Author: John

One of the things I’m trying to do through these posts is sketch a Christian phenomenology of sports. Wait! Don’t click off; let me explain. Phenomenology is simply the study/science of a phenomenon. In this case the phenomena is the activity you’re involved with when playing a particular sport.  It’s concerned with the act – your experience – of hitting, shooting, tackling, riding, running, swimming, skiing etc. I refer to it as, the “thing-in-itself”; it’s the total experience of “doing” the sport.  As I’ve stated before, sports are not merely instrumental, but have meaning within itself. A given sports value is established on its own merits finding its rational in the rational and love of God. We do not apprehend God by moving beyond the sport, but by exactly attending to it – in other words, playing it. Like all things in Creation, sports are intended to be medium transparent, an avenue wherein we ascend to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. Simply stated, I’m suggesting that God can be experienced by faith in the phenomena of a sport – in the hitting, shooting, tackling, riding, running, swimming, skiing etc. 

            Most approaches to Christian Athletes, that I read or hear are concerned with those things that are “tangential” to the sporting activity itself. One of the most common approaches by Christians to sports is that of a “school for life” mentality. For example you readily hear things like,  “Sports teach us lessons we can use in ‘real’ life”, or “sports are a microcosm of life”. One famous Christian author writes, “You will understand more clearly how to apply God’s word to your non-athletic world as you apply it to your athletic performance.” What this author and others are talking about is “how you act” (character) or you attitudes. The example he gives is of topping a driver off tee box and out of anger you take the driver and break over your knee. Then he compares this to getting an unexpected bill with an added charge that you also rip up out of anger. His idea is that if you can learn to control yourself in sports, like a “Christian ought to act”, it will teach how to handle things in the real world. What matters here is not the sporting activity itself, but how we “act” in and around the activity. Ultimately, on this line of thinking the sporting activity itself gets lost – has no meaning in and of itself. 

            Furthermore he assumes that breaking the driver over a knee or tearing up the bill out of anger is a non-Christian way of acting  – a sinful act. I’m not so sure he can make that argument; there is a possibility that it is a perfectly viable Christian response. Jesus broke some things one time in the Temple out of anger. We don’t know what goes through an individual’s mind when they act in certain ways; not every outburst of anger is a sinful one just like not every “act of love” is a truly loving one. Anger is a natural (appropriate) human Christian response to things that upset us. Likewise, happiness and laughter is a natural (appropriate) human Christian response to things that make us joyful. But this takes me away from our original discussion, which is the importance of the actual sporting activity itself for the athlete. I’ll have something to say about character down the road, but it will be with direct reference to the experience of God in the sporting phenomena.  The goal of playing (or practicing) a sport is not ‘character’ building, but the experience that comes from the activity in and of itself.

            In addition to the “schooling” mentality, Christian writers will argue that sports are “a built in platform for sharing the good news”.  In other words, in and through sports you can become a witness to Jesus Christ. Again, here the emphasis is placed on how you “act” when you play. If you show a good attitude (character) in practice and competing – don’t get mad, don’t cuss, scream or break things – then you can be a good witness to Jesus.  Even further, if you are really good at a sport you will have a platform in our society – like a Stefan Curry or Tim Tebow – to share your faith.  Perhaps these things are true, but again they are tangential to the sporting activity itself (not mention the problematic constructions of Christian character that accompany such views).  My complaint is that most Christian “takes’” on sports look beyond the “thing-in-itself”. When we do this, the sporting activity itself gets lost and becomes of no real consequence. The problem is that it is the “thing-in-itself” that the serious athlete spends all of her/his energy doing.  If that activity (hitting, throwing, running etc.) is of no real consequence then the serious athlete is wasting a lot time – might as well hang up the cleats and go spend your time and energy feeding the poor.  What we need is a better “take” on sports, one that considers the “activity in and of itself” and the effort that one spends at perfecting it. A theology of sorts on the art of painting a fastball with a little sink on the outside corner, or of performing a forward 2 1/2 somersaults, with a twist in the pike position off a spring board. To do this we first need to consider God’s purpose for Creation – including us human beings – as well as our intended relationship to that Creation and God.

The emergence of specialized and professional athletes is a recent phenomenon.  Name just about any sport you can think of – from snowmobile jumping to curling – and you can find a person that makes a living playing it.  On top of that, kids are specializing earlier than ever before.  What we have now is large portion of our society that that spends a great deal of time, effort and money “working” at a sport. These athletes stand in stark contrast to those “recreational” players who merely play for the “fun of it”.  They form a new category for “relating to sports” that the Church has not addressed sufficiently or effectively.  In my research I came across an article written by Lesley Paterson, a World Champion Tri-athlete, entitled “London 2012: Why do Olympic athletes push themselves to their limits?” that expresses the nature of elite athletes as well as highlights some of struggles they face from within and from those around them. I have no idea what Paterson religious convictions are; nevertheless this article serves well to frame our discussion of the elite athlete and the Christian faith.

