God's Coaching #359

God's Coaching #359

The NBA wishes you a very merry Christmas. Now would you please put down your gifts and tune in to all the league’s games today? Playing games on Christmas has become a hot topic in the NBA, which has increased the number of contests from two to five in recent years. Several prominent coaches, including the Los Angeles Lakers’ Phil Jackson and the Orlando Magic’s Stan Van Gundy, have spoken out against December 25 games. “It’s like Christian holidays don’t mean anything to them anymore,” Phil told reporters before the Lakers hosted Miami on Christmas Day 2010. Stan resorted to sarcasm to make his point: “The NBA is Christmas, to me anyway,” he joked. “It’s what it’s all about.”

The reason the NBA plays games on Christmas is simple: money. Tickets for the Lakers-Heat Christmas game in 2010 averaged a whopping $556 each, according to a Fox Sports report. The report also said that the league’s December 25 games averaged 7 million TV viewers between 2001 and 2009. That means huge TV contracts and advertising revenue for the NBA. “The league has been good to all of us in terms of what we get out of all these TV contracts and everything, so it would be a little disingenuous to complain too much,” Stan told reporters in December 2009. “But if I had my way, we would take a five-day break at Christmas.”

What’s the Score?

The fact is, money drives all professional sports. But money shouldn’t drive us. Money is not wrong in and of itself. But the love of money is. The Bible is very clear on this. First Timothy 6:10 says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (NIV).

Loving money is not only wrong; it’s foolish. Money and possessions fade away. When we die, we can’t take a single earthly treasure with us. We are to love God, not money or the stuff it can buy. God graciously provides us with what we need to meet our daily needs. We should never let money replace God as the object of our worship.

On the Ball

We can determine what we love the most by considering how much time we spend on it. Keep a daily log of how much time you spend in prayer and God’s Word compared to the following:

1. Video games

2. Watching TV/movies

3. Hanging out with friends

4. Playing sports

5. Doing other hobbies

Coach’s Comment

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV)