Archive for Scripture
Imperfect Previews of the Perfect Day to Come – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsWe 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.
Imperfect Previews of the Perfect Day to Come – Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsDue 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.
Serving Others in the Pursuit of Athletic Greatness – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsAgain, I am answering (in blog form, for they deserve so much more!) the questions: Why and how should a Christian pursue athletic greatness? Or how can I justify my drive to become the best athlete I can be?
Yesterday I started on point three: A Christian can joyfully pursue athletic greatness because such a pursuit can and should serve others. I said that 1) By pursuing athletic greatness, God is blessing and you are serving those you compete with and against.
Today I move on to my second assertion.
2) By pursuing athletic greatness, God is blessing and you are serving the community in which you compete.
Though this point is probably rarely reflected upon, I think it should actually be quite obvious to all, Christian or not. For as I sit here and think about this point, I can’t help but ask: what would Penn State (my alma mater) be like without their storied football program? Where would the consistent connection be for the thousands of alumni who gather together in various venues to watch PSU football and who purchase football jerseys or other PSU gear for themselves and their kids? If it wasn’t football, what would be the thing that unifies this incredibly diverse group of people – alumni, students, faculty, and everyone else?
We might find something else, but I don’t think we would find anything else more powerful (unless it was another sport, but even then, it is tough to top the numbers and reach of football). Indeed, the fact that every University in America would welcome a great football program is evidence of this. Whether Athletic Directors or College Presidents realize it or not, nothing can top the power of sports to unify a diverse group of people.
The story behind the movie, Invictus, is even better evidence of this. Nelson Mandela apparently understood the power of sport to unify and capitalized on it with the providential success of the South African Rugby team. Somehow many historical class and race struggles melted away (not perfectly, but at least at a greater rate) as the South African people joined their new President to cheer on the Springboks as they won the Rugby World Cup. Whether you have seen the movie or not, get the book (Playing the Enemy by John Carlin
All that being said, we know that usually, only successful teams carry this power of unification. A losing team usually does not serve the community nearly as well. After all, the only unity that results from losing is the one where the community unites to call for the firing of the Head Coach! And naturally, that isn’t the unity we are pursuing. Excellence is obviously a big key. Penn State football doesn’t serve to unify the university community and many other surrounding communities simply because it is there, but because the team is historically good. So also the South African rugby team didn’t serve to unify the country simply by competing, but by winning. Sure, the support may still be there (at times and in some respects), but athletic excellence is the key.
This point is particularly close to my heart. For from High School on up, my most enjoyable experiences as a competitor have been the ones where I instinctively understood that I was playing not simply for myself and my team, but for the blessing of a community. You play not simply to play, but to unify. For you go out on the court with the corporate name of the community on your chest. You seek greatness not simply for yourself, but for the joy of everyone involved. Your pursuit of athletic excellence is a service. God is at work through you, bringing blessing and pleasure to others through your athletic excellence.
When rightfully understood and embraced, I am convinced that there are few greater joys. Indeed, I believe that when everyone involved (fans, coaches, players, etc.) understands all of this, the joy of the entire community cannot help but increase. For when I as a competitor or coach really believe that my job is to serve others by pursuing greatness, I can do so with a much greater purity and zeal. And when the community at large knows that I am pursuing greatness for their good as well as my own, a sweet unity cannot help but evolve, provided of course that I can actually serve them by performing well.
Communities instinctively hate the player or coach that is clearly seeking greatness for his own glorification or career advancement. Why? Because he is serving only himself. He is not seeking the biblical ideal of Shalom-the peace, prosperity and well-being of everyone involved- but instead, disrupting it. His pursuit of excellence is a sinful pursuit as it centers only upon himself. Rather than unity, he brings discord. He inspires only a sinful response. Sports communities are right to run such a man out of town. Service is the key. God works best through (and usually blesses most) the pursuit of excellence that seeks to serve.
