God and the Super Bowl

I've been noticing much talk lately about Ray Lewis and his prediction that the Ravens will win the Super Bowl because of as he puts it, (not an exact quote)  "all he's sacrificed for God."

I'm not going to get into a major theological discussion here, but because of Ray, more and and more people are talking about if God cares about who wins the Super Bowl.

I'm going to change the discussion somewhat so that I can talk about what the Bible says about God. I'm not going to give you my INTERPRETATION of what it says, but a basic summary of some verses and their teaching which results in some conclusive principles about WHO God Is. In other words I'm simply going to tell you what the Bible says, NOT what I THINK it means. Once we start telling people what we think it means, we start saying incorrect things (like Ray Lewis.)


The first point I want to make is that God determines the outcome of EVERYTHING. There are no exceptions. The book of Job tells us every SINGLE rain drop falls and every last lightening strike happens exactly when and where God determines.

The theological term is "sovereignty." Everything happens within God's control to accomplish His sovereign purpose.


God says (I won't list the verses but will provide the references if you ask) that he determines the victors in every war or battle. The Bible says God determines the outcome of every single roll of the dice. He determines the exact amount of hairs on every single person's head, and He determines the exact number of days that each of us lives.


WE make plans, God decides the actual direction they take and their outcome. Even when we choose to do the wrong thing (sin) God will use that wrong thing in such a way that His plan will still be accomplished. What we did was still wrong and we will be held accountable for that wrong act, thought or deed, but NOTHING we do can thwart any of His plans.


Some people say God CONTROLS all things. The Bible refines that way of thinking. It's not exactly accurate. God doesn't control us to sin. We do that ourselves. God makes no one sin. But sovereignty allows for us to sin in such a way that God's plan will still be accomplished. (That's as deep as I'm going to get in this area. If you want to know more, join a good Bible study or join a church that gets seriously deep into the discussion.)

Getting back to Ray Lewis and the Super Bowl. God does NOT grant favors based on how we serve Him. People who say those things have an improper view of God and the Bible.

We can do nothing to gain God's favor. We can't somehow "buy" his good graces. God's blessings and gifts to us come with no strings attached. He gives us these things because He loves us. This is called GRACE. Grace is a totally free gift from God given to us out of complete altruistic love.


We don't bargain with God. We don't barter with God. We may TRY, but that's just something we do wrong. God does not and never will bargain with us. He expects certain things. He tells us what those expectations are in His Word (the Bible) and IF we love Him, we will accomplish most of those things on a regular basis because He will also give us the ability to accomplish those tasks.


It's never about what we want. It's always about what HE wants. Always.


Getting back to the game on Sunday...


God has already determined the winner of this year's Super Bowl (and next year's Super Bowl, and the year after that, and every World Series Championship winner as well.)


But he doesn't determine the outcome based on His 'favorite team," or on which team has "the most faithful Christians." He determines the winner based on His sovereign plan for the universe. The winner, and how they win, will accomplish a very small part of His overall purpose. God always works out every single event in such a way that He ultimately will get the most glory. He's the only one who knows what must happen in order to accomplish that goal.


Ray Lewis and the Ravens may very well win the Super Bowl on Sunday. The Niners may win as well. But the team that wins won't be winning simply because God is "favoring them" in some way.


The outcome will affect hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. Those people are also part of God's equation. It's not just the players on the field. But for God, this is just a normal day in which He's sovereign. Monday will be that way, too.

To God be the glory.