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.”