Which Culture is Holier?

Culture – “The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.” (Dictionary.com)

Over the millennia there has been a constant shift in each culture’s behaviors and beliefs within particular social groups, ethnic groups and age groups. These shifts continue and it seems that the shifts are even accelerating.

Most of us would consider ourselves to be culturally sensitive and endeavor to not give offense to others related to matters of culture. We honorably try to fit in with the local culture when we travel abroad and even try to adapt to the subcultures in various parts of our homelands.

Some of us find this rather easy, while others do it with difficulty or even while grumbling. Still others simply refuse to acknowledge cultures outside their own and even communicate that their culture is certainly superior to all others. Sadly, many of us in Christ’s Church are in the latter two groups and not among those in the first.

In some quarters of the USA, there are people whose nationalistic attitudes lead them to wrap the Stars and Stripes around the cross and thereby make their own brand of Christianity staunchly North American. I am sure such myopia occurs elsewhere across the globe, but I’m a little more sensitive to the pain I experience when “Amuricans” take offense to the thought that we’re not living in the Promised Land. While this grieves me and illustrates my point, it is not the primary issue for this article.

I find it similarly grievous for those of us who live and work in the culture of sport to act as if it is somehow profane, debased and unworthy of the presence of Christ. Many of us who serve the people of sport as sport chaplains, character coaches, sports mentors, officials, players, coaches and support staff seem to think that the Lord Jesus is only comfortable with the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of Church culture. We regularly communicate that Church culture is superior to Sport culture by how we speak, by what we read, by what we celebrate, by what we discourage, by the people and behaviors we honor and how we respond to the people we serve.

Most of us would not stand for such elevation of one culture over another if it was Southern culture vs. New England culture. (Okay, that’s exactly how some of us think.) If someone put down Hispanic culture and asserted that British culture was superior, we’d challenge the thought as xenophobic. If we argued that Hip Hop culture was antithetical to God’s purposes and that the only music worthy of Christian ears was 18th century hymns, we’d be called bigots.

How is the elevation of modern Church culture over Sport culture any different? Is banging on a guitar or a keyboard at a church service a holier activity than bouncing a basketball in a gymnasium? Is teaching a Bible study on Wednesday night in a classroom more honoring to God than having a heart-felt discussion with a teammate after Wednesday afternoon’s practice? Is one more influential while speaking in popular Christian clichés with fifty like-minded people in a quiet auditorium than he is when emotionally encouraging a hundred of his teammates in the changing room after a gut-wrenching loss? Is the presence of the Living Christ more powerful when experienced by the frozen chosen in their pews or when a dynamic disciple of Jesus demonstrates the grace of God to her fallen colleague in the coach’s office? I hope the answers are obvious.

There are untold numbers of us who live in sport culture and even prefer it to most other cultures in our world. We prefer the cricket ground to the abbey. We feel closer to Christ among the hand ball team than with the hand bell choir. We experience Jesus’ grace more often in a raucous stadium than in a placid sanctuary. I believe that in the Christian Sport community there are even more who would like to, but they feel torn between living comfortably in sport culture and feeling safer with their Christian brothers and sisters while behaving in ways consistent with Church culture. Sadly, I think most of us have been conditioned to simply import Church culture into the world of sport. The problem with this is that those outside the Church don’t understand its culture and our message is lost in this foreign tongue.

I have often watched the meetings of sports ministry leaders from across the planet and wondered, “Why are we singing worship choruses from thirty years ago?” My usual internal answer is that we don’t know what else to do to fill up some of the time. Maybe we feel like the Lord needs us to sing a little before we talk about Him. Maybe I’m just out of step and more than a little peculiar. If so, I’m fine with that. If we’re just afraid to break out of our cultural box, I’ll probably be the one to ask some hard questions. I find it all puzzling and chalk it up to our hesitance to think more deeply about these matters.

When gathered with other sports ministry leaders to discuss our lives in Christ, strategies and methods for sharing His love with people in sport, I’d rather watch a highlight film from the World Cup of football or the Super Bowl, a clip from “Chariots of Fire,” or any sporting event which displays the passion and excellence which makes my heart, soul and spirit race than to endure another medley of tired choruses. I sense more of the Lord’s passionate heart at the ball park, on the pitch or on the court than in anyone’s church service. Simply said, singing songs is not culturally superior to competing in sport – each can be offered to God as worship as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices. (Romans 12:1-2)

Some of our colleagues make knee jerk reactions to the elevation of sport to parallel levels of more widely accepted cultural expressions of worship, e.g. music, drama, oratory, poetry or even dance. Why are we so scared of sport as a mode of worship? Is it a matter of a lack of Biblical models? Such thinking has some Christian denominations forgoing the use of instruments for worship, gas powered or electric powered machines for work and other distinctions which we understand to be purely cultural. Following this logic would lead us to toss out the guitars, video projectors, hymnals, air conditioning, automobiles, computers and so on.

If you’re not challenged or maybe even offended by now, I’ve either been to gentle or you’re not really paying attention. We must examine our practices as those who love Christ Jesus in the culture of sport. It is our sacred duty and privilege to be agents of God’s transforming power within this culture. We carry the aroma of Christ into the locker rooms, the offices, the arenas, stadiums, courses and tracks, thereby impacting lives simply by our presence. Our characteristic beliefs and practices shape and revolutionize the culture of sport in so far as we allow Him to be expressed in our lives in ways that are clearly understood by those we serve. I challenge you to love God with all your heart and to love those around you as you are fully engaged in the culture of sport.