Category: Foundations

The Christian is the one who seeks to live their life in response to reality that God has first loved us (1 John 4:10). St Paul has suggested that we do this by making an offering, that is, by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices unto God. In other words, by faith we offer back to God that which he has given to us. The offering consist in the very act of cultivating, developing, and using – to the best our abilities – both the gifts of creation and the individual ones in service to our fellowman, God, and ourselves. My contention is that God meets us in the midst of this offering of our total selves with gift of His own self – presence and communion.

I have argued throughout this blog that “matter matters” precisely because it was given by God to be a means through which we live into communion with Him. One of our primary dialogue partners, Staniloae, expounds on this idea in stating,

“The world is necessary for the human person not only because he needs it to be given to him, but also because he himself has need of it so that, in his turn, he may make a gift of it for the sake of his own spiritual growth. The things given us by God can become our own gift to God by the fact that in the return of these things to God we are free. We transform things into gifts of our own through the act of our freedom and through the love we thus show to God. Having this aim in view, we can be endlessly transforming and combining the things of creation. God gave the human person the world a gift characterized not just by continuous fertility, but also by a great wealth of alternatives that man has the capacity to make actual through freedom and work. As talents given by God but multiplied by the human person, this process of actualization is the gift the person returns to God.”

Before we consider his statement a little further, I want to jump ahead by calling attention to God’s response to this “gift of the person”. Succinctly put: God receives this offering of love from us and returns the gift of His very on Self – Divine life – to us. In this offering there is an exchange that takes place, a life for a Life.

In this quote, Staniloae, highlights the necessity of the created world, and not just merely for our physical needs, that is, a place for us live, food for us to eat, work for us to do, and play for us to enjoy. No, in addition to these wonderful gifts of creation, God has given us the “things” of the world so that we might come to know Him more fully – as he put it, “for the sake of our own spiritual growth”. Another important point he makes is that the very nature of creation is such that we can truly make it our own gift. The created order is “fertile” offering seemingly endless possibilities for us to make positive use of it. In addition to this “fertility”, creation has a certain malleability that also makes room for the freedom of own creative abilities. In other words, we have the freedom to take what we have been given (our talents/ aptitudes) within what we love (our desires) and make it a gift of love back to God. In exchange for this gift that is offered up to God, that is in return, God gives the gift of Himself.

The Christian Athlete responds to the gift of God and lives into this Gift by offering back to God all that s/he is and all it takes to become the best s/he can be at their sport. In giving back it is God’s desire that (He even enjoys when) we put our own stamp upon these gifts. It’s our freedom and privilege to add our work, our creation, in bringing the “gift” to fruition in order to make it truly our gift that we offer back. In other words, God has given us the freedom, talent, ability and rational faculties in combination with the inherent nature of creation to be rational, adaptable and malleable so that we might create something unique out of love for God and our neighbor. In this way the gift offered becomes truly your own gift, your own creation. The important point to keep in mind here is that it is not merely the end product (e.g. for the athlete the performance) we are offering up to God, but everything that leads up to that performance as well – the blood, sweat and tears. For the athlete, the gift offered back includes all the practice and sacrifice it takes to become your best. In so many ways the performance is secondary. The gift offered back to God is the “all it takes” to make use of and not waste the gift God has given. In short, your gift to God is your attempt to make the best of what you have been given. Again, not to be too repetitive, but to drive the point home, it is in the midst of this faith offering that God shows His face, and often times in the most unexpected moments and ways.

 

The alarm clock goes off, startled; his hand flails around to stop its annoying sound. Silence! Through the haze the red numbers read 5:00am. The morning ritual has begun, the body is slow to move, new aches from the grind he put himself though yesterday. Finally upright on the edge of the bed, a voice says in his head, “sleep in, let the body rest!” Immediately, another voice responds to the thought, “NO!” “Today is a day to get better!”. He slides on his sweats stumbles his way to the kitchen. The rest of the house is quiet; the only thing stirring with him is the cat. His mom and dad are still asleep. He’s not particularly hunger, but he knows he needs some fuel for the morning workout. A glass of OJ and some peanut butter toast will suffice. It’s still dark outside and cold; the frost so thick its looks like snow as he scraps it off. His old car doesn’t run so well when it’s cold, but it gets the job done. “I must be the only one up”, he thinks to himself as he drives through the neighborhood. “What’s the workout this morning”, then he remembers “legs and pushes – not a light day”. He needs some energy, some motivation, some music. “Game Day Rock” on Pandora gets him going, a little angry, a little motivated. The music begins to wake him up, his lack of motivation transforms into “lets do this”. A flash of light shoots across eyes, momentarily blinding him, a headlight had bounded off the sliver cross dangling from his rearview mirror, he glances at the cross. In an instant he remembers why he is up and thinks to himself, “this is the day the Lord has made!” If only for moment, he has become reoriented. He’s energized as begins to sing along with AC/DC, “I’m back in black…”, blaring sounds coming from his car as pulls into parking lot of the gym. There aren’t many at gym this morning, nevertheless, he greets the few on his way in. After a good warm-up (which would be workout for most) he gets after it for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Quick shower and change, off to school, it begins at 8:30. On the way to school he thinks about his to do list for the day. Strength? check, I need to work on skill and speed this afternoon in practice. Biology test second period, and I need to check on the transcripts the college coach requested. He snaps into the 7eleven to grab a protein shake and bar for later.

