Presentation for 2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity - #3

Over the last couple of Fridays I have been posting the text of the three presentations I am making a the Second Global Congress on Sport and Christianity (now underway) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. https://calvin.edu/events/2GCSC/ Below is the third. 

The Christian Sportsperson’s Identity 

In recent years more and more Christian competitors, coaches, and sports chaplains have become uneasy about the degree to which they have become identified by their most recent performances. They find their emotions, relationships, and even their sense of personal worth to be tracking with their win/loss records, their most recent times, distances, heights, and other measurements of personal performance. While knowing this can’t be right, most have no other way to grasp their worth, their value, and their identity as a person. 

The culture in general and the sports industry in particular are happy to give an identity to sportspeople. This is usually in an effort to market, to lionize, or to degrade a person for their own purposes. If that’s not enough, those in sports media are more than happy to reduce a sportsperson’s life to a cliché, a meme, or a sound bite on their evening broadcast, blog, or talk radio show. 

We who work in Christian sports ministry will often tritely say, “Your identity should be in Christ,” and walk away as if that instantly solves the whole issue. I wish it were that easy. I’ve been wrestling for years with how to express a better way for the Christian sportsperson to understand and to embrace his or her identity in Christ Jesus. Please consider the following seven points and I pray the scriptures, each directly addressing identity, inform your heart, your mind, and penetrate to the depths of your soul. 

1. I am not identified by slavery to my flesh. I do not need to obey its every urge or bow to its appetites. Galatians 2:20 speaks to this matter – “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.” I am crucified with Christ, my flesh is as good as dead. I need not heed its screams of desire. I still live, by faith in Christ, but I am still alive. My life in Christ is energized by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. That’s power. That’s infinitely more powerful than any urge or appetite resident in my body. I am crucified with Christ and I now live by faith in Him. 

2. I am not defined by my performance, good or bad, personal record or disqualification, league championship or relegation. Ephesians 2:10 holds a transforming truth for our lives in sport – “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Even more, He prepared works before my appearance that I may walk in them. My identity and my performance on the court, the track, the pitch, the ice, the field, in the pool, or the gym now spring from who I am, not what I do. I am God’s workmanship. He has done the work, now I just stroll in the works He has prepared for me. 

3. I am defined by neither my brand nor my tribe, not by the logo on my gear or the club for which I compete, not by the club’s ownership nor even my nationality. My true identity is stated clearly in I Corinthians 4:1-2 – “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” Due to my relationship with Jesus, this text says that I am now Christ’s servant, thus He determines my value. I am His. Further it says I am a steward of the mysteries of God. This is a privileged position given through relationship, not merit. The Creator of the universe has called me to serve Him and to be a trustworthy caretaker of the mysteries of His kingdom. That’s who I am. 

4. I am not an outcast, a loner, a free agent, out on waivers, or between teams. I have been chosen for an elite team. We read about our place on this team at I Corinthians 3:9 – “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” I am now God’s fellow worker, a part of God’s field, a part of God’s building. I do not stand alone or isolated. I am not disconnected or cast off, I am part of God’s team, His field, His building. I am in community with all those who love Christ Jesus. I am an integral part of what God is establishing in this world. 

5. I am not an asset, a liability, a tool, an acquisition, or any other inanimate, dead thing. Romans 12:1 dispels these pernicious notions – “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship.” I am not a dead sacrifice, lacking will and animation. Rather, I am a living sacrifice with full capacity to make choices, to love freely, and to worship God. I am free to present my body as a living, holy, and acceptable sacrifice. This is my true and reasonable act of worship. I am one who worships the living God through the presentation of my body as a living sacrifice in sport. 

6. I am not an isolated, forlorn, outcast from society. I Corinthians 12:27 reveals our present standing in the world – “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.” I am a member of Christ’s body. I have a distinct role and a unique function. I am indispensable in value. I am absolutely integral to the function of Christ Jesus’ body in this world. I am a member of Christ Jesus’ body. 

7. I am not defined by my past. Weak or strong, austere or privileged, rich or poor, wise or foolish, stellar or mundane, my identity is not in my past. Colossians 1:27 frees us from the past and its bondage – “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The marvelous, mysterious truth is that Christ in me is the hope of glory. The powerful hope that makes life worth living, gives us significance, and marks our true identity is the daily presence of Christ Jesus’ Spirit in our mortal souls. Christ in me is the hope of glory. That is who I am. 

