I don’t have the right to watch Formula 1

Perhaps it may seem an obvious statement to make, but it was only recently that I became aware of a truth: I do not have the right to watch Formula 1.

I like Formula 1. Really like it. This sport can captivate me, unblinking, for the 120 minutes or less it takes for these primal machines of carbon fibre, titanium and awesomeness to duck, weave and fight their way to the chequered flag, piloted by über-human drivers with near Jedi-like reflexes and control.

It’s easy when you get a taste for something you love to forget that what you experienced was a gift—a privilege even.

Like many Australians who watch free-to-air TV, I enjoyed watching the Formula 1 for years. And like many who watch sport, I felt somehow connected to it. A part of my identity was ‘Formula 1 fan’. So when cable company FOXTEL managed to secure the rights to the Formula 1 coverage in Australia, I was angry. With free broadcaster Channel Ten getting the rights to show only half of the races, and the coverage itself being mediocre in comparison to its new competition, I felt like something was stolen.

They took my sport away from me.

I was angry that the guys with the money pushed the little guys out (okay, they both have heaps, but you get the point). I was angry that Formula 1 didn’t care about me. I was angry that the Channel Ten online coverage was inferior and dropped out every couple of minutes. I was angry that FOXTEL wanted to charge me $50 a month for ad-supported Formula 1. I was angry that I had to pay for something I felt I was entitled to.

And there was the problem.  Regardless of the validity of any of my claims, I had mistakenly taken as mine that which actually was not.

While I allowed my misdirected affections to guide me, I tried every way to get around the rules. Maybe I could download it (like so many Game of Thrones fans have done), or find a shady YouTube re-broadcaster, using trickery to bypass the automatic filtering of content. Or perhaps I could find a country that doesn’t have laws against online content streaming—after all, what choice have they left me?!

The problem with all of these things was, apart from being illegal, they were all evidence of a heart that desired to glorify my DIY identity instead of the loving and providing God, to whom I owe my true identity. It was quite shock to realize that this was the case.

I was embarrassed. I am embarrassed.

For Christians, the Scriptures urge us to see that we are no longer bound to be worshippers of temporary, fleshly things. We are free!

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Rom 6:5-7)

Oddly, we find ourselves caught wandering towards that all-too-familiar call of our old master, like sailors towards Sirens tantalizing us with their deadly song. More oddly, we are surprised at this despite the many warnings of this very trap throughout the Bible. We are made new in Christ! New, so that our affections are freed to glorify and serve him. Not as servitude to a unloving tyrannical God, but a whole life recalibrated to be able to praise a loving God, who in his unfathomable wisdom chose to free us from our bondage, and adopt us as his own family.

And we are called not just to be aware, but to exercise vigilance in this:

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Rom 6:11-14)

So I have stopped watching Formula 1. It’s not a protest or rant. Just a choice. Honestly, if it was back on free TV, I’d watch it. What it absolutely is not is a sacrifice. When I consider the weight of the sacrifice that the Creator of the universe took upon himself to buy my freedom, missing out on my fancied flavour of entertainment doesn’t even make the scale. Let’s just call it an attempt to realign my praise in the right direction, otherwise known as repentance. Christian repentance is never a sacrifice in light of the gospel.

It’s embarrassing to uncover sin in our lives, but don’t let that stop you from taking a good look in your heart to see what you are presenting to God. He’s already set you free; build your identity on that freedom.

This blog post was originally posted at sublimethirst and has been edited and reposted with the author's permission.