We return today to my questions: Why and how should a Christian pursue athletic greatness? Or, as a Christian, how can I justify my drive to become the best athlete I can be? (If you haven’t been following along, you can follow my outline here.)

We are still on point number four (of six):

A Christian can joyfully pursue athletic greatness because he (or she) lives in hope that one day all things (including sports) will be made new and that here and now, in sports, he (or she) can serve as an imperfect preview of that perfect day to come.

Regarding this point, I first said: a) We pursue athletic excellence in hope that because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, sports and competition (and our enjoyment of them) will one day be all we wish they were now.

Today I add this:

b) We seek to be salt and light in the sports world by pursuing athletic excellence in light of what we believe sports and competition should be and what they one day will be.

My first point (a) was supposed to highlight the belief that according to the Biblical story, sports and competition (at least most) are good things in and of themselves; and that because they are good things, there is a place for them at the end of the story, on the New Heavens and New Earth. Though I am naturally limiting what I say in order to keep these posts semi-short, I tried to highlight the belief that because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, there is hope not only for man, but also for his good (though imperfect) works. I know not every theologian out there is in perfect agreement as to exactly what this will look like, but in seeking to be faithful to the Biblical story and the work of Jesus Christ, it seems we can say that in light of a promised physical resurrection and New Heavens and New Earth, there is a hope that sports and competition will not be done away with by the return of Jesus Christ, but instead, be refined so as to become all that they were originally intended to be.

If I am welcomed to the New Earth only to find out I am wrong, I know I won’t mind it then. But I have to say that I like the thought now and do believe it makes sense in light of the story of Scripture. Not only that, but it gives me a vision for pursuing athletic excellence that is rooted in both the beginning and end of the biblical story. And Christian or not, we all should recognize that our belief about the beginning and end of things cannot help but shape our values and desires here and now. Theology is much more practical that we might first expect; and we are all practicing theologians one way or another.

That being said, I repeat my sub-point for today: We seek to be salt and light in the sports world by pursuing athletic excellence in light of what we believe sports and competition should be and what they one day will be.

In order to understand what I am saying here and how it applies, ask yourself two questions:

If there were no sin in us and thus, in the sports world, what would sports and competition look like today?

If it is true that we will enjoy sports and competition on the New Earth, with perfect motivations, and new and perfect bodies, what will our sports and competition look like then?

Great questions aren’t they? I think so. But I am sure you know instinctively that although they really are different questions, their answers are the same (at least in Christian perspective). For in light of the biblical story, the way things ought to be and the way things one day will be do not conflict, but because of Jesus Christ, come together in the end.

As regards sports and competition, and the pursuit of athletic excellence, get your imagination rolling. Imagine the sports world without any sin at all. No pride, selfishness, self-exaltation, dishonesty, anger, insecurity, idolatry, fear, but instead humility, love for others, God-centeredness, self-control, integrity, inner peace, and unending joy. Can you imagine such a world? Probably not. But according to the Christian story, that is the way things ought to be and indeed, the way they one day will be.

Even more, because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, this is the kind of sports world that Christians ought to pursue right now. Not is some domineering, theocratic sort of way, but in a humble, servant-like sort of a way. In a redemptive way. In a way that seeks to honor God and bring blessing to others. In a way that is genuinely salty and bright.

Our pursuit of this standard is sure to be imperfect, but so it is for the entirety of our Christian life. If the biblical story is accurate, then we as Christians are supposed to live the entirety of our lives in light of the way things ought to be and how they one day will be because of Jesus Christ. But if that is true, then the entirety of our lives are bound to fall short. And yet, that is no reason to shy away from such a calling, but instead, reason to have confidence that however far we fall short, our efforts are still delighted in by God and a source of blessing to others.

And so it also is for our pursuit of athletic excellence. Imperfect as it may be, it is good to pursue nonetheless. For it is pursued in hope that however imperfect we may be, we can, by God’s grace, be previews of that perfect day to come.

Due to extended travel delays yesterday, I missed out on the joy of elaborating upon point number four in answer to my questions: Why and how should a Christian pursue athletic greatness? Or, as a Christian, how can I justify my drive to become the best athlete I can be? (If you haven’t been following along, you can follow my outline here.)

Point number four is this:

A Christian can joyfully pursue athletic greatness because he (or she) lives in hope that one day all things (including sports) will be made new and that here and now, in sports, he (or she) can serve as an imperfect preview of that perfect day to come.

