This is the fifth in a series of five articles related to the recently released book, “Onward Christian Athletes – Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers.” It is written by Tom Krattenmaker and published by Rowman and Littlefield. I have read and re-read the book in order to learn what I can from its pages. I would recommend that you buy a copy and read it yourself. This week’s notes will deal with chapters 9 and 10.
Chapter 9 – A Match Made in Heaven-or Hell / The Dissonance between the Values of Jesus and the Values of Big-Time Sports
Chapter 10 – The Salvation of Sports: “Getting it Right” in an Emerging New Era of Faith in Sports
In chapter 9 the author questions the integrity of Christian sports people, points to instances of dissonance between what he sees as the values of Christ as expressed in the Scriptures and the values of Sport (primarily professional sport). He questions the fairness of certain practices in sport as practiced by Christians and points to instances like the University of Colorado’s “fifth down” situation in a win over the University of Missouri.
The author questions the appropriateness of Sunday play and they way the Church in the USA has grabbed such events as the Super Bowl for evangelistic outreaches.
The disconnect between values like grace and mercy as expressed in the Bible are contrasted with ideas like “killer instinct” which are both extolled by Christian athletes and coaches at the same time.
The author rightly points to the general culture of sport and its clash with Christian ethics when the sport culture says things like, “It’s only cheating if you get caught.” He is right that we in sports ministry are far too silent on such issues. He also takes us to task for what he calls the inconsistency between Jesus’ way of non-violence and our love of violent sports like American football. He mentioned particular players from past and recent years who were outspoken Christians, but were also labeled by their peers as among the game’s dirtiest and most dangerous players. “Those keen on leveraging Jesus-professing players for the advancement of evangelical faith have to cringe when one of their vanguard is named the league’s dirtiest player.” He’s right, I do cringe when our compartmentalization of faith and sport leads to such a lack of integrity.
The author sees inconsistency between the values held by Christian athletes and sports ministries and their association with professional sports organizations and the sponsors of television commercials, in stadium promotions, etc… He thinks the Church is at best naïve in its setting their Super Bowl outreaches right alongside the beer, GoDaddy.com, erectile dysfunction and other such ads which would seem to be directly opposite to the Church’s values. I think this opinion is foolish at best. The players and coaches don’t make the decisions about who sponsors this week’s television coverage of their games. I suppose the author would prefer the Church stay meekly in its place, the cloistered and safe environment of its own building rather than share its message in the public arena.
In another section, the author quotes one academic about the role of the sports chaplain and its similarity to a military chaplain, “Their role is not to question the war but to help the soldiers adapt to the war that they inevitably must fight. From the organization’s standpoint the chaplain’s job is to help athletes adapt to the pressures, ethos and values that are presented to them on a daily basis – not to challenge them. You can’t have soldiers question the value of the war. And you can’t have an athlete, with the help of his team chaplain, challenge values of athletics.” I respectfully disagree with this view on a number of levels. Primarily, if we are to be of real value to the sport community, we must be God’s representatives in it and not just stand outside barking at it. If we lovingly embrace the sports world we can, and should, shape its ethics and values. Our lives of faith, as informed by the Scriptures, should have a redemptive and transformational effect upon the culture of sport. To do so will require more than using sport as a platform for shouting clichés.
The author quotes another religion-in-sports scholar and critic as saying, “You can’t imagine Jesus up in a box seat. You can’t do it.” The scholar thinks Jesus would be somewhere outside the stadium, in a bad part of town, mingling with the outcasts, passing out food to the poor. Wow, that kind of babble may work in academia, but in the real world Jesus is present in the box seats, in the luxury boxes (of which the author either seems to loathe or be envious), in the bad part of town passing out food and even on the pitch with the players, officials and coaches. Such attempts to minimize sport as unimportant or the exclusive province of the elite are foolish and counterproductive to the conversation.
The author speaks of the often divisive results of evangelism in the world of sport. Whether in the clubhouse among teammates or in the stadium with fans at a “Faith Day” the author sees the process of evangelism as a force for division in communities. In some instances, I’m sure he’s correct. That will largely depend upon the people who are doing it and how they go about it.
I chapter 10 the author presumptuously makes his suggestion for the right way to handle matters of faith and sport. He titles his ideas as “The Salvation of Sports” and tells us how to “Get it Right.”
His ideas fall into two primary areas:
· Pluralism – open the doors widely to everyone of every faith. Form a Fellowship of Religious Athletes. The author falls into the same trap as most other secularists or pluralists by misunderstanding people of genuine faith. We have a belief in a particular faith, not in a cosmic other under which all the religions fly their own flags. This notion is noble at best and foolish at worst.
· Address the real issues in sport – racism, performance enhancing drugs, violence, sexism, the “win at all cost” ethic, cheating, etc… The author’s impression is that those in sports ministry have nothing to say about these matters because he doesn’t read about them in the paper or hear them quoted on radio or television. He misunderstands that many of us are addressing these issues directly, but are doing so from within the sports community rather than in the public arena. We’re working to effect change from within, rather than in the media.
In summary, “Onward Christian Athletes” is a book which challenges many of the presuppositions and practices of the Evangelical Sports Ministry community. The author boldly asks a number of questions which most of us would not ask ourselves or our peers in ministry. For this I am thankful. After reading the book thoroughly twice and then reviewing each chapter again for the purpose of writing this review, I have both affirmed some of my strategies and methods and I have evaluated and modified others. I trust that will be true of many of us who are highly committed to honoring Christ Jesus in the world of sport, as we lovingly serve those who compete in it.
