http://babylonbee.com/news/man-feels-led-things-coincidentally-likes/ (satire)

So there is this satire post about a man doing things for "God's glory" (not explicitly said in article) because they are things he likes.

Now the point is we need to examine our heart and differentiate doing something "because we like it or are good at it" or doing it because it actually promotes the Gospel and the Kingdom. This can apply to music. This can apply to sports, to art, to dance, to even video games or board games night.This can apply to theological reading/teaching. This can apply to mission trips. I'm not saying these things can't glorify God, I'm just asking the question are we doing these things truly for God, or is this actually a veiled excuse to do something for ourselves.

Just because we like something, or are good at it, doesn't automatically we should use it to serve or glorify God. More often than not (in scripture and now), God will use our weaknesses and dislikes to humble us and reveal His glory all the more. Discernment please.

Update: Say this, I say that I am going to play Dota (or SSBM) for the Kingdom, because I like Dota. "I am going to buy this tango for the Glory of God. I am going to stun the enemy hero for the Glory of God. I am going to get a rampage kill for the Glory of God!" Seems very silly to me to even think that. But that's really how people think for sports and other showcases of skill. "I'm going to make this basket for the Glory of God. I'm going to make this touchdown for the Glory of God. I am going to thank God for giving me this win." Why don't people see the silliness there? Dota is a already recognized by the US and intentionally as a professional sport, and yet why is it silly to praise God in Dota games (and it is silly), and completely acceptable and praiseworthy to worship the success of an athlete (who happens to be Christian)?

If you are going to praise someone for their athletic skill, then praise them all for it because God gave them all the skills, motivation, environment, and work ethic for them all to be where they are today. When we use the excuse that certain athletes are Christian (who may be doing great work for the Lord, but you don't know that) just to praise their athletic ability and professional success, we really are just idolizing man instead of worshiping God. Either praise God for all athletic skill among all players, Christian or not, else just keep your eyes solely on Christ and don't bring in anything created by man for man's own glorification (which is the primary purpose to play sports and drive for watching sports).

Currently the greatest destruction of the American Church is the idolatry of sports, creating a niche for human pride and complacency to rise and fester in her. It also alienates so many people who need the Gospel. Those who use TV shows or video games as a drug to escape the reality that the world is cruel and hurtful. There is so much ignorance, and so much need for churches to be more inviting to those who have been told their entire lives to buy into mainstream American sports culture. When they refuse, or cannot acclimate, they are bullied from primary school all the way into the workforce, and especially in churches. In many ways, Asian-American males and international Chinese males are the most hurt by this. How many role models in sports are there for us? How many male Asians are there who play basketball, soccer, American football, and even tennis? Instead we find solace in gaming, in making art/music, watching anime or k-dramas, and in social media, all the while the American church culture tells us we are immature and weird. Is that how Jesus would want us to treat our Asian brothers? At least we understand gaming is only an escape, a drug, something to try to fill our hearts besides Jesus. At least we don't worship and glorify our passions the way America idolizes sports. For sure we need the Gospel, but don't try to sell us a Gospel that involves sports.

On a similar note...
http://babylonbee.com/news/man-admits-life-together-just-excuse-whatever/ (satire)
http://babylonbee.com/news/loved-jesus-much-love-baseball-laments-unbelievably-spiritual-man/ (satire) but actually...
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-diagnostic-questions-to-detect-sports-idolatry
I agree all the points, especially the point borrowing from Star Trek: "If you are emotionally compromised by it, you are probably idolizing it." I do have a critique though. Just because Paul uses an analogy of the work ethic of athletes doesn't automatically make it a role model profession. Jesus used farming analogies more than anything else, but does that mean we should worship farmers? What about carpenters? Jesus was one. Why don't we worship Christians scientists, who arguably work harder and longer hours than athletes, and contribute more to society. I will also pull the context card, because what it mean to be an athlete in 1st century Israel is a far cry from the athletes we see now. Protection of family, protection of the nation, and being able to work, since most work then involved physical labor, vs entertainment, self-fulfillment, and the big bucks. Yes, there are cases where you can look at an athlete and somehow allude it to the Gospel, but you really are just picking the least likely analogy out of millions God gave us to pick from, and no analogy can ever substitute for the explicit Gospel anyways.

