Sports

Playing (and Not Playing) Sports to the Glory of God

/ davidsschrock

ballNorman Dale: You know, most people would kill to be treated like a god, just for a few moments.
Barbara Fleener: Gods come pretty cheap nowadays, don’t they? You become one by putting a leather ball in an iron hoop. I hate to tell you this, but it’s only a game.

Growing up, Hoosiers was one of, if not my absolute, favorite movie. Its story about the improbably state championship of a small town basketball team  fueled countless hours of basketball drills and hardwood dreams. It also fed my idolatry with basketball, that persisted until the Lord saved me from my sins and my selfish dreams.

In reflecting on sports, I wouldn’t say everyone who dreams of playing college (or professional) sports is sinning. I wouldn’t paint others with the same idolatry I had, but I would say that as my children are just now beginning to come to an age where sports is an option, I’m thinking about sports entirely differently than I did when I was 12 years old. As much as I would enjoy watching my children succeed in sports, I am much more concerned with savoring Christ and serving him as Lord.

I doubt I’m alone. I know many who love Jesus and sports. Indeed, I believe Paul himself had a positive view of athletics. But what Paul says about sports in 1 Timothy 4:7–8 bears repeating today: disciplining ones body for sports was and is secondary to cultivating godliness. Christians who play sports should think and play and participate differently. But how?

If you are wrestling with the role sports should play in your children’s lives, here are some helpful resources. Be prepared, like your ball coach’s end-of-practice wind sprints, they are sure to produce some discomfort. But, as they say, “No Pain, No Gain.” Continue reading →

Skip Bayless Goes Biblical on ESPN

/ davidsschrock

It is not everyday that the Bible is quoted on ESPN.  And it is even more rare that if the Bible is quoted it is handled correctly.

This week, both of those things happened.  In reacting to the controversy set off by Brady Quinn’s comments about Tim Tebow’s faith–which seem to have been reconciled— Skip Bayless does a good job quoting Matthew 6 and explaining how evangelical followers of Christ are to be Christians in private and in public.

Against the cultural sentiment that Christ should be kept out of the public square, Skip Bayless does a good job explaining why Tim Tebow and other true followers of Christ cannot simply keep their faith private.  As Bayless points out, Christianity is a public faith. Check it out:

And just in case you are wondering, Skip Bayless is a professing Christian.  You can see his comments here: “Skip Bayless reflects on God, sports, and LeBron James.”

Soli Deo Gloria, dss

A Biblical Theology of Sports

/ davidsschrock / 1 Comment

The Apostle Paul often used athletic imagery to convey biblical truth (cf. 1 Cor. 9:24-27; 1 Tim. 4:7-8; 2 Tim. 2:5).  This week on the CBMW blog, Randy Stinson, Dean of the School of Leadership and Church Ministry at Southern Seminary and President of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, has followed the apostles lead.  As a sports enthusiast, Stinson champions the use of athletics to foster biblical masculinity in the lives of his boys, and he shows how baseball is a game that teaches biblical principles.  As a father-to-be, this kind of instruction speaks volumes, and will surely be put to use in the years to come.

You can read all 4 of his posts at the CBMW Weblog.