“We’re worried about you,” said my friend from across the table. His concern was an intervention set up by those who felt I had no longer become fun to train with and that I was in danger of being left with only a world championship jersey and no one to share it with.

I could have become angry, or defensive or even bitter. ‘Don’t they know how hard it is to be at the top in sport?’ Don’t they know what it takes to get there?’ However, deep down I knew elements of what he was saying were right and I respected the fact that he cared enough about me to address them. I had become pretty grumpy, I was always tired and every workout had a mental intensity that seemed too much for most to handle. I was pushing the limits and extremes beyond what most thought were healthy.

These are the demons I face as a professional athlete on a day to day basis. Who am I doing this for? How much is too much? Why am I doing this? How can I be so selfish? What’s the sacrifice for?

I think of the countless birthday parties I have missed or nights out I have sidestepped, ruining a family holiday in France because of the endless search for a swimming pool to train in, almost missing my brother’s wedding because I was too busy hiring a car in downtown Johannesburg and driving through the ‘no-go’ areas in order to do a group ride with the local triathletes. The list is endless and even somewhat ridiculous.

It boils down to this: I was born with an inordinate amount of drive and determination. From a small girl, I would stay in at lunchtime just to get ahead on class work rather than go out and play; I would get the bus on my own at 10 years old and go to swim 100 lengths of the pool while other kids played on floats; I was the only girl in a rugby club of 250 boys. I have always lived my life to extremes. Call it unhealthy if you want but that is the way I roll no matter what it is I’m applying myself to.

Being a professional athlete is no different and every Olympian competing in the coming weeks can attest to that. If you want to be an Olympic champion its all about that little extra thing have you done in your preparation that will set you apart from your competitors.

Can this become obsessive? Absolutely. But if your dream is to reach the podium, you had better be obsessive about your sport. In the words of the British triathlete Alistair Brownlee even if it means getting injured, “I’d prefer to have three or four cracking years of winning stuff than having 10years of being average”.

Doing what we do as athletes sets us apart because we are willing to do that extra little bit that might take us to the top. It is certainly not a balanced way to live and it is certainly not normal but then those words are generally not used for anyone who is striving for greatness.

And so this lifestyle is going to come with judgment from others. People who will say you are crazy or that you are going too far. Maybe they are jealous that they do not have the drive or opportunity you do, maybe they are too lazy to succeed in their own lives or maybe they are right. Every top athlete is a little crazy, a little obsessive, a lot selfish and certainly not quite the norm.

So that leads me to the sacrifice of it all. How can all this selfish pursuit of an individual goal be justified? You look at Bradley Wiggins’s winning the Tour De France and Olympic gold this year and then you read about the months he has spent away from his family. Then you look at the millions of people he has inspired by achieving what he has. There is no doubt that in every pursuit of greatness by an athlete, there is a support team that deserves as many accolades as the athlete themselves.

While at times I know that what I do is incredibly selfish, I also know that I inspire others through what I achieve just as Wiggins has. And as I turn my hand to other things like coaching, I find that I can use my experiences to really propel and inspire people to challenge themselves in their own lives, to go on a journey of self discovery that I have through the sport, that for me is what justifies my seemingly selfish pursuit to be at the top. So in short, cut these Olympians some slack because many limits and extremes reached off the field will lead to their success on it!

And that is why, when my friends told me they were worried about me, I did not take a few weeks off. I plastered a smile on my face and got back in the pool, back on my bike and back out running as intensely as I have always pursued my dreams with and as a consequence won my second world title at the ITU Cross World Championships in May. Do not get me wrong, I have taken note that I need to be grateful of my situation and celebrate the joy in my sport more, even if Mrs Grumpy might rear her ugly head from time to time.[i]

Elite athletes, although idolized, are often misunderstood and especially by those that are closest to them. Their deep commitment to become their best at a given sport can appear at times obsessive and overly selfish. For many of us, their “inordinate amount of drive and determination”, to use Paterson’s self-description, is unfamiliar, strange and – let’s be honest – a little scary. These athletes are “cut from a different cloth” and their uniqueness and difference reflects the uniqueness and difference of God.

“You need to find balance in life!” is most often what they here from friends and, I dare to say, from the Church.  Is “balance” what they need? Or does seeking “balance” compromise the very essence of who God made them to be? I believe it’s ok for them to be obsessed about one thing (becoming the best they can be at a sport), just as much as it is ok for someone else to be a generalist- concerned with a number of different things. I’m going to contend that it is in exactly being who we are  – single minded or generalized – that we discover and experience the “infinite beauty” of God through Christ. More specially, the deeper an athlete commits himself or herself to becoming the best at given sport in faith the greater the opportunity they have to experience God.