It was his last block class of day and thinks to himself “It’s been a long day, can’t wait to get to field”. He’s typically the first to arrive and uses extra time to get his shoulder mobility exercises in as well as an activation period. As his teammates arrive as he’s finishing up and joins in with their banter before practice. In the background he hears his coach yelling “on the line”.

Practice has ended, he’s exhausted but he is not satisfied with the way he hit in BP, so he heads down to cages for some more reps. He pauses for moment in his own pursuit of perfection to offer the young freshmen a tip or two on his swing before he heads over and buries himself in own work. It’s dark and practice has been over for 45 minutes, as he walks back up from the cages, then he remembers that today is a speed day also. He reflects a moment on what his coach says “Can’t get faster if you don’t practice faster.” Wall drills, weighted sleds and sprints, another 45 minutes. As he makes his way to the car he notices how dark and empty the parking lot is, for a moment his feels lonely, so he gets into car and calls his mom to let her know he is on his way home. As he drives he thinks about what he worked on in the cages, pleased as to where he had gotten in his work.

As he sits at the dinner table he realizes how tired his body feels, his mom reminds him to say grace, they had already eaten dinner. His mother’s call to grace, reminded him that had not prayed that day, some guilt rushed through him, not because he had done something wrong by not praying but that he had felt he had forgotten about God. He thinks to himself and God, forgive me, thanks for this day and the opportunity to get better at baseball. He eats two plates of food and goes to his room to do his homework. He was in habit of reading the bible or a devotional book before he went to sleep, but that night he fell asleep in the middle of his prayers. The alarm clock goes off, startled; his hand flails around to stop its annoying sound. Silence! Through the haze the red numbers read 5:00am.

This is an example of an offering in faith. Common it may seem, but uncommon it is. There is nothing overtly Christian, or religious, about his day. There are two occasions that he shows some direct acknowledgment of God, but it’s definitely not something that’s explicit throughout the day (i.e. as though he is always praying and giving thanks to God). But that is just it; the majority of the time the offering is simply implicit in the event. No doubt, a nonbeliever’s day could have the same schedule and effort put forth to become their best at a given sport, nevertheless it’s how we approach becoming the best that makes all difference, or makes it Christian. This we will get into shortly, but for now the point is that his offering is the “all it takes” – the dawn to dusk – that characterizes the daily life of the serous athlete. This young man offers the sacrifice of limited sleep, earlier mornings workouts, pushing his body to the limits, discipline habits and conscientious practice in his effort to become the best he can at baseball. My contention is that in the midst of this offering by the athlete God shows up in unique and unexpected ways.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)

            In this verse, Paul explains to us what we are to do! He urges us in light of gifts of God giving to us in Jesus Christ to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices”.  He encourages us to offer back to God what God has given to us. In the verses that follow in Romans, Paul explains that each of us has been given different gifts, and that includes our unique and special interests, desires, abilities and talents. It’s these individual gifts – the totality of who we are – that we are to offer back to Him. The way in which we offer these gifts back is by developing them and then sharing them with – in service to – the Church and all mankind.  The Christian Athlete responds to God’s gifts in Christ, their creation/salvation/talents, by offering back to God what God has given to them. S/he makes this offering by developing their athletic gifts/talents – their bodies – to best of their ability and sharing those gifts/talents with the rest of the world.

            The Christian Athlete does not merely offer her (or his) performance alone, rather s/he offers the daily sacrifices s/he makes as well as the toil, sweat, long hours of practice, highs and lows, victories and defeats, in other words, her (or his) entire being as an athlete – mind and body – s/he offers to God. We always tell our players being average is easy. This is also true when it comes to our relationship with God; it’s easy for us to offer a portion of ourselves to God rather than our all, but it’s our all, our best, that God desires. And it in giving our all and our best that we experience His best.

