Today’s Superbowl presents us with something of an interesting theological question: does God care who wins the Superbowl? On the one hand we are told that God knows the number of hairs on our head and cares about when birds fall. Now, obviously God is concerned with what matters to us, so in that sense, yes, I think God does care who wins the Superbowl. On the other hand, people who ask this question usually mean to ask “Does God have a vested interested in who wins the Superbowl?” By that we mean, does God have a favorite team, or does he respond to people who pray fervently enough, or does God want a particular team to win because of what else it means for history (a sort of long term effect on someone or something)? Here, I’d say maybe, but I don’t think so. But what do I know? What do you think?
For the Intersection of the Everyday and the Sacred
Maybe another question to ask is whether or not God cares if we support football by watching. Given the continuing research about the impact of repeated head trauma on the brain, it is something I have asked more and more this year.