Project Description
2013/09
Christians and Sport
The love of sport is no new phenomenon. Ancient Greeks were avid sports fans – but this generation has embraced sport like no other. Since sport takes up so much time, thought and money in the lives of so many, believers must formulate a biblically based approach to it. Our lives are to be lived to the glory of God (1 Corinthians10:31): nothing is outside the lordship of Christ. ‘Christ is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.’ Trite? Maybe – but absolutely true. Christians, then, have a duty to examine this issue from a biblical perspective.
Is sport a worldly pursuit to be studiously avoided – or can a Christian participate in, and watch, sport to the glory of God? Is it a legitimate area of involvement – or a worldly distraction of which believers should steer clear? These are questions for us all. Allow me to ‘sow some seeds’ to assist your thinking. We must avoid the temptation to respond only according to personal taste and preference, whether negative or positive; we must ensure that biblical principles govern what we believe and practise.
Primary Principles
1. The pictures of the Apostle. Scripture nowhere prohibits Christian involvement in sport, either as participant or spectator. That is significant as Greek culture and sport were certainly in the minds of New Testament believers. This is clear from Paul’s frequent use of sporting metaphor. He refers to the Christian life as a race (1 Corinthians 9:24; Hebrews 12:1). He refers to rules of the race. He speaks of pursuing the prize or goal, an athletic term (Philippians 3:14), and he uses the laurel wreath to speak of the reward granted to the persevering believer (1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8). These images were clearly familiar to the Apostle and his readers. That at least would imply that, while there may have been aspects that could not be approved of, the sporting arena was not intrinsically evil. Paul would not have used, repeatedly, terms associated with some evil pursuit to picture the living of the Christian life!
2. The propriety of leisure. That God created man to work is clear from the garden before the fall, and from the curse after the fall. However He also made man to rest and to know the benefit of leisure. Christ, in perfect humanity, rested and slept. He instructed His disciples to: “…Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…” because of the ‘busyness’ of their labours “…for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” (Mark 6:31) Leisure may involve eating, but other things are included. Thus ‘leisure’, like every God-ordained gift, is given for us to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17).
3. The profit of exercise and the sixth commandment. Paul states, “Bodily exercise profiteth little”. Is this a reason to avoid sport and exercise? The opposite is true. The words indicate the limited profit of bodily exercise when contrasted with spiritual. It profits only for our earthly sojourn “but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come”. (1 Timothy 4:8) Paul’s words show that bodily exercise profits a little, or for a little time. But it does profit. This is consistent with the requirements of the sixth Commandment as understood by our forefathers. ‘The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavours to preserve our own life, and the life of others. ‘ (Shorter Catechism, 68, emphasis mine)
These considerations should prevent us issuing a blanket ban on Christian interest and involvement in sport. However, we must be alert to the influence of the world and not be conformed to this world. So we must ensure that we are judicious in our approach.
Sport may testify to the glory of God. The speed, strength and skill of athletes are only possible because of the way they are made by the Creator. The dexterity of movement, the intricacies of poise and balance, and the raw power of the human frame bear witness to Him. Christian Olympian Eric Liddell declared, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
Potential Pitfalls
The Christian can be salt and light in the world of sport. The work of the Spirit in our lives makes us increasingly like Christ. He is the light of the World, and as we reflect Him we do so “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15) To do so we must be mindful of some potential pitfalls..
• Sport as an idol. How tragic to see untold thousands of ‘worshippers’ in sporting venues who have made sport their god! Anything that takes the place of God in our affections is an idol, and sport is an idol to multitudes. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
• Sport and its influence. The sporting world is not immune to the wickedness that pervades our society. As believer rubs shoulders with unbeliever, he must be mindful of the principle that “evil communications corrupt good manners.” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Christ’s prayer indicates that this is not a call to isolation but to vigilance. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” (John 17:15) The Christian must not be of the world. There are areas of the sporting world marked by vulgarity, blasphemy and the abuse of alcohol. There is the ever-increasing temptation to defile the Sabbath – God’s day is His day, and we must not do our pleasure on this holy day (Isaiah 58:13). Sport may provoke pride and may test a man’s temper. For some, sport can lead to compromise and backsliding. For such, “if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.” (Mark 9:43)
Some love sport, others loath it. And there are many in between. Whatever your preference, seek to magnify Christ, guarding yourself from idolatry, walking in integrity.
Dr Stephen Pollock