            In Genesis, we hear about Cain, a farmer that brought some of the fruits of his labor to offer unto the Lord. We also meet his brother, Abel, a shepherd that did the same by bringing some of the “firstlings” of his flock along with some of their fat potions to offer before God. Abel’s offering was accepted while Cain’s was rejected. Why?  Because according the author of Hebrews, “by faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.” (Hebrews 11:4). Clearly Cain’s offering was not sufficient, it was faithless and lacking, not his best.  In contrast we see that Abel offered a portion of the finest of what he had raised; he offered the best portions.

            It is easy to slip into the habit of giving to God a token offering of our lives and labor rather than of our best. We have the tendency to give God what is left over, in other words, that which does not really cost us anything. In the Gospels we are told that the Widow only gave a penny, but was commended for the gift because she gave all she had. What God desires is for us to give our all, our best! Giving our all takes risks, so to give our all, our best, takes faith. To say this the other way around is: true faith gives its best – its all – in response to God’s gracious gifts. Let’s call this offering Paul recommends a faith offering. We will get into this in more detail in future posts. For now the premise is as follows: The athlete offers in faith all that it takes to be the best he or she can be at given sport to God as the response of thanksgiving to the gifts (their creation, salvation, talents) that God has given them. I will argue that in midst of this exchanging of gifts Christ shows up in a real way and we become participants in the Divine life. In this faith offering we transform the simplicity of a sporting activity – any activity – into communion with God. How cool is that!!

Something additional to think about: The “offering” is the “what” we should do and “faith” is the “how”.  We will unpack this “how” – faith – more fully, but for now we can see that this “how” seeks to make the most of the gifts that God has given. Said another way, faith entails developing our gifts and talents to best of our ability for sake of God and the world. Remember, faith is not merely or simply belief, it’s a way of life – “the righteous shall live by faith”.

WARNING: This is one of those theological post I warned you about, so work with me here!

God created the world – and all things in the world – to be a medium-transparent of His infinite beauty. Our interaction with “things” of the world was originally to be an interaction with the God who made it. To understand creation in this way is to see and experience “all things” as a gift. Alexander Schmemann eloquently surmises, “All that exist is God’s gift to man, and it exist to make God known to man, to make man’s life communion with God.” At the end of that “6^th day”, God looked and saw that everything he made was “good”, and thus he blessed it. In creating and blessing it he makes it a sign and means of “presence and wisdom, love and revelation”. Furthermore in blessing it, he invites us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Both humans and animals (also, plants) must eat to live. “But what the unique position of man in the universe is that he alone is to bless God for the food and the life he receives from him.” In stating this, Schmemann suggest that we are the only creatures that are to respond to God’s blessing of creation with a blessing. Another way to say this is that we are to offer back to God what he has offered us. What’s important here for us to grasp is that this not a one time thing, that is, a simple pray before everything we do (which is not worst idea). Rather this offering back is a “way of life” – it’s our fundamental “act”, our vocation as human beings. It is an openness, a lived transparency before God in each and every moment, a response of love, you might say. Schmemann contends, “So the natural (and not “supernatural”) reaction of man, to whom God gave a blessed and sanctified world, is to bless God in return, to thank Him, to the see the world as God sees it and – in this act of gratitude and adoration – to know, name and posses the world. Man stands at the center of the world and unifies it in his act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God, and by fulfilling the world with this eucharist (thanksgiving offering back) he transforms his life, the one that he receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with God.” The athlete makes this thanksgiving offer back to God for the gifts (sport, talent, desire, etc…) by seeking to become the best they can be – using and maximizing these gifts. In so doing, that is, in making this offering back through the “activity itself” the athlete is caught up into life with God.

So what happened, why is this so difficult to do or experience? Simply stated, we make the “things” of the earth an “end” in themselves rather than a means to communion with God. We seek to satisfy our innate longings for God with created things. For the athlete, we get caught up with the hype, winning, fame, glory and fan-fair of game, but this is not what satisfies, or game’s original intent. This is sharply illustrated in Garden, where man seeks to satisfy his “hunger” with the one thing that was not offered to him to do so, the forbidden fruit. Whatever it was it represented “the image of the world loved for itself, and eating it is the image of life understood as an end itself”, states Schmemann. Ultimately, we have that tendency to confuse, even distort, the good gifts of God. Rather than utilize them in their original intention, that is, as gifts given as means to our communion with God; we make them “ends” in themselves. The foolishness in all this is that in and of themselves they cannot satisfy our longings. It is like being thirsty and trying to drink a glass of dirt in order to quench that thirst. What was once intended to be a medium-transparent is now become opaque.

