How can you be excited at a football game and not at church?

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mfreeman73

How can you be excited at a football game and not at church?

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Posts: 222

(01/09/09 06:59:20)

exPc Fan

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One thing I always kept hearing during church services is someone saying, "You'll get all excited at a football game and holler and yell, but you won't ever get that excited in your Christian life!" Or something like that. And it was always done to pump up the crowd during worship. Of course, we'd all start feeling guilty and start trying to get more excited and stuff. Usually it was a false excitement because really we were tired and were ready to sit down, but in order to do that you have to show some excitement so they'll leave you alone.

Anyway, watching the football game last night I was thinking about that and it occurred to me that really it's apple and oranges. It's exciting at a football game because there's a lot of action going on and the game is only about three hours long. Our Christian lives are much longer than three hours. If a football game lasted 70 years, I bet it wouldn't be as exciting and you wouldn't be yelling as much. Also, if our lives were condensed down to three hours then it would be easy to get excited.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if anyone else ever heard their preacher/worship leader try to get them pumped up this way.

boustro

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Posts: 4227

(01/09/09 09:58:38)

There are some who call me .... Timmay!

Oh yeah. Many times. It was stupid.

Tim

maurylamm

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Posts: 388

(01/09/09 10:30:15)

exPc Fan

Definitely. Also, lots of chastisements of people who stayed away from church to watch football games.

tandc90

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Posts: 820

(01/09/09 10:34:27)

exPc Fan

I've heard similar comparisons and used to feel guilty that I wasn't nearly as excited about my christian life or church as I was a hobby. I suppose if a football game or hobby was as DIFFICULT and filled with frustration as the christian walk then there'd be a lot fewer people excited about it. The best comparison would be comparing the christian life with the frustration your team losing all the time, for Pete's sake.

On the other hand, if we could look into heaven or eternity as often as games are on I expect we'd be even more excited than football fans. There really is no comparison. Like you said, apples and oranges. Plus games are a competition. I think excitement is getting mixed up with adrenalin, although I guess those preachers could be referring to the anticipation of a game.

I also wanted to say that for those that aren't interested in them, football games do indeed last 70 years.

And if any of those preachers could hear the language my husband uses during games they wouldn't want HIM in their church, hehe.

RogerDodger

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Posts: 141

(01/09/09 13:02:11)

LOL I remember those days. GIVE ME A J ...........JAAAAAAAAAAAAA
GIVE ME AN E ...........EEEEEEEEEEEEE
" " " S ...........SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

GIVE ME A ..........WAY OUT OF HERE!!!!!

ericf

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Posts: 20

(01/09/09 13:59:46)

You get beer at football games.

Hey, that's not a bad idea... get me 3-4 beers before church and I'll get rowdy for Jesus too!

"[...] I took life much too seriously. When you take life too seriously you start to wonder what the point of it all is. When you wonder what the point is in life, you fall into a trap of thinking there is one. When you think there is a point, you finally realize there is no point. And what point is there in living like that? Nowadays I skip the search for a point and find, instead, the punch lines." -- Kerry Thornley

Ruby Stratacaster

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Posts: 103

(01/09/09 14:07:45)

RogerDodger wrote:
LOL I remember those days. GIVE ME A J ...........JAAAAAAAAAAAAA
GIVE ME AN E ...........EEEEEEEEEEEEE
" " " S ...........SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

GIVE ME A ..........WAY OUT OF HERE!!!!!

Yeah. That was how I felt about church, too. Then again, I am not a football fan, so I don't get very excited about football, either. But when I do go, I get excited at anime conventions. Those are a great deal more fun than a church service to me.

stubborn envelope

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Posts: 1337

(01/09/09 16:59:19)

exPc Fan

Football games get people pumped up because of the competition and the excitement of winning (or disappointment of losing). I heard lots of Pentecostals use the same line about getting excited in church like a football game, but I don't see the comparison. If I want to get excited, I'll do something exciting, not go to church. Listening to some old man spit in my face screaming about adultery and sin and the evils of Secular Humanism while I'm trying not to get trampled by some screaming woman running backwards with her eyes closed stomping her sharp high heels way too close to my toes just isn't my cup of tea.

