It’s March Madness! It’s the annual NCAA basketball tournament that includes dozens of games over three weeks. I have been following this tournament my entire life, and I enjoy the competition. It has become a family event as an easy way to bond around something with my family. We attended some games in Indianapolis Thursday night and had a great time (despite our team losing!). That’s the good part!

The problem? Sports can quickly become more than a hobby; it is now the other religion. The emotions attached to these games go beyond fun, as it sinks to the core of people’s identity. Interestingly, people have an emotional release at a sports game but exclude emotion from worship. This observation is not new from me or countless others, but, amazingly, this irony keeps repeating with each American generation with greater intensity.

God, help us to use sports, but not let sports use us.