A 151-foot-tall hot-air balloon replica of Rio de Janeiro’s “Christ the Redeemer” statue wearing a soccer jersey floated over Melbourne, Australia, this week. The balloon, promoting the gambling company Sportsbet and the FIFA World Cup extravaganza, is the perfect amalgam of an old-fashioned, Ephesian-style temple idol and the more intangible heart yearnings for things other than God.
There is nothing wrong with soccer. Some of my best friends play soccer, especially the ones from Marseille. “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4, ESV). Or if you want to cavil that soccer wasn’t “created by God,” then I still adduce God’s denouncing of the false asceticism of those who cry “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” (Colossians 2:21, ESV).
Read Full Article »