Soccer madness can be sinful - Nigerian Movies & Nollywood on Naijarules.com

sarah · #1 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 10:22 AM

To all soccer loving christians

Some people love soccer more than they love going to church, while others love soccer more than their spouses and children.
With the World Cup currently going on in Germany, it’s surprising that some people have failed to concentrate on their work and attend to their family needs.
In one of the interviews in the international press one man said now that the World Cup has come, he expects his wife not to talk to him in the entire 90 minutes of the game, or she will face dire consequences.

It is very interesting to see how some people follow foreign soccer more than they do with their family business. Some parents are more interested in the affairs of Wayne Rooney of England and Manchester United and Ronadinhlo of Brazil and Barcelona than in the affairs of their children and families in general.

The question is: Is love for soccer sinful?
The answer is playing or watching soccer is NOT A SIN. However, the same passion for soccer can be sinful depending on how you handle it.

Writing on idolatry, author Arthur Wallis wrote, “An idol may be defined as any person or thing that has usurped in the heart, the place of pre-eminence that belongs to the Lord.
When soccer usurp God’s place of pre-eminence in a man’s heart, soccer loses its innocence. Soccer can be idolized and idolatry is sinful before the eyes of God. Exodus 20 verses 3-5 has this to say bout idolatry: “you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship; for I, the Lord your God, I am a jealousy God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third generation of those who hate me.”

Soccer can be a form of idolatry. The sixth edition of the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines Idolatry as too much love or admiration for someone or something. In this case football fans whose support is too overzealous for their team borders on idolatry.

There are people in this world who have worshipped Pele and Maradona when the two were in their glorious state of performance. Age caught up with these stars and today they can no longer play like they used to before. Unlike these stars, our God remains intact. He was the same yesterday, today and he will be the same tomorrow. Football teams rise and fall but the word of God does not.

There was a time when Liverpool was untouchable in the English Premiership. They were the undisputed champions for a good span of time. Man U’s turn to dominate on the soccer scene came. Things turned around and Arsenal came into limelight. Today Chelsea is a shining start in the premiership. Such are trends in the world of football.

Because of such trends in football, a wise man knows that his team cannot always be on top, while a foolish person fails to understand this and goes on hunger strike each time his team loses a game or misses a penalty or abandons his loved ones completely.

The point is there is nothing wrong or sinful in loving and supporting a football club or national team, but when you elevate your team above God’s place of pre-eminence in your life, then sin creeps in.

Lets not worship Ronadinhlo, Michael Essien, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Thierry Henry and others no matter how good these stars are.
Lets remember that our God is jealousy. He hates idol worshipping. All the sports stars are his creation.

vince · #2 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah

Lets remember that our God is jealousy. He hates idol worshipping.

Stop apportioning petty emotional reactions as jealousy and envy to the almighty,sarah!Stop committing blasphemy!God(the one who created us all) is too mighty to be jealous of mere humans,who are just his creations.Jealousy and envy are for lesser gods or deities.God is cool and tolerant like that.He/she loves watching soccer,too.

sarah · #3 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 10:44 AM

But the same God says He is a jealousy God, Vince he doesnt want us to worship other gods ( i know its written in the bible)i know this is going to draw big debate. but i believe soccer madness is one form of idolatry

atlast i got vince comment on my thread am so happy

on a serious note, there is nothing ave written that is blasphemous i didnt say God is jealous of human beings (he is not happy with some people who worship other people in form idolatry. I will soon tell you of people who worship these stars i have evidence, not just idolising them but i mean real, praising and thanking these stars for their lives.

vince · #4 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah

But the same God says He is a jealousy God, Vince he doesnt want us to worship other gods

The big question here is,"Which God said that?".Definitely not the almighty,omnipotent,omnipresent and omniscient God that created me and the entire universe.He is way way way too high for all that envy and jealousy stuff.How can you or anybody for that matter, ever believe that a deity as supremely intelligent as the creator,who constructed and designed the entire universe can stoop so low as to be envious and jealous?
Such imperfections are for lesser deities and humans,and not the almighty.Like i said before,Eledumare,the God almighty,creator of heaven and earth is way too cool and advanced to be envious and jealous of anything.Have you ever seen a Bugatti owner being jealous or envious of a skoda owner?Impossible!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah

on a serious note, there is nothing ave written that is blasphemous i didnt say God is jealous of human beings (he is not happy with some people who worship other people in form idolatry.

In my own opinion,God does not give two hoots which idol or football celeb you or any other human being worship,as long as we take care of this planet that was left in our care,and ofcourse,we love each other.God is love,and love is the only universal truth that matters.Any other thing is irrelevant.
BTW,God has an armada of angels worshipping him/her up there,so why should (s)he loose sleep on whether we worship him/her or not?
These are just my personal opinions,ofcourse.Feel free to ignore them.

Pete · #5 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 02:47 PM

Vince, I already know how you view the Bible, but I couldn't resist replying.

If we are talking about God the Creator and Author of the 10 commandments, then He did in fact say He IS a jealous God, but not our kind of petty helpless jealousy. References: Exodus 20:4-6 and Exodus 34:14.

vince · #6 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

Vince, I already know how you view about the Bible, but I couldn't resist replying.