Take heart God has not left us in this state, but in and through Jesus Christ makes a way for us to live into God’s original intent in relation to world and God. Jesus never treated the gifts of God as ends in themselves but as transparent means in his communion with the Father. He continuously offered back to God that which was offered Him and in so doing lived fully into communion with God. Jesus’ offering makes our offering possible. No doubt, there is much to be said about this work of Christ, but most important to us at this point is that there is the real possibility because of Jesus’ offering that you and I can live into God’s original intention for us. Namely, offering back to God what he has given to us, and in so doing, living into the Divine life.

 

Theological Aside: One of the traditional biblical ways of thinking about our vocations as human beings is in the categories of prophet, priest and king. Above highlights the “priestly” aspect of what it means to be a human – an offering back. The “kingly” aspect is also alluded to in the call to “rule” and “care” for creation (Gen 1.28). The prophetic aspect is not as explicit in our discussion but lingers in the background as the notion of “witness”.

Someone ask me what my “take” was on Dana relative to her actions in the narrative where she lost track of time practicing and failed to fulfill the commitment she had made with her friends. What’s so nice about narratives is that they have the ability to approximate, reflect and capture the exigencies of human existence. Actions we do and the choices we make are very rarely straightforward and clear cut. We are bag of mixed motives – of which many we are even unaware. Dana is a Christian and being such it depends not so much on the “what”, but the “how” as to whether it was pleasing to God or not. She could have fulfilled her duty – quit practice early enough to make it to her friends house and help prepare the meal for the less fortunate family – and still not performed that which is “pleasing to God”. We often think that the opposite of sin is virtue. What we forget is that “in relation to God we are always in the wrong” – hence faith. Therefore the Christian Faith teaches us that the opposite of sin is not virtue, but faith.

Whether one does or doesn’t live (exist) in “faith” in a moment determines the value – virtue – of an action. The one who lives – “abides” – in faith lives in God (see 1 John 3 & 4). I can see how this might rub someone the wrong way, especially if you pride yourself in “doing the right thing”. But this takes us back to a discussion from an earlier post that not every act of love (the “what”) is a loving act (the “how”). It may appear to be loving, but in actuality the loving act serves the lovers selfish needs rather than truly being a loving act for the other. The scriptures are full of these examples of “moral ambiguity” – Abraham, Jacob, Rehab, and Esther to name a few. The import from these stories is that despite the appearance of moral impropriety they were living – existing – in faith.

Let’s imagine that Dana’s seeking to be the best she can be at golf is her faith-filled response – offering back to God the gifts that God has given to her in the hope of and as a means to living in the Divine life. And in an effort to become her best, to offer her best, she gets lost – that is, she gets swept up in the activity itself of practicing – hitting a golf ball – and God showed up in vivid way in that moment. What if through the “activity” she got lost in the experience of God, that is, she gets lost in communion with God? Has she sinned, or is she doing exactly what she is supposed to be doing?

What happens to us as we grow in communion with God? Through our participation in the Divine we are changed, that is, changed into who we are individually meant to be. In philosophical terms we become a “self”, a true individual. More theologically speaking, we grow in the likeness of God – radiating and reflecting his bliss, beauty, peace and love. Perhaps we do become characterized by the “fruits of the Spirit” – “joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” – but even more fundamental is that we become evermore lovers of God and fellow man (whatever shape that might take).

Dana’s guilt arises from poor Christian concepts for which I hope this blog helps straighten out. Furthermore, we are going to feel conflict – pulled in many different directions – because there are so many choices and thus ways to serve God. This is a good problem to have! Finally, if Dana’s friends are Christian and seeking themselves to live a faith-filled response to God, they will understand and build Dana up.

