By Brad Locke
May 6, 2005

(AgapePress) - If I sit on the couch, and things are going badly, I may slide onto the floor. If that works, I will not return to the couch, my aching back be cursed.

Such is my tendency to indulge superstitions while watching my favorite teams. Been doing it my whole life. Rooting for Duke to lose in the national title game as a child, I found a position on the floor and didn't budge. (Duke won anyway.) I could list dozens of such idiosyncratic behaviors I've engaged in (or still do, out of habit), but I don't want to embarrass myself any further. Call me an undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive if you want (I suspect we all are to varying degrees), but even OCD is rooted in a certain amount of foolishness. All the more is superstition.

Baseball pitchers are notorious for keeping the same exact routine on the day they're throwing. They eat the same breakfast, wear the same socks, leave for the stadium at the same time, put their uniform on the same way (I'm a left-leg-first person). It can be excused as habit, or as a method to keep the pitcher focused and comfortable. Still, it boils down to someone believing that acting a certain way can directly affect an event's outcome, which in reality is puzzled together with many more pieces than just what the pitcher contributes.

It's very much a control issue, and goodness knows control is what drives human sinfulness. Carnal man cannot fathom an outside force usurping his power. He feels he must manipulate the unknown and subdue it to his will. Or he feels that certain rituals (e.g., penance, vain repetitions of prayer, chewing only Joe Bazooka on game day) will absolve him of an undesirable fate.

Can a ballplayer sitting in the dugout with a rally cap on really affect the outcome of a game? No more than Pharaoh could have submitted to Moses' request before all the plagues had passed. Pharaoh's heart was hardened by God so that He could accomplish a righteous end (Exodus 7:3, et al.). Man has this notion that he is in charge of the future. To the extent he makes certain influential decisions, yes, he is. But not to the extent that his will can triumph over God's will.

God's plan has been laid out and set in stone since before time began, and He will not waver from it (II Kings 19:25, 27-28). Sport is an entity driven by, but unmoved by, men's passions. Only by being on the field and actively pursuing a certain result can an athlete affect an outcome. More than that, we are commanded to be active in the world for Christ's sake, but nothing, not even our own good works, can move God to change His mind (Numbers 23:19). And certainly, striving against God will not hinder His relentless progress.

I suppose I could move into an argument here for predestination, but that could involve almost endless citing of scripture. I have noticed, though, how God's truths are so often reflected in, and brought into focus by, everyday life. My Calvinistic (i.e., exegetically sound) viewpoint on this matter is bolstered by the phenomenon of superstition and its inherent logical fallaciousness. Man can earn his salvation no more than I could overcome Duke's superb high-low game by sitting very still. It's almost lunacy to believe such things.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting back on the couch. The Cardinals are losing.