Til the playoffs do us part?

According to Religion News Service, 25% of women and 41% of men think it’s “more important to have a partner who roots for the same team than one who shares the same religious perspective.”

This is because, as Gotham Chopra from Religion of Sports explains, fans “…become part of something bigger than ourselves.” In other words, sports function like a religion.

Chopra is right but it’s not just sports. As John Calvin said, humans are “incurably religious.” We were made to worship. And since the fall, we all have what Blaise Pascal called “an infinite abyss” within us, a “God-shaped hole” that can only be filled by God Himself.

Sure, let’s root for our teams. Let’s enjoy all the good that comes in God’s world. But the created can never take the place of the Creator, no matter how good our team is—even a championship team! Or as Augustine put it, our hearts will always be restless until they find their rest in God.

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