My observation from the great athletes I’ve had the opportunity to be around is that they struggle deeply with how to make sense of all time and energy they expend at a game. The “demons” they face are: “Who am I doing this for? How much is too much? Why am I doing this? How can I be so selfish? What’s the sacrifice for?”  What I’ve witnessed in speaking with and counseling these athletes is they live with an inordinate sense of guilt and confusion about their purpose in life. They are not sure how their unique talents and desires contribute to building of the kingdom of God. They feel guilty about competing and what it causes them to do in the “heat of the moment”. They feel guilty because it demands all their being to become the best, and very little of themselves is left over for the “widows and orphans”, or for that matter, friends and family.  And finally, they typically have to compete on weekends and find it difficult go to church on Sundays (or Saturdays), much less get involved at a local church. They love what they do but are not sure what God thinks about what they do. On the one hand, they are respected by just about everyone, but on the other, they wonder if God “respects” them. 

“While you are competing admirably in the divine race along the course of virtue, lightfootedly, leaping and staining constantly for the prize of the heavenly calling, I exhort, urge and encourage you vigorously to increase your speed.” – Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses (390s AD)

On August 12, 1994, I married Kimberly Byham; one month later she attended her first LPGA Qualifying School. Kim had recently completed a stellar senior year in golf at the University of North Carolina where she had won multiple times, including the NCAA East Regional tournament; she earned 1^st team All-American Honors and was ranked as the 3^rd best amateur in the country. She could “golf her ball”! I was in my second year of seminary training in Orlando, Fl.; a perfect place for Kim to practice golf year around. God and golf characterized my days. I would get up and go to class in the mornings, learning Greek and talking theology. My afternoons were spent at the course with Kim, learning the intricacies of the game and talking swing mechanics with her teacher Mike Bender. Her schedule was regimented and demanding, she lived constantly under the pressure to perform, nevertheless, she was focused, determined and driven. She loved competing. I helped with what I could because I loved her and enjoyed being apart of the pursuit of her dreams.

I share this because I have spent my adult life living with an elite athlete and being around them. Kim played professionally for 10 years, and has been coaching at the collegiate level for the last 11 years. In addition, for the past 7 years I have been involved with former MLB great, Billy Wagner, coaching, training and advising elite high school baseball players that are striving to play in college or be drafted. I’ve had a unique opportunity to observe first hand what it takes to be great athlete. I often find myself in awe of their passion, dedication, and disciple. The great ones are so mentally tough; there are always way more defeats than victories, yet they continue to get up after being knocked down as though their life depended upon it. I have a heart for these athletes and this blog was started to confirm them in their pursuit of excellence in their sport and help them understand that through this pursuit of excellence they can pursue God.

By comparison to other subjects within the history of Christian Theology very little has been written on Theology and Sports. Thankfully, recently certain Christian ethicist and theologians have begun to take on the subject. Dr. John White and others have been working together in a group called “Sport and Christianity” to discuss and address Christians in sports. In 2014, Lincoln Harvey published A Brief Theology of Sport, where he situates sports within the context of Christian thought. Most recently, Michael Shafer’s work, Well Played: A Christian Theology of Sport and the Ethics of Doping, where he explains the original intention of sports and the need to recapture it. I very much appreciate the work these folks are doing to help Christians think and relate Christianly to sports. For the most part the work that has been done is very general in nature addressing “how” Christians should relate to sports as participant and fan. My concern throughout this blog is for the elite athlete (professional or amateur), or those striving to be one. For them sport is what they do, it’s their passion, it consumes their time, it’s what they work at, and it’s how they give back. For them the “play” of sport has become “sedulity” – a certain striving towards excellence – within that sport. I will show that for the Christian athlete this “striving toward excellence” in a given sport can be a means through which s/he lives into communion with God.

The purpose of this blog, as stated above, is to confirm the serious Christian Athlete in their quest to become the best they can be at their given sport. My hope is to make a way for them as a “Christian” Athlete. I want to help them find meaning – God – in all they do from practice to play. Sports are not merely instrumental, but have meaning within itself. A given sports value is established on its own merits finding its rational in the rational and love of God. We do not apprehend God by moving beyond the sport, but by exactly attending to it. Like all things in Creation, sports are intended to be a road to God, an avenue through which we ascend to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. By contemplating the intricacies and reasons of a given sport we grow in our knowledge and experience of God. Contemplating is not merely observing and analyzing but living in the midst of and experiencing the truth of a “thing”. To contemplate an apple is to observe the beauty of an apple (shape, size, color), but even more so, it’s to taste and enjoy the apple’s deliciousness as well as benefit from its nourishment. Christian contemplation is experiencing creation in all its grandness, or brokenness, while simultaneously realizing and experiencing God in the midst. The Christian athlete does this in a given sport by attending to it, observing it, working at it, living it, playing it and suffering it in faith. Here, faith arises as something much more than a mere belief, it becomes an actual mode of existence – a way of seeing, being, and living in the world.

