a brief theology of sports
A couple of years prior I was a speaker at a young camp. When it was time for the first group to play, a leader began by telling a parable based on Genesis 1–3. He describes the joy of playing games in the Garden of Eden where the emphasis was only on the joy of the game. But one day the serpent entered the garden and tempted the Eden-dwellers with the idea of numbers. They succumb to temptations and start keeping score in their own game and this leads to all kinds of evil—competition, lust for victory, cheating, anger, and fighting. They have lost the straightforward delight of playing.
The leader told this parable to tell the youth that this week at the camp they would be introduced to non-competitive sports. There were no points, no winning or losing, just the joy of playing. But there was one serious problem – the games were completely and utterly boring. Day by day fewer and fewer young come to play, so in the end, there are only a few young.
Is this an accurate portrayal of the theology of sports? Obviously, I don't think so. I would like to present a brief and comprehensive theology of sports. If you don't like that headline, you can think about, "Why should we watch the Super Bowl!"
History can be summed up in three words: Creation, Fall, and Liberation. So when you're looking at a topic theologically, you have to ask: what is its relation or reflection to creation, fall, and redemption? In considering the Games, I have added two more words to broaden my view - Avatar and Moksha (both of course related to Creation, Fall, and Redemption).
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Creation - God can make everything gray and useful. Rather, he created a vast variety of colors, shapes, sizes, smells, textures, sounds, and tastes. Why did he do this? He did this so that creation would reflect his personality and especially his beauty. It is a magnum opus of capability and structure. Creation is a work of art.
The arts are sometimes considered of two types: the visual arts – such as painting, sculpture, architecture, and the performing arts – such as drama, music, and dance. Prabhu included both visual and performing arts in the creation. Visual Arts: Flowers, Mountains, Trees; Performing Arts: Oceans and rivers, orbits of planets, clouds. Some things in the universe connect these two.
Sport is a reflection of this creative activity of God. They combine the visual arts (painted fields/courts, team colors, and logos) and the performing arts (the actual game). Play refers to the act and form of creation. There is beauty in the game running to perfection, a well-thrown ball, a diving catch, a double play turn. These things can bring excitement and happiness because they are a reflection of the way the world was created. These are displays of art (or artistry, if you prefer).
God also created things in a certain order, not at random, and he laid down the laws of creation or the laws by which nature operates. Games also have an order to them and rules by which they are governed. Just as there are consequences for rebelling against the established order (such as defying gravity), there are consequences for not following the rules in sports. The game reflects the nature and principles of creation. Like nature, this reflection, when done well, honors the Lord and pleases the devotees.
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The Fall - In the Fall, man rebels from sin and the curse that comes from that Fall touches every part of everything - nothing survives. That means we'd expect to see evidence of the game's decline, and sure, we do. As there are sins of attitude, so there are sins of action.
The deadliest of these sins is the idolatry of sport—when it holds the highest place in the affections of the heart and the thoughts of the mind. When life is planned around playing sports or when a person's entire outlook is influenced by whether his team will win or lose, it has become an unhealthy and sinful obsession.
There are other wrong attitudes too – when only winning matters when a person will do whatever it takes to succeed when personal glory takes over when people are arrogant or angry. These are all fallen sins. The decline in sports is reflected in steroid use, game-fixing, corking bats, bench-emptying brawls, and many other activities.
Avatar - We are embodied beings and Avatar proves that our body is more than a mere vessel for our soul. Even in our eternal state, there will be bodies – glorious bodies but bodies nonetheless. The Christian life is not about condemning the flesh but about subduing it to honor the Lord.
Sports is one such thing which helps us to do that. Playing sports requires discipline and discipline
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FAQ
Where was Christianity founded and who founded it?
Christianity developed in Judea in the middle of the 1st century AD, based first on the teachings of Jesus and later on the writings and missionary work of Paul of Tarsus. Originally, Christianity was a small, unorganized sect that promised personal salvation after death.
Do Christians believe in Jesus as God?
Jesus is the Son of God and in mainstream Christian denominations he is the Son of God, the second person in the Trinity. He is considered the Jewish Messiah (Christ), prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, which in Christianity is called the Old Testament.
Where did Christianity come from?
Christianity originated in Judea in the present-day Middle East. The Jews there prophesied about a Messiah who would drive out the Romans and restore David's kingdom. We read the life of Jesus and the history of B.C. What is known about his birth around 6 AD comes from the four Gospels.
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