Significance in Sports Ministry

For the last fifteen years I’ve watched various sports ministries, including the one which employs me, with alternating feelings of excitement, gratitude, disappointment, dismay, wonder and dilemma. A number of factors lead to these conflicted feelings and questions. One of the hardest questions I’ve asked myself follows.

Is ministry with the highest profile and among those with greatest influence more significant than ministry with the most obscure and least influential? Is my ministry with an American college football team more significant than my work with a rural junior high girls basketball team? I’d like to think that the answer is simple and obvious, but our actions and attitudes often betray our true values.

This becomes magnified when we gather sports chaplains and leaders in sports ministries together. Often those who serve with the highest profile teams are given the spotlight and the microphone while those who work with the less prominent sports programs are relegated to the corners of the room and given little thought or consideration. Sadly, we sometimes fall prey to the world’s way of elevating the powerful and prominent while neglecting the gift of God in the simple and obscure.

Do we really think that the ministry which occurs among Division III female tennis players is less significant than that which happens among the players and coaches of the Division I BCS national champions? I would hope not. If so, we stand in direct opposition to James chapter 2:1-4, “1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”

There is no doubt that the more high profile coaches and players whom we serve have a greater “platform” for the sharing of their faith and that is certainly the ethic which drives some of our ministry with them. Let’s be very careful with that approach. We may find ourselves using the player or thrusting him into public declarations which don’t match his level of commitment. We’ve all seen those who are quoted in the news one week, sharing their faith or thanking God for a victory, only to see the same player’s name come up in a police report in the same newspaper for driving under the influence the following week. In this case, his profile neither serves him nor the Lord’s Kingdom very well.

In my own ministry station, I sit in the middle of this continuum. Our area university and its sports program is considered “mid-major” and thus neither among the elite nor among the least powerful. When leaders of sports ministries gather, I see my colleagues from all points along the spectrum and am often saddened by the perceived pecking order. Even in our roles of service to Christ’s Kingdom we place ourselves in rank according to the prominence of our programs or the most recent season’s record. For some the perception seems to be, “That team just won a national championship, their chaplain must be doing a great job.” This is foolish and diminishes each one involved.

Let’s be sure to value all those whom we serve in the way Christ Jesus does. Let’s be sure to see the significance in each heart and to value each encounter, regardless of the relative prominence of the person. Your ministry with the twelve year old novice competitor is of equal significance to your service of the highest profile professional of your acquaintance. I certainly would and I imagine you would do well to recall James’ challenge, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.”

Cuba

I just returned from a week in Cuba. I met with a number of sport federation officials and with people whose churches are doing ministry in sports. There is such a hunger for ministry in sport there that I was stunned. Their society has been so secularized that the integration of matters of faith have been totally removed from their approach to sport. Now when I or others speak about how one’s faith can be woven into the fabric of the sportsperson’s life, it’s like fresh, cool water to their souls and they want more.

I took the recently translated devotional book, “Corazon de un Campeon” (Heart of a Champion in English), with me and gave twenty copies to various people. They all received it gladly and some were very enthusiastic about its potential for the individual players’ lives as well as for use in groups. Two different sports federation presidents were thrilled to discuss the integration of faith and sport, a radical concept for their sport culture.

One pastor drove seven hours to Habana to meet with us. I was thinking, “I wouldn’t drive seven hours to meet with me, but he did.” Such a demonstration of commitment and hunger spoke deeply to me and I was ready to commit similarly to him and to his church. We are making plans to work together to train sport chaplains and sport mentors in the near future.

Every time I’m in less privileged environments than what I daily experience in the USA, I am taken back by the hunger, drive, perseverance, determination and passion of the men and women of sport in these places and even more so by the Christian sports people. This last group’s passion for sport and for achievement is amplified by their love for Christ and their passion to honor Him as they compete.

My challenge for today is to seek out the hungry and thirsty among those we serve in our home communities. If we live in the wealthiest of countries or in the poorest, there are hungry and thirsty coaches, players, physios, support staff and more who desperately want the life we carry in our souls. Let’s give it away freely. We have a promise of rivers of living water which we can distribute broadly, at will.