I hope that these powerful statements of identity, directly from the Holy Scripture, are used by the Spirit to transform your life, to free you from performance based identity, and to liberate your athletic soul to compete freely. Rest in the assurance that you are complete in Christ, without regard to today’s performance, your team’s place in the standings, or any other temporal standard of measure.

Presentation for 2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity - #2

Over the next couple of Fridays I will be posting the text of the three presentations I will be making a the Second Global Congress on Sport and Christianity in Grand Rapids, Michigan. https://calvin.edu/events/2GCSC/ Below is the second. 

The Significance of Sport Chaplains and Character Coaches in the 21st Century 

Ministry in Sport has changed greatly in the last sixty years. It began with iconic figures and very few details about their lives. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) was founded on this dynamic. FCA’s founder, Don McLanen, selected high profile, Christian athletes to proclaim their faith in public, just as they were being used by companies to promote their products. Ministry in Sport grew through the influence of two-dimensional, heroic Christian athletes who were used by various ministries to achieve growth and financial development. FCA grew through this dynamic. The last twenty years have revealed a huge tear in the fabric of many sports ministries. Our intentions have been questioned, our integrity has been examined and our methods have been scrutinized. FCA is part and parcel of this dynamic. 

The present world of sport and much of sports ministry is characterized by three primary weaknesses: 

1) The prevalence of compartmentalized lives; that is a lack of integrity. This is easily seen in situations like the fall of coaches, players, and even prominent Christian athletes. 

2) The horrible lie of performance based identity. A player’s sense of personal worth may rise or fall based upon his most recent performance on the field of competition. A coach’s sense of God’s pleasure with her may ride on her team’s win/loss record. Even worse, a sport chaplain’s sense of his or her being in God’s will can be shaped by the relative success or failure of the teams being served. Each and all of these scenarios are emblematic of the terrible lie that assaults the hearts of sports people. 

3) The collapse of the American family structure. Most of the young men and women whom we serve are now from single parent families. They start their lives relationally and spiritually handcuffed. Worse still, if they are so blessed as to be athletically gifted, they may find that their coaches, teammates, agents, peers, lovers, even their parents and sport chaplains use the player for their own personal gain. 

Sport Chaplains and Character Coaches in the 21st century are uniquely qualified to address these issues. If we will lovingly lead and serve with integrity of heart and not simply follow the culture’s flow of compartmentalization, we can make a real difference. We can lead players, coaches and our colleagues in ministry toward lives of real integrity and don’t treat it as a mere buzzword to impress our donors. The issue of performance based identity is most poignant for these days and will only increase in importance in the future. The self-perpetuating cycle of broken people growing up in broken homes can be overcome by the life transforming power of the Gospel of Christ in the lives of sportspeople. Not for the sake of the masses who follow them, but for their own lives and families. They are worth it, regardless if anyone else is watching. 

My challenge to you and to sports ministries globally is: 

1) To conduct your ministry with a whole heart. To fully integrate the presence and power of Christ in all of life; sport, ministry, family, all of it. 

2) Guard your hearts and those you serve from the insidious lie of performance based identity. Help them to see that their lives are inextricably tied to the infinite value of Christ Jesus as they are in Him. 

3) Dynamically impact the lives of the people of sport with the Gospel and thereby extend Christ’s influence in their families, teams, communities and the world.

Presentation for 2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity - #1

Over the next three Fridays I will be posting the text of the three presentations I will be making a the Second Global Congress on Sport and Christianity in Grand Rapids, Michigan. https://calvin.edu/events/2GCSC/ Below is the first.

What's the problem with Misapplication of Scripture in Sports Ministry?

After having delivered hundreds of pre-game chapel talks, having lived through over twenty-five sports seasons as a sports chaplain, having heard and read many years of post-game remarks by ecstatic players and more recently, a few years of tweets and Facebook posts, I have endured the misapplication of many verses of scripture to sporting situations. More often than not a player or coach is claiming a promise he or she sees in the Bible and hears it as God’s absolute guarantee of victory. More often than not, that scripture has nothing to do with such matters. A few of the more egregious examples follow.

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

The Lord certainly has plans for us, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give us a future and a hope, but to infer that to mean that we will surely win today (welfare is more than winning), that we will not lose (a loss is not calamity), and that our future is surely the championship to which we aspire is pure folly. Let’s take inspiration from the scripture and trust the Lord with the application of His plans and our future. Let’s not force our ambitions into His kind intentions.