In efforts of full disclosure, I have to admit that this is a difficult moment to write this post. For I just finished up a game that didn’t go the way I would have liked. Not only did we lose, but more importantly, I lost playing as a very imperfect preview of that perfect day to come. I was far from playing the way I would have liked, not because I missed shots I normally make (though that is never fun), but because I was not at rest in the midst of my highly competitive atmosphere. I even got a technical foul, and at this moment am still struggling to trust the Lord with what I believe was some very poor officiating.

Having said that, however, I suppose that this is a perfect time to write such a post. For I am sure plenty of people could run across my outline and first three points and think I have it all figured out. They might suppose that because I can write some semi-insightful things (at least I think they are semi-insightful) about pursuing athletic excellence to God’s glory, I am the perfect picture of it. No way. Far from it. It is more accurate to say that the only reason I can write anything significant regarding athletic excellence is because I struggle so much to pursue it to God’s glory myself. In my experience, the birth of any real insight is far from fun. Crazy as it may sound to some, this is a topic over which I have shed tears (and I don’t cry often). Indeed, my own pursuit to honor the Lord with the gifts He has given me is one I have wanted to abandon more times than I can count. And yet, I cannot run away from it. Instead, I can only keep running to Christ and in turn, share what I learn.

So here we are at point number four. I offer two sub-points, the first of which I will cover today.

a) We pursue athletic excellence in hope that because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, sports and competition (and our enjoyment of them) will one day be all we wish they were now.

As I sit here and ask myself how to expound upon this sub-point, I realize I could probably write for days. But this is a blog post (and it’s late), so here is my attempt at a faithful, short summary.

From a basic biblical perspective, we were created in perfection, for perfection. Though we are very used to it now, sin is actually a cancer, an anomaly, an unwelcome, though sadly, invited guest, which has, through us, turned God’s world upside down. As regards sport, I suppose I can say that God created us not for imperfect games participated in imperfectly, but for a joy and perfection of athletic experience unlike anything we have ever known—for a unity of soul, body, and community that the greatest sporting event in history serves only as a faint echo.

But here is something you may not think about often enough (or ever): Not only were we created for this kind of joy and perfection, but we were saved for it as well.

That might sound like a lot, but I don’t believe I am overstating the case. For according to the storyline of Scripture, Jesus Christ showed up on the world scene not only to redeem your soul, but to redeem your body and our every good work as image-bearers of God (sports included). Sure, His death and resurrection focused centrally upon redeeming us, His image-bearers. But it did not end there. For the work of Jesus Christ has the entire created order in view.

In Romans 5, the apostle Paul tells us essentially that Jesus Christ is the new and better Adam who has come to reverse the effects of the Fall. He has done what Adam, as our representative, failed to do, in order to put right all that we (through him) put wrong.

Not only that, but if you turn to the final chapters of the Bible, you see that the story ends with a perfect City, described as the New Heavens and a New Earth. Jesus comes again in power not to usher us into some eternal, spiritual hymn-sing in the clouds, but to usher us into a resurrected bodily experience on a renewed Earth. Heaven as we will know it will not be entirely different than our life right now. It will just be infinitely better.

You realize what this means for sports and the pursuit of athletic greatness right? A whole lot. But at the very least, it means that the Story of stories assures us that one day, when Jesus returns to make all things new, we will experience sport the way we really want to experience sport. We will compete in perfect bodies, with perfect motivations, and unending joy. No. We won’t all win (something I need to remind myself before every game!), but we won’t have to. For the perfection and joy of our competition will soar so much higher than the result. God will be perfectly honored. Others will be perfectly served. All greatness will serve to highlight His greatness. And boy will it be fun.

Does that sound too good to be true? Or too far away? Maybe. But it’s not. Instead, it’s as real as it can get and as good as it can get. And however impractical such truths may seem to the pursuit of athletic greatness, they are actually about as practical as can be. For such realities not only help us to know how we ought to pursue athletic excellence (our point for tomorrow), but they give us hope that because of the work of Jesus Christ and the perfect day of redemption to come, we do not pursue such greatness in vain. We will pursue it imperfectly. That I know well. But we will not pursue it in vain. Our every good effort will be rewarded because of the work of Jesus Christ. Redemption stretches even to sport and our pursuit of excellence in sport.

And for an imperfect athlete like myself, such truth is music to my ears.