Two disclaimers:
 Why do Christians look up to Steph Curry like he is Jesus reincarnated? I don't even look to C.S. Lewis, Tim Keller, John Piper, David Platt, Matt Chandler, Francis Chan, Paul Washer, Tozer, Zwemer, Tripp, Craig, MacArthur, Sproul, Wright, Zacharias, Spurgeon, Stott, Taylor, Elliot, Mother Teresa...I don't even look up to these great men of faith who have done so much for the Kingdom (and who Paul tells us to copy their walk of faith) the way my brothers and sisters look up to and worship Christian athletes. To use Curry only as an example, as he may be a wonderful person and a humble man of faith (I don't know, maybe he is a lukewarm Christian who pursues only his dreams and pretends they are God's calling), but here are two truths of the Gospel: 1) Steph Curry is only a man, and according to Scripture, he is shit. We all are shit. Our works are shit, especially those produces from worldly, man-made acts (like sports); 2) everything he has (everything we all have) is a gift from God. His talent at basketball. His work ethic. His drive. His support. All of these were gifts from God, and he did NOTHING to earn any of it. How do I know? To parallel an Angelina Jolie speech, there could be someone who has the same athletic build as Curry, same latent talent at basketball, but because of the environment he was born in, whether its in poverty or an unstable 3rd world country, or be living in a refugee camp, he will never have an opportunity to play in the NBA. Doesn't matter if he works twice has hard as Curry. Doesn't matter if he dreams twice as big as Curry. He will never have the chances Curry had, or even I had. This is the hard cold fact, the reality of this world, and part of the reality of the Gospel (the who we are part).

Video games can be analogous to drugs (scientifically backed) as sports are a manifestation of the prideful human nature. Sports has such a higher ability to generate human pride than video gaming ever can. PERIOD. Why? Because more often than not, people are ashamed to play video games, just as drug addicts are ashamed of doing drugs. Society has deemed it an activity of "lesser worth," one that elicits shame. The elites, the bullies, the jocks, and the Trumps have all beaten that into gamers' heads. So there isn't much pride in gaming, but more escape, solace, and community with outcasts. But sports isn't an addiction or a drug. It is the manifestation of innate human desire to glorify oneself or one's team/faction. Why do we play sports? To prove to others we are more athletic and talented. Why do we support sports teams? To show others our team is better. We are proud to say we can play a sport with some skill. We are proud to support and brag about our sports teams. All the primarily reasons for the existence of sports are selfish. We don't need to be afraid to talk about sports at work, and even at church. Just as Matt Chandler puts it, every sports team is a cult. Loyalty. Fanaticism. Idolatry. That is why sports have produced so much more violence, jealousy, and destruction over the ages. Whole countries have gone into economic and social depression over a soccer game. Families have been torn apart. Fathers have neglected loving and teaching their children because of sports. Because sports and Pride are so tied together, it has that much more faith-destroying power. It has taken over so much space in Christian hearts, hearts that should belong to Christ and Christ alone. Yes, I rather be that guy who posts "idolatry!" on Facebook posts about sports and be told "lighten up" than be the guy who lets Christians' idolatry of sports push away so many outcasts from Church who dearly need healing and the Gospel.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/rise-steph-curry-no-fluke
I will give Steph Curry the benefit of the doubt that he is a true brother in Christ. But it is articles like this that make me question everything about modern, millennial, "relevant" Christianity. This article already botches everything I said above about the Gospel,;about work ethic, misquoting Philippians 4:13 by invoking the Prosperity Gospel, and I wonder what Calvinists think about the free will section of the article. Even the usage of Proverbs 3 and Matthew 25 are hard stretches that would never fly with 1st century Christians (or with Jesus for that matter).

Let us be completely honest here. The pillar of sports in human society is built on pride (the worst sin) and worldliness (the devil's greatest weapon). From that pillar rains down domestic violence, sexual violence, greed (love of money), economic instability, and completely unnecessary and avoidable animosity across many social lines: between family members, between friends, between schools, between communities, even between countries! One can even make the same secular argument that porn (indirectly) promotes sex trafficking, likewise sports (indirectly) promotes sex trafficking. Everyone knows the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the World Cup are the greatest hubs for human trafficking. So do I have a valid point with all of this or no?

Sidenote: What if, and this is completely speculative and written half jokingly, the anti-Christ comes from the sports world? People have said that the anti-Christ is Oprah, or Obama, or the UN, or will come from Islam, or the Entertainment Industry, or be a future world leader, or even the digital world. But if the anti-Christ or beast is actually the sports industry, that each of the heads or horns or eyes is a particular sport: basketball, football, baseball, soccer...esports. What other human creation can grip nations the same way sports can? What can lead to a country going into economic success or depression because their national team won or last a championship? What other human activity can demand such loyalty day in and day out from its fans in front of the TV or even work attire? Just look at Cubs fans this week during the World Series. What other human vice can compete with the magnitude of worship? Enough about [heretical] eschatology, I still think sports idolatry is one of the top sins gripping the US, along with humanism, liberalism, pride, greed, and complacency.The saddest thing is, of the sins I just listed, sports idolatry is the only sin that the church in America denies a sin. The American church has fallen so much that we deny our love for sports have consumed us, 100x more than how God's love should consume us, and I have seen churches that deny this every single Sunday or Saturday. Just see David Platt's comparison here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve9jPfJeT2k. What hurts the worst is Platt speaking how the community in the sports community is way closer and real than the community in the Church, Christ's Body and Bridegroom. How we have failed each other and fail to reflect the Love God gave us and the Cross.