Sport has been alternately lionized and vilified by leaders in the Christian Church for hundreds of years. Most of those who comment on sport and its value are approaching it from a spectator’s viewpoint. I would like to approach it from a participant’s point of view and seek to understand biblical values which can shape one’s life in sport. Rather than to simply draw conclusions from the Bible’s references to sport (mainly used to illustrate spiritual truth), I would propose using a more analytical process to gather the values which can be applied directly to the lives of sportspeople.
While I will concede that the Bible does not speak directly about sport, but simply references it, I will strongly assert that it powerfully addresses matters of which sport is comprised. I would like to have you consider that sport is:
• A rich environment for engaging the Gospel of Christ.
• A lifestyle of noble work.
• An expression of worship.
• An experience of community.
Let’s now consider each of these ideas more deeply.
Sport is a rich environment for engaging the Gospel of Christ.
In the experience of sport one is deeply engaged in all the elements of the Gospel. On the field, pitch, court or track the sportsperson is surrounded by the beauty of Creation and often feels a genuine connection with the Creator through it. Through the inevitable pain, frustration, loss and grief which accompany a life in sport the competitor is confronted the brokenness brought on by sin, strained relationships and a tainted Creation. Those who engage in a sporting life experience grace for the restoration of broken relationships with teammates and hope for recovering the brokenness they feel through loss and failure. In a life of sport the participants encounter a level of community and fraternal love that is seldom known by people outside the Church of Christ and frankly, by many in the Church. The camaraderie shared by a sports team is a powerful and dynamic force in the lives of everyone associated with the team.
Even those who have yet to commit their lives to Jesus can experience these elements of the Gospel and can have their hearts stirred by them. Those of us who are followers of Christ and live in this environment are constantly reminded of the power of the Gospel and its implications for every facet of our lives. Sport, like any other human endeavor, if left to its own will naturally become utterly debased. It is horribly broken by sin, but it can be transformed by the presence of Christ Jesus in the lives of Christian sportspeople. Sport is a rich environment for engaging the Gospel of Christ.
Sport is a lifestyle of noble work.
Those who are engaged in a life of sport are intimately familiar with the work which is required for any level of success. There are countless hours of training, evaluation, skill development, strategizing, collaboration with teammates and coaches and ultimately the competition itself. Sport requires intensity of will and depth of commitment to endure the work that results in victories. The Bible is full of commentary on the nobility and the God-honoring value of such work. Among the simplest and most direct expressions of this ethic is in Colossians 3:22-25.
22 Slaves, obey your human masters in everything; don't work only while being watched, in order to please men, but [work] wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.
23 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord—you serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.
The scripture makes no excuses for the slave, but challenges him to do his work, whatever it is, as if he was serving Christ Jesus and not his earthly master. Sportspeople are similarly serving both earthly masters (coaches, club managers, team owners, and such) as well as the Lord Christ. The Christ-following sportsperson is challenged to serve wholeheartedly, respectfully and enthusiastically, knowing that he is ultimately serving the Lord in his work.
Sport, like other avenues of work, is noble in itself and a worthy lifestyle for the follower of Christ. The Christian sportsperson is informed by the Scripture and energized by the Holy Spirit. He will experience the frustration, pain and loss which are inevitable consequences of the Fall, but he will also experience the transformation which comes from the power of Christ as demonstrated in his relationships with teammates, opponents, coaches and the sport itself. Sport is a lifestyle of noble work.
Sport is an expression of worship.
Throughout the Holy Scriptures there is a wide variety of expressions of worship. Men and women throughout the ages have employed a myriad of methods to declare their love for, their devotion to and the greatness of their God. Musicians play, sculptors sculpt, preachers speak, painters paint, writers compose, dancers perform and athletes compete. In each of the aforementioned expressions of worship there are physical, intellectual, social and spiritual dimensions.
The Bible contains countless such expressions and a broad list of methods. Witness Psalm 150 and its listing of numerous instruments as well as dance as expressions of worship.
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in His sanctuary.
Praise Him in His mighty heavens.
2 Praise Him for His powerful acts;
praise Him for His abundant greatness.
3 Praise Him with trumpet blast;
praise Him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with tambourine and dance;
praise Him with flute and strings.
5 Praise Him with resounding cymbals;
praise Him with clashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the LORD.
Hallelujah!
Once again, the Bible does not directly reference sport as an expression of worship, however Romans 12:1-2 does seem to broaden the definition of what the Lord sees as God-honoring worship.
1 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
No human enterprise more requires the presentation of one’s body as a living sacrifice as does sport. The daily process of training, practice and competition is certainly sacrificial and I would submit, holy and pleasing to God. Thus it is our spiritual worship. It is such because it is empowered by the sportsperson’s desire to declare his love for, devotion to and the greatness of his God; just like the musician, painter, dancer, preacher, writer or sculptor.
Sport, like other expressions of worship, is powerful and dynamic in the life of the follower of Christ. The Christian sportsperson is informed by the Scripture and energized by the Holy Spirit. Sport is an expression of worship.
Sport is an experience of community.
The people of sport live in a complex network of relationships and experience community in ways that are both wonderfully rich and uplifting as well as corrupt and demeaning. Sportspeople relate daily with their teammates, with opponents, with coaches, with officials, trainers, office staff, equipment managers and even with the elements of the sport itself.
Like any community, the sport world is either enriched or impoverished by the people who populate it. The media seem obsessed with reporting the stories of those in sport that have corrupted it by means of cheating, lying, abusing drugs or engaging in foolish sexual behavior. This is what the spectators see of the sport community. What those outside the sport world fail to see is the rich depth of relationships which are forged in the fires of intense competition, long hours spent together, in the exultation of winning and the grief of losing.
The Holy Scriptures eloquently describe the nature of true Christian community in both narrative passages like Acts chapter 2 and in didactic passages like Ephesians chapter 4. If one is actively engaged in sport, he or she can see the faces and hear the voices of teammates when reading the verses below from Ephesians 4:1-6.
I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, 3 diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds [us]. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
This dynamic exhortation from the Apostle Paul applies both to the Church as well as to any sport team. If a team were to exercise love, would diligently maintain unity with humility and gentleness, it would surely experience a profound sense of community. This would be true for those who have yet to commit themselves to Christ, but it would certainly be more likely to occur and more powerfully energized if they were filled with the Holy Spirit as believers are.
Sport, like other experiences of community, includes relationships with saints and sinners. It exists in a complicated web of relationships with teammates, opponents, officials, coaches and even the competitor’s relationship with the sport itself. Such community is a powerful experience in the life of the follower of Christ. The Christian sportsperson is informed by the Scripture and energized by the Holy Spirit. Sport is an experience of community.
Conclusion
Sportspeople are richly blessed to daily experience the Lord’s grace and mercy. They live in an environment which allows them to engage the Gospel of Christ, even if they’re unaware of it. They actively pursue a lifestyle of noble work which can truly honor the Lord Jesus. They have opportunities to present their bodies as living sacrifices as powerful expressions of worship. Sportspeople experience community daily in ways uncommon to most and even those yet to believe in the Lord get a foretaste of true communion.
When one is in a committed relationship with the Lord of Creation, has engaged the Gospel, finds fulfillment in his work in sport, expresses his love for and devotion to Christ through sport and experiences loving community with teammates and even opponents, he experiences sport at its best.
Sport is a rich environment for engaging the Gospel of Christ. Sport is a lifestyle of noble work. Sport is an expression of worship. Sport is an experience of community. Let’s compete in a Christ-honoring way and thereby experience the Lord’s presence and His pleasure in every moment.
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