James

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
-- Albert Einstein

brainy

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Posts: 47

(01/10/09 00:03:56)

I heard this non-stop at my former AG church. What made the continued use of it annoying is where I live. I grew up and now reside across the river from St. Louis. People in the St. Louis metro area worship at the church of the St. Louis Cardinals, Rams or Blues. People live and die with their teams. This analogy became grotesque and over-used due to the repeated statement, "If you were at Busch Stadium you would be screaming your lungs off but why won't you give God just a little of that noise". I cannot emphasize how much I hate these type of statements. If hate were people I'd be China! The irony is the church sponsored numerous trips to Cardinals games every year for the purpose of fellowship. The Cardinals still sponsor Christian Family Day. I always wonder if the pentes in attendance sit silent in their seats rather than cheer.

CaroG87

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Posts: 698

(01/10/09 14:00:11)

exPc Fan

I always, always wanted to say, "Well, quite frankly, preacher, I enjoy football games way more than church.......... that's why!" But I was a good girl and didn't sass back. Much.

lozza

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Posts: 3344

(01/11/09 02:39:27)

Musical Mantric

Yes, I used to hear this a lot. In fact, I probably echoed similar stuff over the years, along with statements such as "I'm not religious, I have a faith" and "power is the birthright of the Christian."

Can't believe I was into all that.

Joshuan1

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Posts: 431

(01/11/09 13:46:35)

exPc Fan

At least with football you get something for the money, you know people are there for a reason. You aren't being told to tap into some invisible thing. You see teamwork instead of a talking head. There are clear rules that need to be followed by the teams. You are not chastised for cheering, and even better, you are not chastised for NOT cheering. And no one criticizes you when you decide to stay home and watch the game on tv. Yes, the team gear is expensive, but you aren't shamed into buying more of it to prove you are a true fan of the team. And you can eat pizza and hot dogs and DRINK BEER while watching the game! Can you do that at church?????

CaroG87

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Posts: 701

(01/12/09 19:21:36)

exPc Fan

Can I get an amen for the beer and dogs? (Insert organ music and choir singing here).

Aw heck, here in the South you're not supposed to, but you can manage to sneak a flask into the game -- even better!

mfreeman73

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Posts: 224

(01/17/09 04:40:57)

exPc Fan

When they'd say something like that I kept thinking, "Ok, how about we give you a football and while you preach you have to run around while we chase you and try to hit you." Now, THAT would be an exciting church service. And when the preacher got tackled, you handed the ball off to Sister-Big-Mouth and chased her too. Also, we need to take the hot girls in the youth group and put them in short skirts while they dance around the church. Now, put all this together and I bet your attendance would go up in church.

CaroG87

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Posts: 704

(01/17/09 16:53:15)

exPc Fan

Now that's not a bad idea!!! Some of those preachers might be a little easy to tackle -- too much fried chicken makes a slow pastor!

iam4hymn

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Posts: 1

(01/17/09 17:00:37)

Oh my gosh, I have heard this so many times I could scream!

Taco Fred

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Posts: 1089

(01/19/09 05:46:32)

exPc Fan

My pastor used to say this all the time. Then he would also add that we should not be watching ball games. Football is fun, church is not.

bootsiebabe

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Posts: 10890

(01/19/09 07:21:23)

Bending Light

We were taught that any sport that involved "competition" was sin.

"We are all enigma in the circle of life, being ever entwined with creative evolutional progress. All precious to behold for each our differences." -- M. Cheri B.

tandc90

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Posts: 838

(01/19/09 08:29:42)

exPc Fan

bootsiebabe wrote:
We were taught that any sport that involved "competition" was sin.

As if pentecostalism isn't chock full of competition (snort).

boustro

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Posts: 4260

(01/19/09 09:03:48)

There are some who call me .... Timmay!

tandc90 wrote:

bootsiebabe wrote:
We were taught that any sport that involved "competition" was sin.

As if pentecostalism isn't chock full of competition (snort).

ROFL!

Tim

mfreeman73

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Posts: 225

(01/19/09 11:31:44)

exPc Fan

If competition is sin, why does the Bible compare our Christian lives to a race and tell us to run to win the race? Our whole lives are filled with competition. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. If someone is never exposed to competition they haven't learned how to lose yet. And if you haven't learned how to lose gracefully and pick yourself up and try harder next time you're going to have a tough time in life.

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How can you be excited at a football game and not at church?

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