There is a way to be an elite athlete and love God. I am going to go as far to argue on this blog-site that the Christian athlete actually shows their love to God (loves Him) by exactly becoming the best they can be at their given sport.  Even further, I’m going to contend that when an athlete seeks to become “the best they can be” (in a Christian fashion) at their sport they come to know and experience God more deeply. It’s going to take numerous posts for me to reveal and support the truth of these assertions. I am going to weave together biblical passages, theology, personal testimonies, and prayer to hopefully confirm you the athlete in your pursuit of God and excellence in your sport. At times it’s going to necessitate you to do some mental work, while at other times it’s going to require you to do spiritual work as well as some soul searching. Remember, most things that are worthwhile do not come easy. So I ask you to stick with me, especially through the biblical and theological posts; they are foundational to what we believe and thus how we live.  It’s time to put on your thinking cap and do a little theology. Here, I’m seeking to restate what I said in the 1^st post, “Thinking about the Fundamentals”, but this time in more biblical and theological language.

            To understand the full scope of God’s intention for us human beings and the world we must consider why God created the world and us in the first place.  Out of God’s boundless riches creation was brought forth out of nothing to participate in and reveal God’s being through its beauty, diversity and varied dimensions. Furthermore, the world was created to house the crown of God’s creation, “Man”, and be the medium through which human beings come to know and participate in God’s inner-trinitarian life.  As for “Man”, the Fathers of the church contended and explained that to be created in the “image” of God does not merely set us apart as rational beings from all other created things, but fundamentally constitutes us as relational beings. To be made in the image of God is made in the image of the Trinity, which orients us toward communion with God and other human beings.  In other words, to be truly human is to live in communion with God and others. “Image” implies our necessity and thirst for God. St Augustine captured this reality well when He said;  “My soul was restless until it found rest in You”.

            Why did God create the world, and especially us humans beings? Simply stated, so that we might become partakers of his divine life.  The truth of this assertion is most fully revealed in the advent of Jesus Christ. Irenaeus, the 2^nd century church father, summed it up best when he stated, “In his unbounded love, He was made what we are, that He might make us to be what he is”.[i]  Through Jesus Christ we come to more fully understand God’s motive and purpose for creation. God’s motive for creation was his goodness and love. And the early church fathers emphasized this fact over against the idea that God had some inner necessity to do so, as if God was alone and in need of some companion to make himself complete or satisfied.  Rather, they contended that God, who is in need of nothing and is perfectly sufficient and satisfied within Himself, created freely out of the overflow of his love and goodness. Peter writes,

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1: 3-4)

The purpose of this creation, and especially human beings, was so that they would become participants in his divine life.

            Through Jesus Christ humanity becomes a partaker of divine life. More specially,  “through the Incarnation, Christ raised up the divine image in man to its fully actual state, that is, to the full communion that it is able to with God and with human beings”.[ii]  Here we come to understand the emphasis in Christian thought that Jesus was “fully God” and “fully man”. Only God can “save”, thus Christ our Savior must be God. And only if Christ is human does salvation reach the point of human need. He takes into himself what is ours and in exchange he gives us what is His own (2 Cor. 8:9). Salvation is not so much making “amends” as it is ”mending”. In Jesus Christ, humanity is restored and perfected through the Incarnation (deifying communion).  Kallistos Ware explains,  “Salvation is nothing less than an all-embracing transformation of our humanness. To be saved is to share with all fullness of human nature in the power, joy and glory of God”.[iii] Otherwise stated, Jesus Christ raises “humanity” to the level of participation in the Trinity, and through the Spirit our humanity can be and is raised as well. We actualize this “mending” through faith in Jesus Christ by the Spirit who communicates God’s divine life to us.

            God creates “all things” out of his goodness and love so that all things might share in that love. The purpose then for “all things” is that they might reach full participation in this love. This gives created things a distinct meaning – “matter matters”.  Not only in Jesus is humanity redeemed, but also all creation is set aright toward this goal or purpose.  In the Christian scheme of things, creation can be a medium through which we commune with God. In other words, we live into this salvation, we become who we are meant to be, by seeking more and more to participate and advance in this communion with God. One of the ways this comes about is through our involvement, progress and grasp of created things. Humans are called to grow in communion with God by “exercising spiritual rule over the world, by transfiguring it, by exercising their capacity to see the world and make it a medium transparent”[iv] that radiates the goodness and glory of God. Thus, it is in and through the created things of the world, like sports, that we have the opportunity to seek to grow and advance into fuller communion with God.

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