If we are talking about God the Creator and Author of the 10 commandments, then He did in fact say He IS a jealous God, but not our kind of petty helpless jealousy. References: Exodus 20:4-6 and Exodus 34:14.

I am sorry,pete,but i do not recognize that deity as the God the creator.That deity you just mentioned is just a lesser deity of the biblical isreali people called Yahweh.I do not accept this deity as the supreme God.
The supreme God have no favoured people on this planet.All peoples of this planet are equally favoured by him/her.
A controversial view,yes,but you know me,i like controversy!

Pete · #7 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vince

I am sorry,pete,but i do not recognize that deity as the God the creator.That deity you just mentioned is just a lesser deity of the biblical isreali people called Yahweh.I do not accept this deity as the supreme God.
The supreme God have no favoured people on this planet.All peoples of this planet are equally favoured by him/her.
A controversial view,yes,but you know me,i like controversy!

Well then, I already started off by saying I know your views about the Bible. We could linger on the subject, but then we'll be using different standards which wouldn't help.

vince · #8 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

Well then, I already started off by saying I know your views about the Bible. We could linger on the subject, but then we'll be using different standards which wouldn't help.

Pete,tell me something,how do you as a christian accept a deity whose laws Jesus - who is supposed to be his son,and sent by him - repudiated so blatantly in the NT,as the supreme being?Can you see the confusion?
God sent his only son to make a mincemeat of his own laws!!
Time to stop letting these oyinbo folks make a mess of our heads jare.

The Maverick · #9 (**permalink**) 06-19-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah

[b]
The question is: Is love for soccer sinful?
The answer is playing or watching soccer is NOT A SIN. However, the same passion for soccer can be sinful depending on how you handle it.

Writing on idolatry, author Arthur Wallis wrote, “An idol may be defined as any person or thing that has usurped in the heart, the place of pre-eminence that belongs to the Lord.
When soccer usurp God’s place of pre-eminence in a man’s heart, soccer loses its innocence. Soccer can be idolized and idolatry is sinful before the eyes of God.

So can anything else you do in life, from your work, to your relationships to your hobbies. So because a person is so into Ronaldinho, it could be taken to a sinful lever, however if that person exhibits the same amount of love, attention and concentration to his wive and kids it's ok and no longer sinful???

Folks always be trying to read so much more into things....in less than a few weeks the damn thing will be over and Ghana will go home with the World Cup and we'll go back to loving God or whowever it is we're supposed to love...Wait, I meant Brazil.

sarah · #10 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

Vince, I already know how you view the Bible, but I couldn't resist replying.

If we are talking about God the Creator and Author of the 10 commandments, then He did in fact say He IS a jealous God, but not our kind of petty helpless jealousy. References: Exodus 20:4-6 and Exodus 34:14.

aah thanks pete, atleast someone views the bible as i do. didnt know vince views the bible in a different way thats ok, thats what the thread is all about we have different opinions

sarah · #11 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Maverick

So can anything else you do in life, from your work, to your relationships to your hobbies. So because a person is so into Ronaldinho, it could be taken to a sinful lever, however if that person exhibits the same amount of love, attention and concentration to his wive and kids it's ok and no longer sinful???
Folks always be trying to read so much more into things....in less than a few weeks the damn thing will be over and Ghana will go home with the World Cup and we'll go back to loving God or whowever it is we're supposed to love...Wait, I meant Brazil.

Maverick i humbly ask you to read my post again, you have your own views thanks, i can tell you i read more into whatever .......for your information am a big soccer fan, infact i have problems waking up inthe morning because i make sure i watch all the matches and its usually past midnight here. thats why i said its not a sin infact i highlighted that, but dont let soccer come first before GOD thats all am saying.

so never mind lets pray for our brothers ghana they can surely make it, right now forget Brazil

Pete · #12 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 04:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vince

Pete,tell me something,how do you as a christian accept a deity whose laws Jesus - who is supposed to be his son,and sent by him - repudiated so blatantly in the NT,as the supreme being?Can you see the confusion? God sent his only son to make a mincemeat of his own laws!!

No. Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law but to fufill it - Matt 5:17.

Quote:

Time to stop letting these oyinbo folks make a mess of our heads jare.

My experience as a Christian has more to do with personal findings than what "Oyibo folks" said.

vince · #13 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Maverick

So can anything else you do in life, from your work, to your relationships to your hobbies. So because a person is so into Ronaldinho, it could be taken to a sinful lever, however if that person exhibits the same amount of love, attention and concentration to his wive and kids it's ok and no longer sinful???

Folks always be trying to read so much more into things....in less than a few weeks the damn thing will be over and Ghana will go home with the World Cup and we'll go back to loving God or whowever it is we're supposed to love...Wait, I meant Brazil.

Well said,the mav.

Okestra007 · #14 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 06:55 AM

Soccer is not a year round thingy, World Cup is every 4 years. And am sure that the bible didn't say having a little fun here and there is sinful. Am sure that my book of Mark chapter 12 verse 17 says; "Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him." So please people, righteously enjoy this world cup game, because you'll have to wait another 4 years to see another.