Can you imagine if just one community – from the coaches and players and ball boys to the people in the top row – understood and embraced the biblical ideals I have set forth in my first three points? Excellence, service, unity and joy to the glory of God? It would be a sports’ heaven. Or at least a taste of the real Heaven to come. But that is for point number four. And point number four is for tomorrow. All I can say now is that whether you are an athlete or not, I hope you see that the pursuit of athletic excellence doesn’t have to compete with love for others and the glory of God. Instead, let those two truths kiss! Seek to honor the Lord and serve others by becoming the best you can be.
Serving Others in the Pursuit of Athletic Greatness – Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsLast week I began a series in answer to two questions very close to my heart: Why and how should a Christian pursue athletic greatness? Or how can I justify my drive to become the best athlete I can be?
We move on today to point number three: A Christian can joyfully pursue athletic greatness because such a pursuit can and should serve others.
In his book, God at Work, Gene Veith unpacks the Lutheran doctrine of vocation. One of his primary emphases throughout the book is Reformer Martin Luther’s emphasis upon the way in which God works through our works to bless His creation and bring glory to Himself. In looking at the Scriptures, Luther realized that the doctrine of vocation encompasses much more than what we are called to be and do in our various spheres of life. For it most importantly entails what God does in and through our vocations.
God heals, but He usually does so through doctors and nurses. God provides, but He usually does so through employers. God feeds, but He usually does so through farmers, truckers, bakers, and big, huge supermarket chains. God educates, but He usually does so through pastors and teachers. And on and on we can go. From a Christian perspective, God is actively blessing His creatures and creation through our various vocations. Therefore, whatever our calling may be, we are wise to understand how it serves and blesses others. In essence, we want to know how God is at work through us.
So how can the pursuit of athletic greatness serve others well? How is God at work in such a pursuit? I offer two points. Point one I will cover today. Point two will have to wait for tomorrow, because I just wrote it and it won’t fit.
1) By pursuing athletic greatness, God is blessing and you are serving those you compete with and against.
a) Regarding the ‘with’ in that statement, I can say that if you compete in a team environment, you can and should serve your teammates by pursuing excellence. For in a team game like basketball, you become your best corporately by highlighting the strength of every individual and putting them in positions to utilize their strengths for the good of the whole. When each player is pursuing greatness with the right mentality, he is pursuing it with an aim to team greatness. He doesn’t seek greatness in an individual vacuum, but in light of how he can best help his team to be the best they can be. This is a service. This is God at work.
b) Regarding the ‘against’ in my statement, I can say that whether you compete in a team or individual sport, your pursuit of athletic greatness obviously serves your opponent(s). For when you seek to be the best you can be, you force your opponent to do the same. Competition at its heart is a cooperation, whether you like your opponent or not. For when you get together to seek victory, you cannot help but do all you can to force your opponent to play their best. You force them to see what they are really made of. You seek to highlight their every weakness as they seek to maximize their every strength, and vice versa. Such an endeavor is a service, whether you realize it or not. And God is at work in the process by blessing the individuals involved with the joy of the challenge, the sweet opportunity of seeing how good they really are and how far they have to go to become as good as they want to be.
The cooperative nature of competition is no doubt a primary reason why competitors often feel a certain admiration and love for the opponents who push them the most. People who don’t compete very much may have a hard time understanding how competitors (when at their best) can do their absolute best to beat one another (in whatever the sport), only to shake hands and exchange a sportsmanlike half-hug and back tap after the fight. But this explains why such a connection exists. For every competitor in pursuit of excellence appreciates the one who pushes them to become their best. Most can’t explain it, but they know instinctively that their opponent is not really their enemy at all, but their friend. For without their help, they cannot become the best they can be. Apart from their service, they cannot really pursue their own excellence.
As I type these words, I cannot help but reflect upon my most enjoyable competitive connections. The first two that come to mind are the connections I enjoy with my brother, Jon, and good friend, Bobby Fisicaro. I suspect I think upon these connections first because I have probably competed against Jon and Bobby more than any other basketball players, though Bobby naturally takes second place. Not only that, but we competed against one another consistently, in a controlled environment, during each of our most definitive times of athletic development.