Ephesians 3:20-21

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

This usually begins with the player or coach imagining his or her highest ambition or most lofty achievement and then appropriating Christ Jesus’ infinite power to its fulfillment. Surely the Lord wants us to achieve “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…” right? His power is at work within us, right? It’s only for His “glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” right? Actually this verse is in the context of the marvelous power Jesus exerts in the Church to blend Jews and Gentiles into one Church which demonstrates His grace and wisdom. Let’s not try to foolishly appropriate the Lord’s dynamic and holy grace toward our fleshly ambitions.

Isaiah 54:17

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;

And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.”

Many of us will recognize the first line of this scripture from its prominent, raspy and passionate use during the games leading up to the Super Bowl of American Football earlier in 2013. Simply reading the remainder of this verse informs the reader that this is much bigger than sport. While the one who spoke these verses may find all of this to be intensely personal, he was accused and was eventually vindicated by the court, he is not wise in his use of this verse related to his team’s victories. 

Much of sport rhetoric borrows from the vernacular of war and battle. It’s often effective as a motivational tool, but is more often the catalyst for belligerent and foolish behavior. The implication is that our opponent’s strategy is a weapon and surely the Lord won’t allow their “weapon formed against you to prosper.” This thought fails on several fronts, the most glaring being the presumption that the Lord Jesus would take sides in a sporting competition. Why would God favor your team in this day’s game over your opponent? Does your team love God more? How do you know? Do they have more Christians, more holy Christians, more devoted readers of the Bible or did they spend more time in prayer today? How exactly is the Lord supposed to take sides? The whole, presumptuous thought is folly and is the fruit of poorly trained study method and self-centered application of the holy writ.

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

This may be the king of them all. One can see “Philippians 4:13” scribbled on shoes, wrist bands, eye black or elsewhere on sports gear on any given game day most anywhere in the world. Players will infer that this scripture means that they and their team can take on the best team in the nation and prevail. Our team which enters the game at zero and twenty-two will surely overcome our rivals who come in at twenty-two and zero. Of course we can, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” This winless team may in fact beat their previously undefeated rival, but it will not be because this verse is true. 

The scripture is true, but it is set in the context of Paul’s assurance to his friends in Philippi that he could handle any situation, having plenty, being in want, in comfort or in painful trials. A more appropriate application of this to sport would be to encourage our teammates that we can trust Christ’s power to carry us along through losing streaks as well as through winning streaks. He strengthens us to handle pain and injury as well as to handle success and adulation. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Pleasant things or painful things, sorrow or laughter, ease or difficulty; Christ’s strength enables us for all situations.

It is not my aim to simply rant about the misapplication of the Bible in sports chapel talks. Our purpose here is to challenge each of us to wisely interpret and apply the scripture to the lives of those we serve so that they see its relevance to their lives, hear the voice of God in their hearts and respond to Him in faith. If we fail to do this in a way that is faithful to the Author’s intent, they hear a voice that is not the Lord Jesus and they respond in presumption, superstition or selfish ambition, none of which are even remotely related to genuine faith. Let’s be wise in our use of the Bible and allow Psalm 119:130 to be accomplished in our ministries – “The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.”

Sports Ministry Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia

Please join me in praying for an upcoming conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. It will be 31 October through 2 November and we believe it will greatly advance ministry in sport for that part of the world. A network of churches and a television network are joining to host the event which will include presenters from their region as well as the USA. Please pray that we further the Lord’s purposes in that region and that we enhance the ministries of our local colleagues.

I will be presenting six hours on sports chaplaincy within this outline of thought:

1.   A profile of the Sports Chaplain

a.   Definitions

b.   Character qualities

c.   Values

2.   Global Sports Chaplaincy

a.   History of development

                                         i.    United Kingdom

                                        ii.    Australia and New Zealand

                                       iii.    United States and Latin America

                                      iv.    Ukraine and Eurasia

                                       v.    Major sports events chaplaincy

b.   Global Sports Chaplaincy Association and the future

3.   Sports Chaplaincy in Russian Culture

a.   General culture influences

b.   Sporting cultures are distinct from each other.

c.   Don’t simply import church culture into the sporting world.

d.   Communicate Biblical truth in the sporting culture and thereby transform it.

e.   Culture is the canvas onto which we paint Biblical truth.

4.   Tools for Success in Sports Chaplaincy

a.   Personal skills and giftedness.

b.   Training

                                         i.    Relationships

                                        ii.    Attitudes

                                       iii.    Presence

                                      iv.    Strategies and resources

c.   Books, blogs, websites, and networks.