I have made the case in earlier post that God’s motive for Creation was simply to “share” His life. More specifically, His desire was for us – human beings – to become participants in the love, joy, and bliss that is God’s own inner Trinitarian life. Furthermore, I have argued that the world – and all things in the world – was (is) given to us to be a means through which we live into that that Divine life. Understanding God’s motive and purpose for creation in this way inevitably leads us to the conclusion, or reality, that creation (and salvation) is a pure gift of God. “The world”, Staniloae, again explains, “was created by God as a gift for the human person. Life is a gift from God. Everything the human person eats and drinks and the pleasures he takes ‘in all his toil’ are gifts from God (Eccl 3:13). Wisdom, knowledge, and joy are gifts from God (Eccl 2:26). If the world had been given to the human person for the sake of knowledge alone, even so it would be a gift from God. But it is also given for the sake of his bodily life and for his spiritual formation in the view of life everlasting”. The Christian is the re-imaged person that lives into the “gift” that creation is, perceiving and experiencing the goodness of God in all things. The Christian Athlete begins at this point, or from this perspective, sports and the talents to play them are a gift from God through which we live into God’s divine life.

Gifts elicit varying responses. Stop for a moment and think about some of the responses you have had toward gifts over your life span. When it’s been that perfect gift, that one thing you have been longing for, your respond with joy and thankfulness. In contrast – and we have all experienced it – when you get that random gift, and of course, you fain excitement while all time thinking, “what were they thinking?” The perfect gift is accepted with gratitude and utilized to the fullest, but the ones we don’t like or appreciate are met with ambivalence. Here the gift is immediately cast aside and quickly forgotten, and in some instances thrown away all together. Whatever the case all gifts elicit a response.

The Christian life is a response – that is, it is a life that is lived in response to the love of God and the gifts of God.

In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us we must also love one another. (1 John 4:9-11).

As I have stated before, each day – never often enough, perfectly or sufficiently – the Christian is the one seeking to live in light of the reality that in Jesus Christ God has first loved us. Here, their response is not merely prompted by a command; rather, it is their attempt to love God with all that they are. For them, 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 that gives each day a new horizon and a decisive direction. 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 God’s creation. The Christian’s response of love is often expressed in acts of thanksgiving, confession, submission, reliance, sheer awe and even silence, but fundamentally the this “response” is best characterized as an offering back. Our response of love to God’s love is to offer back to God that which he has given us. I’m going to spell this out in more detail in my next post, but for now we can summarize as such: Creation (and salvation) is a gift from God, and more specifically, your individual creation, with all your talents, passions and desires are gifts from God. These gifts have been given to you out of love to be the means through which you fulfill your purpose – become a partaker of the Divine life. The way in which we actualize all of this is by offering back to God what he has given us. For the athlete this offering takes the form of seeking in faith to become the best you can be at your given sport.

 

Dana walked off the 18^th green with her mind swirling with all the things she wanted and needed to do.  She reached into the golf bag and pulled out her cell phone to check the time; it read, 5:08. She noticed a few text alerts, but before checking them, she was suddenly overcome with an impulse to eat. “I’m starving”, she thought to herself. Immediately her legs took her in the direction of the grill. She plopped her bag down, grabbed her wallet and headed into the grill. She was thinking, “It felt good to sit after the 18.” It had been a long day already and this was the first time she had a moment to her herself. Devouring the bar, she perused through her text messages. Several of her friends had been back and forth on group message about an event later that evening.  “See u @ 7pm”, the last text read.  Finishing up the last of her snack, she began to reflect back over the round. She had already planned to hit a few short putts after the round to maintain her technique. (She had really been putting well lately and wanted to stick to a routine she had been doing). Through her mental accounting, she realized that the only shots she had really missed was in her long zone, a utility and a 5 wood. “I’ll have time after putting to run over to the range and hit a few before I need to leave.”  “7pm!”, she reflected for a moment as though she was trying to set an alarm clock in her head. Off to the putting green she went.  It was the day before Thanksgiving; it would be dark shortly so she was in a bit of a hurry.

            As she slide her putter into her bag, the light from her phone lit up the area, it was dusk, the clock on the phone read 6:20. “I have time to hit a few!” she exclaimed to herself. She slid the phone into the pocket of her bag and briskly walked toward the range. The range was not lit, but there was this one streetlight that illumined a corner of the teeing area. It was her nightlight at the course; Dana had hit under its glow hundred of times. She sat her bag and the bucket of balls down simultaneously spilling a few of the balls as the bucket hit the ground. She pulled her glove onto her hand, threw down her alignment aid and grabbed her utility club. The first two over drew a bit, as did the next 6. She began to run through her mental checklist as to why.  Thinking to herself, “A bit too inside she surmised”. She made a few corrective practice swings then hit another one … slight pull. Over did it she thought, and then she took several more practice swings searching for that elusive slot. Reaching over, she roles another ball into her hitting area, whack, this one starts little right and draws gently back into at her target… another, the same result. “Once is luck, twice is skill” echoes the voice of her father in her head.  Another ball and so on… She got lost in the purity of the strike and the bliss of perfection. She was enjoying the dance of synchronized movements. It didn’t matter that she could no longer see where the ball was landing; she knew where it was going.

