May the mumbling commence!
I am a sports fan. There – I have confessed. Particularly, I am a football fan. I originally grew up in Ohio, so I am a Buckeyes fan. I await today’s game with baited breath. Much of the season was marred by off the field issues, but today’s game is special to me. It is the one game of the Buckeyes that I do not miss. Back in my hometown area, today’s contest between Ohio State and “that team up North” is known simply as “The Game.”
In the realm of sports, there are many ways to announce your allegiance. One of them is the T-shirt. Have you ever seen the genre of sports T-shirts that announce “I am the property of the Ohio State (fill in your favorite university or college here) Football (fill in your favorite sport here) Department?”
Now, there’s a question! Where does my true allegiance lie? Once, when I was in a Christian bookstore, I saw a Christian T-shirt that was aimed at this sports allegiance phenomenon. Instead of a university or college, this T-shirt announced that the wearer is the “Property of God.” Then, below this announcement, it had two verses from 1 Corinthians chapter six quoted:
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (Verses 19-20)
I liked the shirt, but I didn’t like the price tag. I mentioned this to a good friend of mine, Jim Carner. Later, Jim bought that shirt as a gift to me. I still have it. It is quite worn. It has tiny holes in it. I remember how those holes got there. It was when I was helping clean up from the aftermath of the tornado that hit Americus, Georgia on March First, 2007. I wear those holes today with a measure of pride.
Now look at the broader context of these two verses. Read the verses that precede these two:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
"Everything is permissible for me" – but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me" – but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food" – but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. (Verses 9-18)
Before those two verses quoted on the T-shirt, these verses come. They speak primarily to sexual sin. Many people will focus primarily on the hot button issue in Christianity – homosexuality – and miss all the other elements on the list. Some of the other elements maybe hit too close to home. I see idolatry, a sin often connected to adultery. I see thievery and greed.
These sins are just as rampant – or more so – than homosexuality in our time. I have confessed my college football idolatry – and I have others. What about you? As we live in a land of wealth and waste, we thieve from others around the world. When we hurt others to get that deal in the wee hours of the morning on Black Friday, we show our greed. Yeah, there are other idols a plenty out there in Americana.
We were bought with a price by Christ Jesus. Who will we give our ultimate allegiance to? I am God’s Property. So are you. Let’s live like it.
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out
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