Space for God

From Times Online
August 21, 2009
Space for God
Stuart Weir

“It is good and right that our churches are setting a clear Christian emphasis during this World Championship. We are opening up space for God. It is necessary that sportsmen and women have the opportunity…to turn to God in prayer and share about their faith”.
So said Dr Wolfgang Huber, the most senior Bishop in the German state church at the special worship service held in the Berlin Cathedral at the beginning of the World Athletics Championships (15-23 August 2009).
To some it may seem strange that you would want to accommodate God in a sports event but really it is the most natural thing in the world. If God is the creator of the world and of all that is in it, then that must include sport and our ability to play and enjoy it.
Yet the step taken by the German churches to hold a special service was a formal recognition of the connection between sport and faith. As well as leaders of the German Catholic and Protestant churches, those taking part in the service included Clemens Prokop, President of the German Athletics Federation, Stephanie Brown Trafton, reigning Olympic Champion in the discus and Solomon Gacece from Kenya, representing the internationals chaplains to the championship.
The Berlin Organising Committee has also recognized the spiritual needs of the athletes by appointing a team of 20 chaplains from all continents. An “Oasis of Silence” in each of the two official team hotels as well as the chapel, which was built as an integral part of the Berlin Olympic Stadium, are available for athletes to sit quietly, pray or talk to a chaplain.
Allyson Felix, two-time world champion in the 200 metres is in no doubt about the value of chaplains. “A major championship is a time when you definitely rely more on your faith. The Bible studies that the chaplain has done with the US team have been a help to me”.
One of the clearest arguments for the need for spiritual support during a major championship, was found on the website of UK athletics, which quoted Marilyn Okoro after the Women’s 800 metres semi-final this week, “I’ve been a nervous wreck all day. I’ve had to call on my strength and my faith in God and really believe why I’m here”.
A senior coach in the Kenyan team insisted that the chaplain, Solomon Gacece attended the first team meeting in Berlin to pray a blessing on the team.
Nett Knox, who has worked with the Australian Track and Field team for several years says of the World Championships, “I am here to support the athletes and team officials in any way I can – practically, emotionally and spiritually”.
Former 800 metres World Champion, Zulia Calatayud said that Armenio Anjos, who has been a chaplain at many major events had “helped me to know how to face fear, success and failure”.
Anjos describes his role as being there “to serve the athletes and to help them perform to the best of their potential. If an athlete shares with me their fear and struggles, I try to help them deal with it so that they can go to the stadium with no distractions. The question for me is always ‘How can I help this athlete?’ Prayer is a big part of that”. Competitors with no obvious faith are often open to prayer in the stress of competition.
Chaplains are called upon to meet a wide range of needs during a major sports event. That can range from how to deal with media attention for the successful or how to cope with the crushing burden of failure or the disappointment of an injury or a fall in a race, which deprives the athlete of the chance of competing for a medal. In one Olympics chaplains had to console an athlete whose husband was killed in an accident during the games.
The Berlin Organising Committee of the World Athletics Championships have done well to recognize the spiritual – as well as the physical and emotional needs of the athletes. The Christian community has been quick to respond to the invitation.
Let’s give the last word to Bishop Huber: ”One can bring before God both the joy over a victory as well as disappointments over defeats. In one as in the other case we know that with God the everlasting crown and everlasting dignity are ours”.
Stuart Weir is the director of Verite Sport http://www.veritesport.org/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6805363.ece

Love the Game

How much do you love your sport? Is it something for which you make sacrifices? What are you willing to give up to compete at your absolute best? What will it cost you to play your heart out?

We who love sport and seek to compete honorably, wisely and successfully express our love in specific ways. Some are listed below.
§ We speak well of our game. We talk about it in a loving manner.
§ We sacrifice for it. We carve out time from busy schedules to train, to watch video, to get in some extra practice and to rehab injuries.
§ We respect the game. We refuse to act in ways which cast our sport in a poor light. We won’t cheat its rules and we won’t tolerate others who do.
§ We’re passionate about the game. Our heart rate elevates when we get near the gym or the field. We can smell the aromas and feel the emotions associated with the sport even when we’re away from it.
§ We live in the culture of the game. Our language is full of its metaphors, clichés and stories. We wear clothes and our hair in ways peculiar to the sport’s culture.
§ We defend the game. We take great offense at those who would misuse the sport, defame it by their attitudes or actions and those who would use it for their own selfish ambitions.

Do you love your sport or do you simply tolerate it to get what you want from it? If you play your heart out, you’ll develop a deep, passionate, love relationship with the sport and those who compete. In doing so, we find the real rewards in sport and enjoy it most fully.

The Aroma of Sport

I love the aromas associated with sport. I recall vividly the smells, both beautiful and not so pleasant, from my life of playing my heart out.

I love the aroma of:
· Icy Hot on my elbow on October evenings as I drove to the softball field.
· My new baseball glove with 3 in 1 oil rubbed into it, a ball in the pocket and tied shut with a shoestring – laid carefully by my pillow for the night.
· Charcoal smoke wafting from nearby tailgaters into the football stadium during pre-game on fall afternoons.
· Newly mowed, dewy grass on spring mornings at high school baseball parks.
· A busy, August, football locker room; less than pleasant, but smelling of competition and passion.
· New baseballs, fresh from the box as we free them from their cloaks of thin paper.
· Popcorn and roasted peanuts at a major league baseball park on a June evening.

I love these aromas because when I smell them they lead me to recollections of simpler days, of passionate competition and of rich relationships with teammates and opponents who played their hearts out.

When you next go to the gym, the ball park, the stadium or the locker room; take a deep breath and drink in the aroma of sport. It smells like life!

Integrated or Compartmentalized?

It has happened again, a sportsperson’s private life has invaded his public life and another furious storm of controversy has erupted. A high profile college basketball coach has found his indiscretions from six years ago suddenly coming to light with brutal clarity and startling consequences. The details are still coming out in the mass media of his adulterous affair, the resulting pregnancy and the payment for an abortion, all leading to accusations of extortion by the formerly pregnant adulteress.

The radio talk shows, newspaper columns, blogs, web sites and television shows are all speculating about whether the coach should be fired, should resign or should be given a total pass. The whole sports world seems confused by the facts and their feelings of betrayal, moral outrage, disappointment and more. They do all this without any real basis for making moral judgments. Confusion reigns. Many of these people are classic secularists and would strongly hold to a highly compartmentalized world-view. They still want to make moral judgments, even though they only have arbitrary bases for making them.

Bottom line – they, like the coach, have fallen into a trap of their own making. At the core of the dilemma is that we only get one life. Our private life, our public life, our work life, our Church life, our love life, our family life, our fill-in-the-blank life will keep bumping into the other areas of life because, in reality, we only have one life. As much as we may want to compartmentalize and to keep these various areas of life separate, they will invariably each invade the others. The compartmentalization is a self-deluding illusion. We rationalize and convince ourselves that these various facets of life don’t directly affect the others, but in doing so we make fools of ourselves, sooner or later. Sometimes six years later.

So what are we to do? Live a life of integrity. Be the same person all the time. Rather than living as if our lives are lived in separate compartments with no overlap, we must have our life’s vision and values fully integrated into all areas of our lives. Let’s choose to be the same person all the time. Let’s be the same people on the field of competition that we are while tucking our children into bed. Let’s hold to the same ethical standards at work on Tuesday that we would at church on Sunday. Let’s apply the same moral standards to our lives as we do with those we follow from afar in the sport world. Let’s be like diamonds, multifaceted and wholly integrated. Let’s not be like filing cabinets, compartmentalized and foolishly disconnected.

Chaplains Roundtable 2009

If you’re in the USA, please give this series of events some consideration. The Chaplains Roundtables are good events for learning, networking and encouragement in our ministries with coaches and competitors. Please contact Bill Houston for more information. His contact info is below.

Chaplains Roundtable 2009
Charlotte October 7th…Indianapolis November 10th…Lansing December 1st

“Sports Ministry for Our Generation” that’s the theme for the 2009 Chaplains Roundtable Conferences in Charlotte, Indianapolis and Lansing. God continues to provide a wonderful list of speakers. Please visit our webpage to see the complete list of speakers. http://www.geocities.com/chaplainsroundtable/welcome.html

Charlotte Roundtable @ the Church at Charlotte-October 7
Keynote Speaker: Victor Lee - Author and Speaker http://www.victorlee.org/

Indianapolis Roundtable @ the Media Center of the

Indy Motor Speedway-November 10
Keynote Speaker: Barry Collier - Athletic Director @ Butler University http://coachbarrycollier.com/

Lansing, Michigan Roundtable @ South Church-December 1
Keynote Speaker: Jeff Totten – Chaplain - Detroit Tigers

Cost to attend this year is only 10$ per event, per person...this increases to 15$ for those who register within two weeks of the event(s) they would like to attend. This will cover the cost of the meal which is provided.

Checks can be made payable to: Chaplains Roundtable…and mailed to:
Bill Houston
9749 Parmeter Ave. NE
Rockford, MI 49341

Note: please indicate on your check which event(s) you will be attending. Thank you.
Thank you for your prayers for the Chaplains Roundtable Ministry. Looking forward to seeing you later this year. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a ring. It is always good to hear from you!

For Him Alone,
Bill Houston
Sports Spectrum Radio
Chaplains Roundtable Ministry
616-974-2583-office #