I have been enjoying a podcast by Ben Sasse, entitled Not Dead Yet. You can do background on him–a very inspiring person and gifted man. I love much of what he talks about and fully enjoy his openness. There is one topic that has been bothering me. It is his love for professional football (college / pro). In a recent episode, he talks about the brilliance of football from a sociological perspective. Essentially, he is pleased and amazed that America has replaced war with this game…doing battle until the whistle blows…restrained contact…etc
If his were a commentary on how the unregenerate world has accomplished the restraint of violence and evil through games, and primarily American football, then I would lend my support. But for a Christian? We are to put away violence, so there should be no defense of football as a Christian participatory endeavor and I see no value in spectatorial participation either, as in “Come on fellow Christians, let’s watch how the unregenerate world has managed to not kill each other all the time. Isn’t it fun to watch them play war?” Or, as I thought as a child, aren’t war comic books so fun to read? Aren’t war history books fascinating? See how that army surprised and obliterated the other army? Wow, what fun.
To give credit where credit is due, I appreciate Ben’s perspective on baseball, at least in this: You can be in the hall of fame if you ‘only’ fail 70% of the time. Failing often sets you up to be more resilient in life. That’s good for kids. I can agree with that perspective (However, I still don’t see how pro baseball is good – those guys should have learned enough about life by adulthood to go out and do something meaningful)