While in late High School and College, we played one-on-one almost daily during the summertime (for too many hours in hindsight) Indeed, we played so much and so long that we got to know one another’s games almost perfectly well. We knew every move each other would make and designed our drills and games for maximum exposure and improvement. We competed with whole hearts and in so doing, pushed one another to become better and better. Considering my own pursuit of excellence, I cannot help but give great thanks for these two. Though they are my friends in life, I believe they are even better friends in life now because of the relationships we developed in the pursuit of athletic excellence. Though we did not realize it at the time, God was working through us, blessing us as we served one another.
And so it can and should be for all of us as competitors. Service is central whether we realize it or not. God is at work in our pursuit. Therefore, we cannot help but pursue athletic excellence with joy.
Pursuing Athletic Greatness to the Glory of God
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday I made my first point in answer to the questions: Why and how should a Christian pursue athletic greatness? Or how can I justify my drive to become the best athlete I can be?
I said that in order to understand and appreciate sport and competition in Biblical perspective, we must understand the storyline of the Bible: Creation, Fall, Redemption. And that when we look carefully at the first of those three (creation), we find that sport does indeed fit into the very good of God’s original design.
Today we move on to point number two: A Christian can joyfully pursue athletic greatness because such a pursuit can and should honor God.
As you might already anticipate, this point runs in the same vein as point number one. In fact, in commenting on Genesis 1-2 yesterday, I said, “As man was a part of the created order himself, his calling to develop the earth’s potential included developing his own potential, including His potential to create and participate in sport.”
Before I wrote those words I said that a good gardener doesn’t cruise through his work in order to maintain the garden status quo, but instead, does all he can (within certain limits which I will comment upon later) to maximize the beauty and potential for growth within that garden. Well, the athlete can rightfully consider himself part of his own garden. And in light of God’s original design and command, he (or she) can rightfully and joyfully do all he can to maximize his own potential for his highest joy, the joy of others, and the glory of God. He can, with the help of others and in the midst of God-given opportunities, seek to understand and improve upon his natural abilities and desires in order to become the best athlete he can be. And he can do so in confidence that God’s delights to bless such an endeavor.
As I write these words, I think of the many well-meaning Christians who will become nervous with such thoughts. Faithful as such thoughts may be to the Scriptures, the pursuit of excellence (in various walks of life, including athletics) is something many Christians shy away from. And in a sense, I understand why. For we know that within the storyline of the Bible, there is the Fall, and thus, the corruption of man and his every good endeavor. We know from experience itself that the pursuit of excellence is, more often than not, a good we pursue to our own destruction.
That being said, I believe that however well-meaning we may be, it is wrong for us to view the pursuit of excellence as evil in and of itself. Or even to shy away from it because of its dangers. No doubt, we should be careful, but we should be careful not by sitting out of the race, but by diligently running it well. In fact, I believe that if we shy away from the pursuit of excellence because we are scared of sinning ourselves, we sin in a different fashion, as we show a lack of confidence in the person and work of Jesus Christ and a lack of zeal to honor the Lord with the gifts and opportunities He has given us. Crazy as it may sound to some, I believe that if we are to sin (for from a Christian perspective, we will sin either way), we are better off sinning as we seek to honor the Lord fully with our gifts. Holding back helps no one at all.
Yes, I realize that many a man has pursued athletic excellence to the ruin of his own soul, his own family, and even the good of his community. But that doesn’t mean that the pursuit itself is a wrong one. It is just a good pursuit out of control. It is a good pursuit fashioned into an ultimate pursuit. So rather than tell Christians to shy away from such a pursuit, I say such failures are all the more reason to pursue greatness ourselves. After all, if we can not pursue excellence in sports (or whatever your station in life) to the glory of God, then who can? If we will not seek to become the best we can be in a way that blesses others and honors the Lord, then who will?
I am probably getting a bit ahead of myself here, but in light of God’s original design and in light of what Jesus Christ has done, the Christian (if he so desires) ought to joyfully pursue athletic excellence in confidence that however imperfect his pursuit may be, the Lord is honored as he hopes in Christ. I am seeking to be such a man. And I am, without doubt, a very imperfect one. But I tend to think that the sports world would be much better off with athletes of all ages and genders who believe such truth and seek to honor the Lord by becoming the very best they can be.
My hope is that the Christian church will one day fully share such a perspective.
