Earlier a friend of mine twittered “Later, when you are jumping up and down yelling “we did it!” remember that all you did was sit on a couch feeding corporate America. GO TEAM”
And, being the tweet-first-question-later type I am, I hastily replied “later, when you are watching a movie on your big screen, proud of yourself for not watching the game, you still fed USA Inc.”
And then in the ensuing moments that passed I noted that I was only getting angrier at her tweet. So, as is my custom, I asked myself why I was mad. That often leads me to find the idolatry in my life. Here’s what I found out.
First off, I am not even a football fan except in passing, so it wasn’t her attack of the NFL that got me mad. It wasn’t her attack on corporate America that got me mad, either. I am not a fan of how everything has advertising dollars attached to it, to the point that the phrases “Super Bowl” and “March Madness” have been trademarked.
What I eventually came to realize (with the help of the Holy Spirit, I suppose) is that the reason her message offended me so is that it struck very close to my idols. I am a sports fan. My drug of choice is college basketball, but I feel inclined to stick up for other fans, especially during the biggest single sports day of the American year.
I am very conscious of my idolatry in that area. I am prone to trusting in and longing for the verification of my identity that comes from a UNC basketball victory. I walk a little taller after we beat dook each time. Conversely, I don’t talk to folks after a Carolina defeat, for at least a few hours. And God is working on that area, helping me to see that it’s OK to enjoy a game without tying my identity to it.
And her tweet revealed that there is still work to do.
So, I apologize publicly for my offense of firing back when fired upon. God is still working on me.