SB party.

I think I just grieved myself even thinking about it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top