Chapter 9 – A Match Made in Heaven-or Hell / The Dissonance between the Values of Jesus and the Values of Big-Time Sports
Chapter 10 – The Salvation of Sports: “Getting it Right” in an Emerging New Era of Faith in Sports
In chapter 9 the author questions the integrity of Christian sports people, points to instances of dissonance between what he sees as the values of Christ as expressed in the Scriptures and the values of Sport (primarily professional sport). He questions the fairness of certain practices in sport as practiced by Christians and points to instances like the University of Colorado’s “fifth down” situation in a win over the University of Missouri.
The author questions the appropriateness of Sunday play and they way the Church in the USA has grabbed such events as the Super Bowl for evangelistic outreaches.
The disconnect between values like grace and mercy as expressed in the Bible are contrasted with ideas like “killer instinct” which are both extolled by Christian athletes and coaches at the same time.
The author rightly points to the general culture of sport and its clash with Christian ethics when the sport culture says things like, “It’s only cheating if you get caught.” He is right that we in sports ministry are far too silent on such issues. He also takes us to task for what he calls the inconsistency between Jesus’ way of non-violence and our love of violent sports like American football. He mentioned particular players from past and recent years who were outspoken Christians, but were also labeled by their peers as among the game’s dirtiest and most dangerous players. “Those keen on leveraging Jesus-professing players for the advancement of evangelical faith have to cringe when one of their vanguard is named the league’s dirtiest player.” He’s right, I do cringe when our compartmentalization of faith and sport leads to such a lack of integrity.
The author sees inconsistency between the values held by Christian athletes and sports ministries and their association with professional sports organizations and the sponsors of television commercials, in stadium promotions, etc… He thinks the Church is at best naïve in its setting their Super Bowl outreaches right alongside the beer, GoDaddy.com, erectile dysfunction and other such ads which would seem to be directly opposite to the Church’s values. I think this opinion is foolish at best. The players and coaches don’t make the decisions about who sponsors this week’s television coverage of their games. I suppose the author would prefer the Church stay meekly in its place, the cloistered and safe environment of its own building rather than share its message in the public arena.
In another section, the author quotes one academic about the role of the sports chaplain and its similarity to a military chaplain, “Their role is not to question the war but to help the soldiers adapt to the war that they inevitably must fight. From the organization’s standpoint the chaplain’s job is to help athletes adapt to the pressures, ethos and values that are presented to them on a daily basis – not to challenge them. You can’t have soldiers question the value of the war. And you can’t have an athlete, with the help of his team chaplain, challenge values of athletics.” I respectfully disagree with this view on a number of levels. Primarily, if we are to be of real value to the sport community, we must be God’s representatives in it and not just stand outside barking at it. If we lovingly embrace the sports world we can, and should, shape its ethics and values. Our lives of faith, as informed by the Scriptures, should have a redemptive and transformational effect upon the culture of sport. To do so will require more than using sport as a platform for shouting clichés.
The author quotes another religion-in-sports scholar and critic as saying, “You can’t imagine Jesus up in a box seat. You can’t do it.” The scholar thinks Jesus would be somewhere outside the stadium, in a bad part of town, mingling with the outcasts, passing out food to the poor. Wow, that kind of babble may work in academia, but in the real world Jesus is present in the box seats, in the luxury boxes (of which the author either seems to loathe or be envious), in the bad part of town passing out food and even on the pitch with the players, officials and coaches. Such attempts to minimize sport as unimportant or the exclusive province of the elite are foolish and counterproductive to the conversation.
The author speaks of the often divisive results of evangelism in the world of sport. Whether in the clubhouse among teammates or in the stadium with fans at a “Faith Day” the author sees the process of evangelism as a force for division in communities. In some instances, I’m sure he’s correct. That will largely depend upon the people who are doing it and how they go about it.
I chapter 10 the author presumptuously makes his suggestion for the right way to handle matters of faith and sport. He titles his ideas as “The Salvation of Sports” and tells us how to “Get it Right.”
His ideas fall into two primary areas:
· Pluralism – open the doors widely to everyone of every faith. Form a Fellowship of Religious Athletes. The author falls into the same trap as most other secularists or pluralists by misunderstanding people of genuine faith. We have a belief in a particular faith, not in a cosmic other under which all the religions fly their own flags. This notion is noble at best and foolish at worst.
· Address the real issues in sport – racism, performance enhancing drugs, violence, sexism, the “win at all cost” ethic, cheating, etc… The author’s impression is that those in sports ministry have nothing to say about these matters because he doesn’t read about them in the paper or hear them quoted on radio or television. He misunderstands that many of us are addressing these issues directly, but are doing so from within the sports community rather than in the public arena. We’re working to effect change from within, rather than in the media.
In summary, “Onward Christian Athletes” is a book which challenges many of the presuppositions and practices of the Evangelical Sports Ministry community. The author boldly asks a number of questions which most of us would not ask ourselves or our peers in ministry. For this I am thankful. After reading the book thoroughly twice and then reviewing each chapter again for the purpose of writing this review, I have both affirmed some of my strategies and methods and I have evaluated and modified others. I trust that will be true of many of us who are highly committed to honoring Christ Jesus in the world of sport, as we lovingly serve those who compete in it.
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