The Nebraska football team suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Texas Longhorns Saturday night in the Big 12 Championship game. Despite a dominating performance by the Husker defense and a Heisman worthy performance by Ndamukong Suh (4 1/2 sacks, 12 tackles, 7 of which were for loss) which likely spoiled Colt McCoy’s own Heisman hopes, the Longhorns triumphed 13-12. This defeat was a crushing blow at my household for one Nebraska alum and one young 9 year-old boy.

As my son and I talked that night before bed we discussed why the loss was so painful. In doing so I realized the power of sports and how God can use events like this to reveal the false hopes of our hearts.

For my son the pain came from the perceived injustice of a controversial call in the last second of the game which cost Nebraska the win. At first I thought he was upset because he is such a competitive person but, the more we talked the more I realized his sense of right and wrong had been deeply offended. He mentioned that a loss earlier in the season to Texas Tech had been easier to swallow because Tech clearly played better that day. However, on this night he felt the team who had the better game has robbed of victory by the officials. This desire for justice on his part is nothing new. If he perceives that something is not fair he will fight for what he believes in. Additionally, when he was a younger he would frequently ask me during movies about each character, “Is he a good guy or a bad guy?” For him, life should have clearly defined boundaries.

Sports mean something completely different to me. While bad calls can certainly be frustrating I was able to look at the upside of Nebraska’s performance Saturday night. What I saw (though still feeling the pain of the loss) was Nebraska’s progress toward once again becoming an elite football program. Believe me, I would like to have seen Nebraska win, but the realization that the national opinion of Nebraska football had risen several notches softened the blow. To me, their excellent play and nearly defeating a top ranked team meant national respect. Somehow then, through being a fan of Nebraska, I would gain respect.

This theme is nothing new in my story. If I had to encapsulate my approach to life in one phrase it would be, “I need to be the hero.” For much of my life I’ve sought to be the “good boy”, the respectable Christian, the favorite son. I’ve managed relationships in such a way that I could “swoop in” and rescue others. Even in producing viaRenovo there is a part of me that wants to be seen as providing something that no one else can. Being a fan of a winning football program is one route to finding respect.

And that is where my son and I are much alike. As we talked in his bed Saturday night I realized how this event was revealing our idols; his of a perfect world and mine of respect. What do I mean by an idol? Tim Keller writes of this in his newest book Counterfeit Gods:

An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.”

Keller does not say that things like respect, justice or perfection are bad things. In fact he says that idolatry (which used to be defined only as bowing down to a false god represented in a statue or image) is when we take a good thing and make it an ultimate thing. In other words, when something other than God becomes more important than God, it is idolatry. When this happens our hearts become addicted to whatever it is we believe will give us satisfaction. Unfortunately, addiction leads to deception and enslavement. If I place all of my hope in being respected by others not only will I be disappointed (for you will never please everyone) but I will live life in fear of what others think. If my son places his hope in being perfect he will become angry at himself or others when they fail to meet that ideal.

As Gerald May has pointed out in his book Addiction and Grace, God is the only thing that we can’t get addicted to. Our devotion to Him will always be voluntary and never result in feeling out of control or like hopeless junkies—in other words our devotion to him will be motivated by a love that results in freedom.

While this is not new thinking to me, the idea that God could use a cultural event like a football game to reveal to me (once again) how my idol of needing respect has drawn my heart away from Him hit home. And the more I grow in my Christian faith the more I believe that maturity is closely tied to freeing my heart from the webs my idolatry has spun through the years. Concurrently I am asking the question, “How do I as a parent help my kids identify their own idols and seek out freedom that comes only through the grace of God?”

What do you think? Has God used events like this to reveal the false attachments of your heart? How do you interact with children or friends in leading them to freedom? What do you believe we can actively do as Christians to draw our hearts away from false idols and to God? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

~Travis

To listen to a lecture by Tim Keller given at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., click here.