Sports

I enjoy cycling mostly as a recreation, but there is also a side of me that loves competition. Competition is not wrong, so would racing be wrong, or would that be getting too involved with the world?

I would love to hear what anyone would have to say about this. Sorry for so many posts ;).

Hello Brother Zeiset, I do not think sports in themselves are wrong. And you are asking good questions. May the LORD bless this conversation

Ok, this is nice to know :). On what basis do you say that? Does that mean that sports are never wrong?

What I see in my circles is that Sunday can become more about recreation(sports) than about the LORD. To be fair this is the age group from 13-18. I am not against playing sports on Sunday and I think recreation can be good, but at the same time I do believe that Sunday’s focus should be God not sports.

This is an interesting topic, since it is extremely important, and yet Scripture has very little to say explicitly about it. Recreation, in moderation, is not wrong. Sports as recreation and/or exercise are not wrong, in and of themselves. That said, a brief look at the world around us reveals many who have devoted themselves to the god of sports, and we would to well to take a lesson from them.

What are our motives? Why do we want to do the things we do? Is it to honor and glorify Christ, or to honor and glorify ourselves?

What is our focus? Does sports consume time that could be better spent? Time spent playing sports is one thing; what about time spent thinking about sports? Where does our mind go when we have a free moment?

These are not questions that have cut-and-dried textbook answers. We must seek God and search our hearts to find these answers.

Judson, you mentioned entering a competition; some hypothetical questions: What if you win? Would you move up to a higher regional competition? How would you feel about that?

What if you don't win, but show strong potential? Would that drive you to train harder to re-enter next year, if you see potential for placing better? Would you allow that to dictate your time management?

Something was mentioned earlier about the tendency for Sunday to be devoted to sports, instead of to God. I agree with this concern, but I'd like to expand it a bit as well. What are our lives devoted to?

Satan would love to derail our lives, by any means possible. Whether by inducing us to outright sin, or distracting us from the things that really matter, he is always at work (but "we are not ignorant of his devices" 2Cor 2:11b). May we seek the Lord, and find the wisdom that comes from Him. Harder perhaps: may we live according to that wisdom, for His glory.

There are several analogies in the Bible comparing sporting events to situations in the Christian life such as not "wrestling" against flesh and blood but against principalities in Ephesians 6. There are several times where the apostle Paul mentioned running the race (Christian life) with perseverance. Also somewhat related is 1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable into all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

There are many considerations such as the level of competition, level of commitment/practices per week etc. A casual game among church family is a different feel than a season of play with uniforms, practices per week, and very intense competition.

Thank you both so much for replying! This helps me to think through things rationally instead of looking through a biased view based on what I want. I know, there is so much of a fine line between getting too involved and spending a majority of my time on a purpose that really doesn't benefit God's kingdom. Maybe that is how we should define it- timewise?

In answer to you, brother Ryan, I'm not sure. I tend to be pretty competitive. But this isn't really a big race. There might be a few professionals in it, but most of us are simply cyclists who enjoy getting some exercise. But now I sound like I'm defending it. I don't think I would go anywhere else partly because this is so low- scale and partly because this itself is on the line for my parents.

When I was at a Christian high school, one time I was talking with one of the Bible quizzing coaches. The Bible quizzing league they were in was competitive where the quizzers would essentially memorize between 200 and 300 verses per year. The coach said that more students were involved in quizzing in the past, but once more sports were added, that some chose to do sports instead.

This was a specific circumstance where there were 2 options, one with more spiritual benefit and the other with more physical benefit. The Bible quizzing would have a greater long term benefit and the physical activity a more fleeting physical benefit. In this circumstance the opportunity cost of quizzing was missing sports, and sports was missing quizzing. Fully counting the cost is evaluating the time commitment and the opportunity cost involved.

The greater the time commitment, the greater the opportunity cost. (This conversation was around 1996-97) Since then Bible quizzing was dropped, and there has not been a quizzing team from that school for several years. However the sports programs are going strong.

So in other words, the secular value physical benefit more than spiritual benefit. And it should be the other way around for those of us who are serious about serving God. So we should be evaluating what is really benefiting God's kingdom or what is going too far.

Yeah, this may be going a little too far. If Sunday is more about recreation and fun more than spiritual worship and bonding, even for us teens, I think I can safely say it is wrong. But don't get me wrong; I myself look forward to Sunday afternoon also. I just think that it is all a matter of the right priorities- do we want to put God or recreation first?

Hey Judson a thought came to mind after I went to the park today. I recognized that It was very if not extremely hard to strike up a conversation with someone, that being said at the other park where I used to live there were basketball courts. I found it much easier to talk to people about the Lord in that situation because you get a little familiar with them during the game, and basketball doesn't mean you can't talk(for example after the game).

At the same time it can become idolatry because the Lord has shown me some times I'm going they're to play basketball rather than make disciples. Regardless I hope this was an encouragement to you.

Hey thanks for your reply. Yes, this brings sports into a new light. If we can actually use it to some extent to witness to others, then by all means it is good... just so we don't cross the line, right? But where is the line?