The fundamentals of a particular sport are those essential skills one must perform in ordered to “play” the sport. For instance, in baseball and softball the fundamentals are hitting, throwing, catching, and running. If one does not possess these skills it is impossible to play softball or baseball. “Fundamentals” are the necessary essential ingredients for participation in a given sport. We can talk about baseball and softball all we want, but we cannot play baseball or softball without being able to hit, throw, catch or run. Even further, the better we are at performing the fundamentals the better we are at playing the game. (This is what the best coaches and players know, and why they work so hard to perfect the “fundamentals”). This also holds true for the Christian Athlete! The “fundamentals” that make an Athlete Christian are faith, sacrifice and commitment. Without these we cannot play the “game”.
We will discuss faith, sacrifice and commitment in more detail in future post, for now let’s take a step back and begin by sketching the “fundamentals” of the Christian faith. I’m going to do this in two parts (posts); here I’m going say it as plainly and straight forward as possible. In my next blog, I’m going to state the same thing again but in more biblical and theological language.
God’s intent in creating the world, and especially us human beings, was to share His life. His desire was make us participants in His goodness and love. This was not something that He wanted to force upon us, but for us to freely live into. Unfortunately, we chose differently and the consequences were “grave” for the world and us. Death, sin, separation, pain, and suffering entered into our existence raking havoc and causing chaos. Thankfully, God did not abandon us to this “state”, but rather remained constant in his original intent for us. So at the proper time he sent his Son to redeem us – to win us back. In Jesus Christ, God competed for us! He conquered sin and death and opened up a way for us to once again live freely into His life by faith.
A Christian Athlete is one who “works out their salvation” (Phil 2:12) through their sport. Like any Christian, the Christian athlete begins (and ends) with the belief and a deep commitment (trust) that “life” is found in Jesus Christ. Each day – never often enough, perfectly or sufficiently – they seek to live in light of the reality that in Jesus Christ God has first loved us. Here, the Christian’s response is not merely prompted by a “command”; rather it is their attempt to love God with all that they are. For being a Christian – a follower of Jesus Christ – is not merely about a one- time decision; much more than that, it’s an ongoing encounter with a Person and an event (His death and resurrection) that gives each day a new horizon and a decisive direction. For the Christian, there is no doubt, this is a deep personal relationship, but it is also one that is necessarily lived out with reference to other individuals and creation. Their response of love to this gift of God is often expressed in acts of thanksgiving, confession, sheer awe and even silence, but most frequently for the believer, it takes the form of submission and reliance (Our Father who art…your kingdom come, your will be done…give us this day…). How we live our lives is the Christian’s response to the love of God in Jesus Christ, or shall we say, how the Christian Athlete competes (and practices) at their given sport is their response to the love of God in Jesus Christ.
In honor of The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 2017
As Christian Athletes I believe our insecurities as players is like our faith as Christians. As a Christian and an athlete we struggle to believe we are worthy of our craft and Gods love. I’m always impressed when I see an athlete praise God in public. But knowing many athletes that have failed I know their private time after a tough game is spent on the ride home or in the shower Thanking God for that opportunity. We should pray for wins and great games but to be that light for god showing their gift that God has given them or praying for a healthy outting.