Yesterday 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.