In the recent movie “Concussion,” Dr. Cyril Wecht (portrayed by Albert Brooks) offers one of the movie’s many provocative lines when he says, “The NFL owns a day of the week. The same day the church used to own. Now it’s theirs.”

Indeed. Regardless of the arguments someone might raise against his assertion, it’s hardly debatable that once-upon-a-time in America church attendance dominated Sundays, and now—without rival—football marks the first day of the week. The issue of Sundays alone creates an almost unavoidable conversation concerning the tensions between Christianity and football.

Christianity and Football in Tension

Besides how time gets used on Sundays, many argue today that the sport of football and the Christian faith are incompatible at their fundamental core. They ask, “How can Christ-followers who are challenged to sacrifice and love on behalf of others have anything to do with such an inherently violent and physically destructive sport?” This is especially true at the highest levels of the game where football is not only at its most violent, but is also a greenhouse study in societal ills.

The increasing awareness regarding concussions and long-term physical disability resulting from participation in football only heightens the stress between Christ-followers and football. This leads some to suggest that we shouldn’t play, follow or essentially affirm its existence by ministering to and through participants of the sport.

How Should We Then Live in Relation to Football?

But should Christians just walk away from a sport or institution because it is a hot mess? Football, like every aspect of the created order, is in need of redemption. More importantly, the people who organize and administrate, and coach and play the game—all created in God’s image but also in desperate need of transforming grace—need gospel threads woven into the tapestry of their lives.

While it may make sense to rethink our participation levels as fans and players, it doesn’t follow that we should ignore it altogether as a site of redemption.

If we grant the need for redemption, then it follows that football also needs missionaries who can step into its culture without being sucked into the idolatry that surrounds it. The tensions surrounding the connection between football and ministry encompass the attempt to minister in any corner of human culture, each fallen in their own right in varying degrees: business, academia, Hollywood, the city.

We should be properly critical of football as we should these other social venues, but to abandon any of them entirely is a disservice to the “salt and light” aspect of the gospel in us. On the eve of the Super Bowl, what might it look like to approach a particular game with a Christian mind?

Super Bowl as National Holiday

The Super Bowl, now in its 50th year, has long been a cultural event that pulls along football fans and haters alike. I’ve sat at plenty of Super Bowl parties where a majority of the attendees didn’t watch a moment of the game, but instead used the occasion of the game to talk with friends, eat, drink and watch commercials.

The game is often secondary on this national holiday, a prop for communities to gather and enjoy the pleasures of the indoor tailgate.

People are affected by the game along three paths: those who could care less but love a good party, those who enjoy watching the game but have no emotional attachment to the outcome and those who find themselves highly invested either through fandom or gambling.

What might it look like to acquire a different window through which to view arguably the largest singular sporting event in the world? What might it look like for each of these groups to see the game through a Christian lens?

What if the group who doesn’t care was given a new reason to pay attention? What if the emotionally detached were given a sense of meaning toward the game that transcends its specifics? For those who already connect emotionally, what would a fresh sense of perspective from a Christian angle entail?

Come back Thursday. We’ll take a pass at offering you “A Christian Guide for Watching the Super Bowl.”