They Only Make It Because We Pay It

When asked what he thought about McNabb's new contract, Terrell Owens said, "How do you justify a $78 million contract with this type of performance?"  I actually agreed with Owens on this point.   However, I believe TO and I would have a bit of a disagreement in regards to whether any football player is worth $78 million!

Regardless of whether McNabb is washed up or not; or whether he's worth the money or not, it is simply alarming to me that these high dollar contracts are being offered all over the place.  Could it be that we have lost touch with reality when we don't even flinch anymore when hearing of a ball player making 10 million dollars in a single year?!

Here is a very interesting article that compares salaries of ball players over the past half century.  Babe Ruth made less than $800,000 total over his 14-year career.  After leading the MLB in home runs for six years straight (a feat never accomplished before or since!), Branch Rickey became the first player to make $100,000/year.  Granted, this was in the 50's, but still.  He asked his manager for a raise with the response, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you."

Oh how things have changed.  The best player in baseball in the 50's made less than the minimum wage (in any sport other than MLS) in 2009.  And looking at the list of top salaries in all sports ranging from formula one to golf or even motorcycling, $30 million/year is simply not that uncommon.  Wow.

Sure, I could sit here and talk about the ethics of paying this amount of money for sports.  But that conversation wouldn't go that far.  The issue is deeper.  The athletes make this kind of money because the consumers pay it.  All we have to do from here is ask a simple, but significant question, "Why?"  The answer is easy isn't it?  I've written about it before.  It is our nature to desire and adore supremacy; and while fallen man persists in his rebellion, all he can come up with is adoration of athletes.

Am I saying that all fans are worshiping?  No.  But I won't hesitate to say that most are.

And worshippers are willing to pay it all.  Time, effort, resources, and relationships - all are sacrificed to see a person (or team) excel in a game.  And you better believe these gods have their own set of commandments.

1.  Adore me more than all others (for more on this go here and watch the commercial, and read where Kevin Hale speaks specifically about this commandment).
2.  Devote yourself to no other.
3.  Stay at home and watch me on television for hours at a time.
4.  Pay a ton for a ticket.
5.  Pay a ton for my paraphernalia so that everyone knows your mine.
6.  Memorize my statistics.
7.  Talk about me a lot to others.
8.  Oh yeah, don't bother me for an autograph, I'm busy.
9.  Scream really loud when I make a good play.
10.  Place your faith, hope and love in me.  This is a quote by the way - see the link above.

Isn't it interesting that we follow these commandments almost effortlessly!?  Then, when we read God's commandments, we look for ways to get around them.  So what's the problem?  Answer: We have simply lost our capacity for greatness.  As C.S. Lewis would say, we are kids settling for mud pies because we cannot imagine a day at the beach.

And I haven't even said anything about the fact that more money is spent on pornography than professional baseball, football, basketball, and hockey combined!  As Americans, we have everything; but given all indicators, anyone with an objective point of view would say we don't have anything at all.  We can buy pretty much anything we want, but we are satisfied by nothing.  We have an appetite as big as God, but we fill our plates with peanuts.  It just doesn't make sense.  But idolatry never does.  We must be redeemed.

Tim Keller said once that money is a good identifier of our idols.  Look where where the money is spent, and you will see where the idols live.  Idols never get full.  They are constantly making demands as we spend our lives trying to comply.  But here is the flip side.  We are never filled by idols. They demand and we pay... only to be empty, again.  

The salaries won't get smaller.  The ticket prices won't get lower.  Until the high places come crumbling down.  We will pay too much until we can pay nothing at all.  Then what?

Emptiness.

Then what?

The Gospel.

Then what?

Redemption.

Are sports bad?  When they are sanctuaries for worship, yes, they are.  The link that I keep referencing (from Mr. Hale) was the straw that broke this justified-sinner's back.   I'm not sure how much more I'm willing to pay.  But I do know this, the evident hunger of millions of people is indicative of a field that is ripe for harvest.  The Gospel doesn't call a person to stop worshipping.  Rather, it calls us all to worship true Supremacy - Christ, our Lord.  It calls us to stop settling for less.