My social media feed has a lot of posts about comments made by Philadelphia Eagles players and coaches “giving all glory to God” following the [2018] Super Bowl. Of course, this is nothing new. Celebrities have been giving glory to Jesus Christ when they win awards for a long time. I heard that you could even place a bet on whether a player would thank Jesus first or their teammates. The question is, does God care who won the Super Bowl?
I don’t think God cares who won the game, but I do think He cares who is getting the praise.
For the Christian, we believe that everything should be for the glory of God (Colossians 3:23). It is God who gives us the ability to do anything in life with excellence. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) – the one who does everything with skill and excellence. Followers of Jesus do not believe that God should only get the credit on Sunday morning at church. We believe that worship is an act of offering our bodies – 24 hours a day and 7 days a week – to the one who made us (Romans 12:1, 2).
Yes, I recognize that “giving praise to God” can become a cultural cliché. There may be some who do it because it is just the thing to do. Yet, it does not seem to be my place or yours to judge the motivation of their hearts.
Yes, I recognize that not everyone who publicly gives praise to God in their big moments is living a life honouring to God in their private moments. It seems to me that giving praise to God publicly will give greater accountability in seeking to honour God always.
There are people who roll their eyes at famous people giving credit to Jesus Christ. The real story is whether Jesus is getting credit every day in our own lives. God is not more glorified by Nick Foles praising Jesus than He is when you praise Jesus for giving you the ability to excel in your own work.
We are made to point to the One who made us (Colossians 1:16). Let’s learn from those who have the courage to point to Jesus in front of the cameras following the big game.
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