Unfair to pit sports, activities against religion

To the editor:

?Are Christians persecuted in Fairfield?? This was a question asked of me at a recent Bible Study we hold every Wednesday evening at Word of Life Lutheran Church. My answer to this question was ?yes!?

You see for over 2000 years now Christians have traditionally worshiped on Sunday morning and for most of that history sporting events have recognized and respected their desire to do so. However I have noticed recently a decline in attendance in our congregation. Membership has not dropped but attendance is down. Most, if not all, of the missing people have children who are active in baseball, softball, volleyball, or soccer. When I have called and ask if there was anything that I had done to upset these folks to keep them from attending, they all answered, ?No we just had ball games.? Why are there ball games on Sunday morning? Is every other evening full? Is every Saturday full? If this is the case then maybe we need to reevaluate our priorities and not play so many games?

It?s not fair to make parents have to choose between their kid?s ball game and practicing their faith on Sunday morning; my heart and my utmost compassion goes out to everyone in this situation. We have even started a Tuesday evening service to try to accommodate as I know that this issue has been the topic of several marital squabbles. And the overwhelming number of games scheduled puts an unnecessary stress upon an already time and financially strained family; demanding more of their time and money than they have to give. And for what? What is the reward for playing all of those games? Is it the forgiveness of sins and eternal life? If not then it is simply not more important than faith.

However the dilemma is that if the parents or child choose to practice their faith and miss a game then the child is punished by not getting to play in future games. What kind of a faithless disrespect for the spiritual life of a ballplayer and their family is that? Don?t you see that tempting a person to choose worldly events or things over eternal events and things is the work of sin? And nothing good can become of sin but death, distress, and negative consequences.

By totally disrespecting the faithful and their Sunday morning worship time sports has taken the role of a persecutor of the Christian faith. What does the future hold for these kids when the world has not only taken precedence over faith in their lives but it has totally robbed them of the one morning a week that they can practice their faith in peace?

I would venture to guess that without faith in their lives we would have an increase in alcohol and chemical dependency, teen pregnancy, sexual promiscuity among teens, not to mention total and complete disrespect for their parents or any other authority figure. Is this the future for our children? No, it is the terrifying present condition.

Please, please do not mishear me. I am not against sports for kids. I myself was a wrestler, football player and power lifter. Sports teach physical conditioning and give kids a sense of achievement. But I am totally against sporting events on Sunday morning.

I know that this letter will most likely not change anything in our community. However as a called and ordained minister of Christ?s beloved Church I felt is my obligation to speak out when I see society in error. The function of the church on earth is to regulate faith matters. But when the society oversteps its bounds and affects those faith practices, then it is the duty of the church to speak out and return the proper balance. A Lutheran Pastor by the Name of Dietrich Bonheoffer stood by this Christian principle and it cost him his life. Thank you for your ear.

Jamie Strickler is pastor of Word of Life Lutheran Church