Super Bowl Madness

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 

On January 20, 2019, the New Orleans Saints lost the conference championship to the Los Angeles Rams on a very controversial non-call of an obvious penalty. The ardent fans of the Saints were first mortified then outraged over the mistake by the referees. 

The aftermath of the game saw social media abound with criticism of the officiating and the lack of action by the NFL. Resident news outlets focused on the injustice of the outcome and local politicians called for a replay of the game from the point of the obvious infraction. 

On Super Sunday, most of New Orleans refused to watch the Super Bowl game. The local eateries and sports bars banned the Super Bowl game and decided to show the 2010 Super Bowl where their beloved Saints were victorious over the Colts for their lone Super Bowl victory.

As all this was in full swing, I thought about what I teach the teams I coach. I instruct them to focus on the things they can control and not the things they cannot control. Too often, I see teams allow poor officiating to bother them to the point where they concentrate more on the officials than the game itself.

I try to teach our kids to control the things they can control, like playing good defense, running the offense correctly and always playing hard and forget the things they cannot control like officiating. Let the coaches deal with the officiating in a sane and orderly fashion.

Some of the irate people of New Orleans allowed their “Super Bowl Madness” to dictate their behavior well after the fact. They allowed the things they cannot control to influence the way they live their lives.

I have observed this phenomenon (of allowing the things we cannot control run our lives) happen frequently in people’s lives. We worry incessantly about the weather ruining a planned outing when we have no control over the weather. We are anxious about what people will think about what we are wearing to a wedding when we cannot control people’s thinking. After diligently submitting all the required prerequisites for college entrance, we obsess on whether or not our high school graduate will get into the University of their dreams.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He taught that we should not be anxious over the things that we cannot control. Granted, we should do everything in our power to achieve certain things, but ultimately, there are so many factors over which we have no control.

So, work hard, plan well, do all that you can do, but let go of the things you cannot control. The one thing Christians have going for them is that we know Someone who is in control. That’s Jesus’ point in Matthew 6:25-34. God is in control so we don’t have to be anxious and let the things we cannot control rule our lives.

Jesus concluded by saying, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33. We should seek God first because He is in control of the things over which we have no control.

Something to think about…