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Today I conclude my series of posts in answer to the 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.)

I said at the beginning of this series that I could probably blog on this topic for a year. After covering these these points, I cannot help but reassert such a statement. For although this series comprises 13 posts, I have only begun to scratch the surface of what I could say. That being said, it has gone on long enough for now. So here we conclude with a final post on point number six.

Again, point six is this: A Christian should joyfully pursue athletic greatness with utmost diligence and utmost humility.

Regarding ‘utmost humility’ we said:

a) If we are seeing clearly, we will recognize that the entirety of our pursuit is a gift.

b) If we are seeing clearly, we will recognize that it is a gift we by no means deserve.

We covered the first assertion yesterday. Today I must account for my second statement. But as I write those words I wonder, must I really account for such a statement? Sadly yes. I must. For according to Scripture, hidden within every human heart is not only the arrogant belief that we are or can be the masters of our own fate (a notion more readily encouraged in our culture), but also the belief that if we live some sort of half-decent life, we somehow deserve a good bit of blessing from God.

Biblical evidence for this abounds. But the nation of Israel in the Old Testament is probably the best example. For when you look at the biblical record, you find that the people of Israel, though graciously delivered and built up as a people by a sovereign and gracious work of God, consistently came to view their relationship with God as an employee views his relationship with his employer. “I do this work for you and you are obligated to give such and such to me.” Just read the major prophets semi-carefully and you find that no matter how wicked they became, the people of Israel somehow believed that if they went through the religious motions, God was obligated to give them what He promised.

Lest we feel superior to them, however, we are wise to recognize that this notion of deservedness is hidden within us all. For no matter who we are or even how bad we have been, we like to think that we can make everything right ourselves. We can do enough good to warrant heaven. Or at least a good life. All we need to do is to turn things around, get ourselves on track, maybe even pray and read our Bible enough, etc. etc. And this is true whether we are religious or not.

But here is where the Bible steps in and makes us very uncomfortable. For it teaches that because of our sin, no one deserves any good from God, no matter what they do or how consistently they do it. Indeed, it states that in light of how great God is and how bad sin is, every one of us deserves nothing but His eternal wrath. I don’t find it very comfortable either, but it is very plain. Unless you want to pull a Thomas Jefferson and cut out the parts of the Bible you don’t like, you have to accept it. From a biblical perspective, we are beyond gone and can do nothing to save ourselves. Religious or not, God is not our employer. Never was and never will be. And even if He were, our works fall so far short of His perfect standards, that rather than Him owing us for what we have done, we owe Him even more.

Are you bothered by such a notion? So am I. Who in their right mind wouldn’t be? But the fact that we are so bothered by it simply serves to highlight how much we like the notion of deservedness. We are uncomfortable believing such a reality because if we choose to accept it, we have to recognize that we can do nothing to save ourselves or make ourselves right or worthy of blessing. We need help from outside. We need a Savior.

And this is where the good news of Jesus Christ comes in. For He is that Savior who has come to do what we could not. He is the ultimate Helper of the helpless. Where we have failed, He has succeeded, once for all, in our place. The wrath we deserve, He has taken upon Himself. The debts we owe, He has paid in full. If we will but believe in Him, banking all our hopes for a happy future upon Him, eternal life in Him is ours.

What does all this have to do with the pursuit of athletic greatness? Well, nothing and everything at the same time. For how can you possibly be arrogant in the face of such truth? How can you not walk in humility if you believe such things? When you look at what you have in light of what you really deserve, you cannot help but pursue athletic greatness humbly.

Not only that, but your entire pursuit (and thus, this entire series) is put into perspective. Eternity is kept in view. The goodness of God in the giving of His gifts is plain. And the price for all those gifts is more than evident. And though some may think such realities hinder the pursuit of greatness, I cannot concur. For these are the realities of the gospel, realities of freedom, realities of joy, realities with a long and happy future in view – a long and happy future that when rightly considered, vastly transforms the now. Yes, even the ‘now’ of our athletic pursuits.

Today I (begin to) conclude my final point in answer to the 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 six is this: A Christian should joyfully pursue athletic greatness with utmost diligence and utmost humility.

My last post focused upon ‘utmost diligence.’ Today we look at why we should pursue athletic greatness with ‘utmost humility.’ Two primary reasons come to mind.

a) If we are seeing clearly, we will recognize that the entirety of our pursuit is a gift.

b) If we are seeing clearly, we will recognize that it is a gift we by no means deserve.

Regarding my first point, I recall a conversation I once had with a teammate of mine. In talking about the Lord and basketball, I said, “In the end, we really cannot take any ultimate credit for how good we have become or how successful we have been.” He was a little perplexed and replied, “But what about how hard we have worked?” I replied, “True, we have worked hard, but would it have mattered how hard we were willing to work if we were born on a mountain in Tibet or in a culture that doesn’t value basketball? Or if we were born a hundred years ago, where opportunities to get paid to play were virtually nil? Or if we didn’t have the thousand other variables outside of our control that all came together to make us who we are and to give us the opportunities we have enjoyed?” He calmly replied, “Yea, I suppose you have a point.”

And yet, this is a point we rarely consider – in any sphere of life, but especially in sports. For we are constantly bombarded with the myth that we can become anything we want to become. That if we just work hard enough, we can do anything we wish. Whether you read a story about an athlete in the local paper or watch a special on ESPN, more times than not, you will hear about perseverance and the diligent pursuit of excellence. And of course, they have a point. A very important one. But it is still only one point. Important as it is, it is actually only a small part of the story.

For no matter how hard you are willing to work, you have to concede that there are countless variables outside your control that play a part (often a large one) in who you become and how great you become as an athlete. Where you are born. Who your parents are, what they value, where you live, the opportunities they give you. Who coaches you, how they view you, encourage you, teach you, and help you move onto the next level. Whether or not you stay healthy. And as you reach the higher levels, you even have to factor in things like what the graduate assistant or random European coach thinks about your videotape. Or how well you play in a seemingly meaningless game that has a coach or scout in attendance. And on and on I could go.

All that being said, you can understand that as important as diligence and hard work are, they are far from the entire story. You are wise to fact the facts: you are not the master of your own fate. You cannot become anything you dream of simply by working hard. To believe so is not only foolish and short-sighted, but straight up arrogant and therefore, contrary to the humble pursuit of athletic greatness.

James 4:13-16 is very applicable in this regard,

Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Strong words aren’t they? Indeed. But you understand why they are true don’t you? For the mindset that says you are in control of your own fate, that you are the real reason why you can have success, is a mindset that leaves out the all-defining reality of God. It is mindset that exalts us and belittles Him. It is pride at its highest heights and it is far from pretty in the Lord’s sight. Can you really know what you can become if you dream well, work hard, and plan accordingly? No. Plain and simple, no. Plan and labor all you want (and you should), but do so embracing the fact that only if the Lord wills will you do this or that.

And so it is that our pursuit of athletic greatness ought to be a very humble pursuit. If we are seeing clearly, we must recognize that every natural gift and providential opportunity we have to pursue athletic greatness is a gift from a sovereign God. It’s not random chance that we can explain away and then take credit for ourselves. Nor is it something guaranteed to last. And definitely not something we deserve to receive, no matter how hard we may work. Labor as we may (and we should labor with diligence!), our hearts should be very humble throughout.