When you think of sports, what comes to mind? Blood, sweat, and tears? Playing pick up football with your friends? Practicing all your life and putting it all to the test in the open field? These are all parts of sports. But is there a crucial element of it missing? Is there something that we just aren’t getting from sports that could “change the game”? Let’s figure this out.
Take Dan. Middle school kid going to a small time Christian school. At the age of 12 he joined the boys soccer team and was placed on the “b” squad. And they were not so good. Yet still the drive to win mattered so much. More than anything else actually. All his life, Dan had participated in sports, ones that were serious, and ones that were for fun, but nothing mattered nearly as much as this. He felt validated, brave, and courageous when he went out on to that field.
But why? His 24 year old self looks back and wonders why a bunch of 12 year olds played with such intensity to win a game that meant very little, and why, when they would lose, that it would be the end of the world and anger consumed them. How do we as Christians understand this and learn from it? Because that same 24 year old guy sits here looking back at the past, wondering why and how he felt that way when he was 12 and no longer questions that intensity that lasted from then to the middle of college. And I came here to tell you I have found the purpose and meaning of sports.
When you get to junior high (middle school back in my day), a whole new perspective opens up. For some this happens earlier and for some it happens later. But generally, it shows through the fact that now we guys like girls, we hunger for attention, we want to be the smartest and the coolest people on the planet. For girls it may be different but the roots are still the same. Those notions easily transition to whatever sport we are playing and then all of a sudden those obsessions are given a voice. So from an early age we believe that through that sport, that our actions can make it possible to achieve the fame and glory and all the things that we desire. We as Christian children should’ve been taught differently. Maybe we were. But the society that we live in, the society that worships sports above all else, makes it nearly impossible to not see sports for its true colors. The truth, is that we know that we should not be playing for our own glory or fame or to achieve anything materialistic that we want. We know that all glory should be given to God. But why was that such a weak thought back then? Why do we still act like children on the soccer field, or basketball court, or football field? I believe it is because we were never taught HOW to give that glory to God.
Sports are more than just a game or a competition. It is a form of self-expression. Like dancing, singing, or being weird with our friends. Our individual nuances and talents shine through and make us who we are on that field, court, or rink. When you play a sport for God though, we merge our self-expression with God’s will. We strive to be the best we can, while accepting that the outcome is out of our control. We move, we play, we think, according to our will, but constantly being mindful that God is here and desires us to show Him through us. In those moments when we play sports, we act out the Word of God. I don’t know if, when I was 12 years old, that I would’ve known this or even understood it. But when I was in college there was a fair amount of people that still hadn’t learned this lesson. I saw them struggle to win and fight and do things completely contradictory to Christian character. Even these days, at the age of 24, I see full grown men acting like children. They validate their actions by merely saying that they are “competitive” or that they are “just caught up in the game”. But what is that really? I would’ve thought that by now that those excuses don’t give you a license to act like only winning matters, even at the expense of others. By acting that way people of all ages that act this way and make excuses are hurting others, depriving people from learning and enjoying that sport, or falling short of being an example of Christ. And I’m sure Christ isn’t shown in those moments. People that I played intramural soccer with at college would ask me “Dan, why are you always fine and even happy after games; we just lost?!” and I would tell them the truth. “I did my best and I had fun, and that’s all there is to it.”
At the end of the day, God teaches us this in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
He tells us through the words of Paul, that we must RUN IN SUCH A WAY. Not that we must run to get the prize. We must emotionally, physically, and spiritually prepare ourselves to show God and give the glory to Him. Sports is a form of preaching. Just as no two pastors are alike, neither are two athletes. We must see that we preach through our actions. And after the race has been run, God does not say that we will gain the prize. He says that we will not be disqualified from receiving it. We do not play sports, we don’t sing songs, we don’t pray with one another, to gain the gift of everlasting life. We do all these things BECAUSE we have been given eternal life through Christ’s sacrifice for us sinners. We must be in a frame of mind to understand that we CANT HELP but give the glory to Him and to remove our own self-interests from the equation.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 God yet again says,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as an approved worker who has nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of truth with precision.”
He shows us again that there is nothing to be ashamed of in loss or in winning. He merely asks two things of us. To do our best and to handle the word of God with precision in our actions.
And yet again God says in Ecclesiastes 9:10,
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”
When we see that our actions are meaningless in the grand scheme of this earth when based on ourselves, then we realize that the true purpose is heaven. Our goal isn’t to win, it’s for Him to win. And He keeps winning each time that a new Christian walks through heaven’s doors. Every stage that we walk on to is set to be the stage we need to minister to more Christians daily. Sports is just one of those many stages.
My challenge to you is this: when you watch, play, or manage a sport/sports try these things. Winning has very little value once I experienced it. Losing gave me more of a reason to get better. When trying to figure out why I changed in college, and why I just simply tried to do my best and to praise God afterwards, I realized that loss was the answer. Let yourself feel losing a game. It’s just as human as winning and, for me, it had much more profound impact on my skill and my purpose on that field. I analyzed and critiqued myself and got better at the sport I devoted myself to. In watching sports, I became far less harsh on teams and more understanding of the game, because I knew what it took for me to get better at my own; and I’m nowhere near as good at sports as some of the people I have watched play them, professionals and amateurs. I’ve won my fair share of things as well. Championships and trophies and countless awards for things some/most people have never done. God seems to have a way with how wins and losses come and go in our lives. We just need to enjoy them both when they come because I know that, with both, I and He have benefitted immeasurably. And you will too. Ill end with this quote from Johann Sebastian Bach.
The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.
Go out and make this music. I guarantee it will be amazing for you and God to listen to.
