What Place Do Sports Have in the Life of a Christian?
Sports dominate our world. So much so that now they are even used to shape politics and moral and religious thinking. Recent demonstrations by athletes only remind us what a big role athletics play in our lives. It’s not that athletes are supposed to be our cultural heroes – it’s just that they have such a huge forum in which to be heard. And as with any advantage that human beings experience in life – the sporting arena has now become an agent by which society is influenced.
I grew up eating, drinking, and living sports. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. All I wanted was a ball since I was old enough to hold one. We lived next to the baseball park. It was literally on the other side of the chain link fence from my house. I became a player. I became a fan. By the time I was 3 or 4 until my teenage years – sports dominated my mind.
It is my contention that we put too much emphasis on athletics. They are, to many, a god. People become so passionate about their teams that they will drop thousands of dollars on one game. They will beat each other up on social media and they will beat each other up physically in the stands. We have all seen those videos where somebody punches somebody else at a ball game. I remember several years ago attending a late September, playoff-run baseball game in St. Louis between the Cardinals and Cubs in which the game was won in the ninth inning on a dramatic home run. I was with my wife and young son and I was wondering if we were going to get back to our car alive.
This article is not about how the general public should negotiate sports – I know that the world is so dominated by sports that for many, it’s what rules them. I don’t expect for the drunken fan to disappear and I don’t expect ticket prices or player’s salaries to decrease any time soon – because the world loves its sports. We are the 21st-century version of the Roman Coliseum. The world is in it for the long haul! The chariot races will continue! But for a Christian – what place can sports play in our lives? Or better yet – when does our love for sports become too great?
1. Sports must not allow us to lose our influence for Christ.
When we allow our passion for our team to change our attitude for the opponent and, through this, we act like a son of the devil, it’s time to repent. This may be that escalated conversation on a Facebook wall. It may be the way a parent treats a coach or umpire. It may be how our behavior towards our family changes inside our home for a 24-hour period when our team just lost the big game – and we haven’t gotten over it yet. We need to remember – IT IS JUST A GAME! In the scope of eternity is never going to matter what team won or lost any game in any particular year.
2. Sports must not allow us to lose our priorities.
When you are good with missing worship for a sporting event on a weekend, you’ve put that event before the only assembly that deserves your absolute respect and worship. Christian parents should plan a way for their athletic, travel-ball family to worship the Lord on the first day of the week. Christian adults who participate in events that sometimes take place on Sunday need to remember to honor and worship the Lord on that day. You have 24 hours. The top priority in that time frame should be your personal reflection on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
3. Sports must not allow us to lose our children.
You can attend every ball game your kids play. You can travel all over the country with them in their athletic pursuits. You can help them receive scholarships through athletic endeavors and thus avail them to a better education and a better standard of living. But if your kids leave the church it won’t be worth it. Sports need to be taught as beneficial but not essential. We can learn so much about life through playing sports. But the things we need to learn to make it to heaven can only be found in God’s word.
So remember – in a sense, it is about winning and losing. Don’t lose your faculties. Don’t lose your focus. Don’t lose your family. By all means, run to win! Just don’t forget to seek the crown that endures.
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
