Football & Cities: SEC, ACC, Sodom & Heaven

"And Lot lifted his eyes ... and chose for himself all the plain of Jordan and ... dwelt in 

the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom."  (Gen 13.10-12, NKJV)

After seven years of being on top of NCAA Football as national champions, it happened.  The top was toppled.  At least for now, the ACC is on top.  And where I live, this is all a very big deal.  As a fan of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks our Southeastern Conference (SEC) has been a source of real pride in college football.  Of course, South Carolina has never won a national championship.  We boast of five wins in a row over our arch rival, Clemson (a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference) and about three consecutive 11 win seasons.  And when put in a corner we always seem to mention that we're a member of the toughest conference in college football. For their part, Clemson, who has won a national championship, grew weary of our SEC pride.  They always pointed out that it wasn't about a conference, it was about a team.  If 6,000 years of human nature is any indication of future trends, I suppose all of a sudden it will be about a conference. 

For some.  

Let me explain and share a spiritual lesson we all need to consider, myself foremost.

In Tallahassee where the Florida State Seminoles live, they aren't talking about the ACC this morning.  They are about Florida State and Jameis Winston, Heisman Trophy Quarterback.  For the past two years, national champion University of Alabama wasn't talking about the SEC; they were talking about Alabama.  But we Gamecock fans were talking about the SEC.  Why:

 We weren't the focus of attention but we certainly wanted to do some name-dropping.

We were connected by our conference.  For the same reason, I suppose Clemson fans and Duke fans will be talking a lot more about being members of a premier conference now that the ACC is on top. Clemson will deflect talk about losing 5 straight to South Carolina, Duke will sidestep the discussion about not being able to hold on against Texas A&M but the ACC flag will be raised higher in both their camps even though just a few weeks ago it wasn't about a conference.

For Lot, Abraham's nephew, it wasn't about a metropolis. It was about separating himself from his Uncle Abraham and making a name for himself.  But in making a name for himself he fell victim to what we all fall victim to from time to time -- seeking our satisfaction and validation from being part of something bigger than ourselves.  This is why, in my opinion, televangelists with heretical theology draw in millions of dollars monthly from people on limited incomes: those in dire straits can send a donation to become a "faith partner" and be part of something big.  Lot wanted to be part of something big.  He pitched his tent in Sodom's suburbs.  After he had been taken captive in a war that raided the outskirts of Sodom and Uncle Abraham rescued him, Lot had a change of mind.  He didn't leave Sodom but he wasn't going to risk living in a tent any longer - he built a house inside the city (Gen 19.1-11).  There comes a time when being associated with something big -- pitching your tent near Sodom -- isn't big enough.  Those who pitch their tents close to sin are soon likely to take up permanent residence there.  Don't we see this human tendency to want to be part of something big, something new in our world every day?  For Sodom it was a tragic situation as God rained down fire and brimstone on his little house in Sodom and destroyed the city for it's debauched lifestyle of homosexuality.  Makes one wonder what's next for those who pitch their tents in Sodom's suburbs today.

I have a degree in Astronautical Engineering, with honors from the then #2 university in the world in my particular field, orbital mechanics. I worked from 1985 through 1992 as an engineer.  But to say I am an Astronautical Engineer would be a lie.  To say I am an engineer would be almost as big a lie.  Yet, the lady who came to my house in 1998 to install a new phone jack proudly announced to me that she was a systems engineer.  In fact, "engineer" was her official title, regardless of the fact that she'd never attended college.  But I knew, she knew and Southern Bell knew.. she wasn't an engineer.  

Go into any hospital in the country and you will find workers at all levels dressed like surgeons.  It started with nurses.  Then it migrated to lab technicians.  Why do so many in healthcare careers want to look like they just stepped out of an eleven hour heart transplant procedure?  I suspect that if surgeons started wearing bunny ears and it became standard practice for them to do so, nurses and lab techs wouldn't be far behind.  Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than their self.  It's human nature. 

Well, not everyone.

Not Abraham.  Abraham kept his tent in the countryside. In fact, though he was a very rich man -- much richer than Lot -- he never even built a house.  The scripture tells us that Abraham, too, was looking for a city but that the only city which could satisfy him was not of this world -- he was looking for a city with real foundations whose builder and maker is God. (Heb 11.10)  He was looking for a heavenly city.  Abraham's life is a testimony to what Jesus nailed down in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus confronted a world who thought success in God's eyes could be measured by what you did for God or what God had given you.  Abraham wasn't known for what he did in this world.  He wasn't known for what he had in this world.  Abraham was known for what he was in this world -- faithful.

It's okay to want to be part of something big.  Abraham wanted to be part of something big.  He just kept it in proper perspective.  He didn't let the "big" (with a small "b") of this world keep him from attaining the real "Big" which God had in store for him in the world to come.  Lot lost his home, his city, his wife and as a result of getting drunk, he ended up the incestuous father of children by his own daughters. There were times, I sure, when he wished he had never moved to the big city.  People in our own day are leaving town for the big city.  Leaving Aiken, SC for Denver where it is hip and legal to smoke marijuana; leaving Clarkesville, TN for San Franciso where they can live as openly as homosexuals and share in gay marriage as they could as a biblically-defined couple in marriage in Small Town Biblebelt, USA.  

Next time I see a custodial technician at the hospital who looks like a brain surgeon I'm going to try to ask myself this question: "What in this world am I clinging to for association in order to feel better about myself or my accomplishments?"  Next time I boast -- and I know I will -- about the overall strength of the SEC in college football, I'm going to try to remember that it's not about a conference.  Actually, it's not about a team.  It's not even about football. It's about a race. It's about laying aside the sin which so easily entangles me and perservering in the race which God has set before me with my eyes on the One who stands at the finish line in heaven - Jesus. (Hebrews 12.1-2).