Super Bowl Sunday

This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. Super Bowl Sunday has become a holiday-like event we celebrate in our culture. In fact its popularity is so widespread that over the past 15 to 20 years it has become an international phenomenon. But the popularity of the event is not necessarily the game, but rather the commercial ads that are produced by the "creative" minds of our day. This Sunday many will be glued to their television to not only watch "the big game" but also be entertained by the commercials. MSNBC recently wrote an article that said this about the commercial ads for this coming Super Bowl:

When it comes to Super Bowl advertisements, sleaze sells. This Sunday will likely feature sexual innuendos, bodily functions, crotch injuries, erectile dysfunction talk and various combinations of the four.

I know that their will be many Christian husbands, fathers, single men, women, and children who will be watching the same commercial ads. The same homes who allow their children to watch only rated PG movies will be sitting side by side with their children watching a 30 second rated R sound bite disguised as a commercial ad. The same single man who says that he refuses to watch rated R movie is enjoying a 30 second NC-17 clip masquerading as a TV ad. How can we justify exposing our minds with sexual innuendos when Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 that the will of God is that we abstain from sexual immorality? Have we become so desensitized to the immorality in our culture that we refuse to heed to the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to put to death…what is earthly…sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire… (Colossians 3:5). Paul also instructs us in Ephesians 5 to "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place..." Did not Solomon, in Proverbs 5 (the wisest man that ever lived, apart from Jesus) warn his son not to be lured by the seduction of the adulteress, but to only be intoxicated always with his wife’s love? There are reasons for such exhortations, namely, that God does not want our minds to be set on anything that dishonor him.My aim in raising this issue is not to put an end to all TV watching. My aim is not to place a guilt trip on those who enjoy watching Sports on television. My aim is to simply remind us what the Scripture calls believer's to be. We are called to a life of holiness. Not in a self-righteous sense. Paul makes it clear in Romans 6 our position in Christ serves as the fuel to a holy life. The grace of God poured out in the death of His son is the impetus for holy living. Or to put it another way, the gospel should compel us to live in a manner that pleases the Lord. Enjoy the game. Get together with friends, but don't forget who you are in Christ. Don't forget the gospel.