Life at The Crossroads: Perspectives On Some Areas of Public Life Sports and Competition

Life at the Crossroads:
Perspectives on Some Areas of

Public Life
Sports and Competition
Living at the Crossroads
Chapter 9
Sports as waste of time

World negating gospel leads to a
degraded view of sport
Among the various things we can
relax with, athletics are low on the
scale of demonstrable significance
(Christianity Today).
Sports as creational gift

World negating gospel leads to a
degraded view of sport
Gospel of the kingdom leads to:
Seeing sport as gift of creation
To be received with thanksgiving
God made me fast. When I run I feel
his pleasure. . . . its not just fun. To win
is to honor him (Eric Liddell).
Sports Rooted in Creation

How created us as human
beings
Cultural calling He gave to
enrich our lives
Rooted in who we are . . .

As social creatures
As imaginative creatures
Sport part of our artistic and imaginative
impulse (Giammatti) or aesthetic potential
(Holmes).
Sports feed a deep hunger (Novak)
because of the way God made us.
Rooted in the task God has

given us
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15
Formative power to explore,
discover, develop potential of
creation in diverse ways
Sports: one cultural product
Gods Good Gift of

Competition
Morally wrong because it pits
one . . . against another in
rivalry . . .
Basic ingredient of sport
Martin Zuidema
Competition is . . .
Based on co-operation not rivalry
Co-operative agreement on goals,
rules, and obstacles of game
Co-operative agreement to contest
one another for mutual enjoyment
Obstacles provide hindrances which prevent the
player from using the most efficient way of
accomplishing the goal. The joy in the game is in
creating tactics to overcome the obstacles and
accomplish the goal (Frey et. al.).
An opponent is . . .
Not first of all a rival
Loving neighbor who provides
opportunity for more delightful
experience of sport by
providing stiff competition
. . . competition can bring out cooperation, celebration, respect, and
even love (Zuidema).
Destructive Potential of Competition

Very powerful impulse
Twisted by sin
Need to discern healthy
competition
Opponent neighbor in image of
God
Treated with love, dignity, respect,
and appreciation
Unhealthy Competition
I dont care who Im playing. I want to win more
than they do. (Quote in Olympic Tower, Sydney)
Intimidation is the key. You can have the other
beaten before they hit the water. (Quote in
Olympic Tower, Sydney)
Winning isnt everything; it is the only thing.
(Vince Lombardi)
To play this game you must have fire in you, and
there is nothing that stokes fire like hate. (Vince
Lombardi)
Two Conditions if Sports is to

be Good
One sound in the symphony of
creation
Sports as One Sound in the

Symphony of Creation
Sports and competition have
their own sound
One valid (good) God-given
activity alongside of others
One Sound in the

Symphony
Attempts to justify sports by a more noble
utilitarian purpose
Sports needs no justification
Does not need to be justified because it:
Brings physical fitness
Provides refreshment for work
Builds character and self-discipline etc.
Essentially sport has no purpose at all: it

is an end in itself . . . its possible uses
are incidental like art, religion, and
friendship (Edward Shaughnessy).
Sports as One Sound in the

Symphony of Creation
Sports and competition have their
own sound
Harmony with other sounds in
creation
Play suffers when other aspects
weakened
Other aspects weakened when play
suffers
Two Dangers
When sound of play and leisure is
too weak
May be caused by:
Sacred/secular dualism
Body/soul dualism
. . . games are of the body, and thus of
a lower order than things of the spirit
(Wilson).
Two Dangers
When sound of play and leisure is
too weak
When sound of play and leisure
is too loud
Hedonism: Sports is the fastest
growing religion in America (Prebish)
Pursuing pleasure we lose the gift of
joy (Our World Belongs to God)
Two Conditions if Athletics is to be

Good
One part of the symphony
of creation
Conforming to Gods design
Conforming to Gods Creational

Design
Conforming to Gods creational
design
Wisdom: Divine and human
Identifying how sin has corrupted
it
Looking for healing ways to allow
it again to conform to Gods
design
Contribution of Scholarship
. . . academic inquiry into what is
going on during leisure time is both
legitimate and important. It can be
helpful in deepening, enriching, and
broadening our critical insight into
recreational practices. . . . it can also
help in correcting and reforming this
dimension of life (Spykman).
Delighting in Gift of Sports

Athletes know the beauty of
intensity of effort, the motivation of
pursuit of goals, the feeling and
being of fitness, the
expressiveness of movement, the
creativity of play, the excitement of
total involvement, and the joy of
sport (Zuidema).
Delighting in Gods Good Gift of

Competitive Sports
Emotional intensity
Thrill of victory, agony of defeat
Way out of proportion with importance
Absorbed intensely and utterly in serious
pursuit of non-serious activity (Huizinga,
Frey)
Joy, emotional vibrancy spills into life
Play relativizes our over-seriousness toward life,
filling us with a spirit of joy and delight that carries
over into all aspects of our existence (Johnstone)
Delighting in Gods Good Gift of

Competitive Sports
Emotional intensity
Physical satisfaction
Social bonding
Aesthetic enjoyment
Religious deepening
Sport and Competition

Matter
Nothing matters but the

kingdom ...
but because of the kingdom
everything matters
Treasures of sound, healthy sports
The treasures of the nations will go into
the new Jerusalem. Among those
treasures . . . is good, sound, healthy
leisure (Spykman).

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Life at the Crossroads:

Perspectives on Some Areas of

Sports as waste of time

Sports as creational gift

Sports Rooted in Creation

Rooted in who we are . . .

Rooted in the task God has

Gods Good Gift of

Destructive Potential of Competition

Two Conditions if Sports is to

Sports as One Sound in the

One Sound in the

Essentially sport has no purpose at all: it

Sports as One Sound in the

Two Conditions if Athletics is to be

Conforming to Gods Creational

Delighting in Gift of Sports

Delighting in Gods Good Gift of

Delighting in Gods Good Gift of

Sport and Competition

Nothing matters but the

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