Audience of One

Who or what do we worship?

Have you ever thought about what worship means? Most people usually equate worship with singing or scripture reading focused on God. But worship is not exclusive to a church setting. Worship is giving ultimate worth or value to someone or something. Sometimes, other things sneak into the place that should only be God’s. Put another way—we all worship something. The question is: what are you worshiping?

For athletes, it is easy to fall into the trap of “worshiping” sports. Sports are a way to recreate, rejuvenate, and renew. Competition brings extreme pressure, powerful influence, passion to win, and intoxicating emotion. This combination can provide a fertile ground for idols to sprout. In other words, sports can become a counterfeit God. A football stadium or team can become a place or object of worship.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah goes before the people of Israel and says this: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” He suggests an experiment—set up an altar and see which “god” destroys it with fire. The people called out to Baal for hours, and nothing happened. Elijah builds an altar, drenches it with water, and calls out to the one true God. Verse 38 records the result. “The fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.” The message is clear–only God deserves the top place in our lives and hearts.

We are all prone to “waver” between two opinions. For athletes, the temptation to make their sport a counterfeit god is strong. Author Tim Keller gives a warning. He said, “The greatest danger...is not that we become atheist, but that we ask God to co-exist with idols in our hearts.”

True life is only found in Jesus. The response to the temptation of idolatry is to daily surrender to God. He is worthy of continual submission. We must turn from the idol and turn back to God. We need to ask the question: “Is this about me? Or is this about my Audience of One?”

Suggested Prayer Ideas:

• For Christian athletes, pray for protection against idolatry. If sports drift toward taking God’s place, pray for soft, responsive hearts to the Lord’s conviction.
• Pray for daily surrender and repentance for athletes. Pray that their focus would be on their “Audience of One.”
• Pray for those that are not Christians. Pray that they would come to Christ through the influence of Christians in their sport, their locker room, or their team chaplain.

Content for this plan comes from the Athletes in Action Principles training. Each day of the AIA Principles training includes a video, workbook, and leader's guide. Visit our publisher page for more information. As an optional part of today's devotional, here is a short three-minute sample from the training video.

Optional Video: