Yesterday, as I ate my lunch at my desk, I watched a YouTube clip of highlights from Christiano Ronaldo’s career. I was never a soccer fan before coming to Uganda. Since it’s the one sport everyone knows here, I was obliged to become acquainted with it. As I was admiring some spectacular plays Ronaldo has made and appreciating the brilliance of his footwork, I began thinking about the closures of public events like sports and cinema in the world due to coronavirus. I’ve heard some lament about the world’s interest in sport as a waste of time. While I agree that we misuse and waste a lot of our time and concern for things like sport, I think our interests in these areas reveal a spiritual truth in the nature of human beings – we are made to admire things.
Consider all the various forms of expression that we enjoy. We have art galleries that serve very little purpose besides the viewing pleasure of the audience. Professional sport does absolutely nothing for anyone practically besides entertain, although sports organizations in the world are among some of the largest charitable contributors that exist, and they generate many jobs. It’s obvious that people like to be entertained, but there is something deeper in our pursuits than that. We admire sunsets and we try to replicate them on canvas. We love beautiful music and admire those who can compose and play it. We love the voices of those who can execute the correct pitch and tones to go along with the music. We admire the form of people we consider beautiful. While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, it is certain that each beholder has a beauty that they admire. We closely follow these individuals that have reached the pinnacles of these professions, whether in sport, film, music, art etc. Some use what I would say is a fitting description saying that we worship these people. I have to say that as I watched Ronaldo yesterday that I worshipped, but it was correct worship. At one point, I said aloud, “that is amazing, Lord.”
You see, people get things the wrong way around. Why did I comment to God that Ronaldo was amazing? Because I know who made Ronaldo exactly the way he is. People like to credit work ethic and self-will with taking a person to the peak of professional discipline, but, there are those who work harder and can never do what a Christiano Ronaldo can. Mozart was five years old when he first played a piano. No one taught him how to play. He saw the piano. It made sense to him. He sat down and he played. How is it that some people can do these things? The answer, though obvious, eludes most people. Someone made the person that way.
Consider this text from Romans 1:18-25 –
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” ESV
Reading of a neurosurgeon accomplishing a never before performed operation, watching an athlete win the gold, listening to music composed by a genius, should all inspire admiration and therefore worship. But the glory should go to the one who gave us the ability to do those things. Yes, to master something takes discipline and great effort. But ultimately, our ability is given to us by our Maker – Exodus 31:1-5
“The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.” ESV
God is the ultimate artist, the ultimate composer, and the ultimate power. All things come from him. Observation of human nature shows us that we are designed to appreciate his wonders. People worship what is created because they reject the Creator. I don’t think that we have such a problem with the idea of being made, but we don’t like the boundaries and truth claims given by our Maker. So, it’s easier to live on our own terms if we reject the notion of the existence of any Creator at all. But the fact that we spend so much time in worship of what we admire betrays the truth that we have been designed to do it. This characteristic in human nature is a great proof of the existence of God.
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