            The fact that there were no more balls in the bucket woke her up to her surroundings again. Content, she placed her alignment stick back in her bag, threw the bag onto her shoulder and began walking toward where her car was parked. She grabbed her phone from the side pocket on her bag. When it lit up, the time was 8:20. The text alerts read, “Where are you?” and another “Are you ok?”.  She couldn’t believe that much time has passed; it wasn’t the first time she got lost her in practicing.

            She immediately felt awful, “I let them down again”.  Dana and her friends had planned to get together the night before Thanksgiving to prepare a meal for a less fortunate family. Their plan was to take it over to them next morning before heading to their families houses for a Thanksgiving feast. The day after Thanksgiving Dana was heading to LPGA qualifying school. This was going to be her first attempt to get her card; she was nervous and been working diligently to be prepared to give it her best.  At this moment that wasn’t her concern, she felt so guilty about letting her friends down, then her thoughts moved the to family she was to be preparing the meal for, she sunk deeper in to her guilty. “I’m such an awful person!” she thought. “I’m so selfish, I’m so sorry God.”

What does God think about this? Has she done anything wrong, that is, let God down in some way? Or is she doing exactly what she is supposed to be doing, that which is “holy and pleasing to God”?

The Christian faith teaches that God created “us” for the ultimate purpose of participating in His divine life (2 Peter 1:3-4). Furthermore, God created the world –and all that is in it – to be our home and a means through which to take share in His life. How do we do this? I want to suggest we do this by first getting intricately involved in a “thing” of the earth. It’s whatever you are interested from biology to interior design. For you the athlete, it’s your sport! The more closely we attend to created things the more they reveal their meanings and God. This happens, according to the Romanian theologian, Dutrimru Staniloae, “because their rationality is seen by us as having its source integrally in the personal God and because they themselves are seen as a means of God’s love and hence a means of the dialogue God has with us and we have with one another. Through this dialogue God leads us to an ever more profound knowledge of his own thinking and loving as well as to growth in our own thinking and loving within the relations we have among ourselves and with God.” The idea that “things” – creation – reveal God and are means of coming to know Him is really not a novel idea, the Psalmist states,

The heavens declare the glory of God,

    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork (19.1)

And again,

O Lord, how manifold are your works!

    In wisdom have you made them all (104.24)

Then there is the famous line of St Paul in Romans,

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (1.20)

Through the “gift” of creation God makes himself known. Just as the Law was given to lead us to Christ, so Creation was set as a means to come to know Him more fully. Staniloae further explains, “the dialogue with God through the agency of created things (like sports) contributes to our development inasmuch as they are regarded as images or symbols or transparent types of inner principles/reasons of God” – they reveal God. Take note, this is not by looking past or beyond the “thing-in-itself” but by looking into it. The deeper we gaze into creation, the deeper we come know and experience the wisdom and love of God. The more we get involved with things, the more we discover “new and alternative dimensions” of “things”, as well as, new uses and combinations for them. This is not done by reason alone, “but also through the feelings and the continual new thoughts our bodies produce in contact with things”. It’s through our whole being – mind and body – that we experience the world and thus, God. Furthermore, it’s in getting intricately involved with and using the “things” of creation that the experience of God comes to fruition. It’s in farming the land, building the buildings, creating new medicines, working with individuals, and so on… that we unveil the revelation of God   For the athlete, it’s in kicking the ball, swimming through the water, poll vaulting up and over the bar, skiing down the hill, etc., and all the varying aspects that make up a sport from the rules to the science of it that God may be experienced in and through it.

There are two implications for the Christian athlete I see in this truth: 1) you can actually deepen your relationship with God through playing your sport. For the serious athletes this is your primary means of relating with God – this is where you work out your salvation in fear and trembling (Phil 2.12) (Don’t get me wrong here the church is the primary means to salvation, but your sport can also be a context wherein you deepen that relationship with God). And 2) the more you work at perfecting your craft within a given sport the more deeply you will come to know and experience the living God who created the sport and you. What I think is so cool is that this is an inexhaustible goal for the Christian Athlete. As my buddy, Billy Wagner, is found of saying, “perfection is our goal as athletes even though it is unattainable, nevertheless it’s what we work towards – we can always get better!” On similar line of thinking, God is infinite, there will never be a time that we will exhaust our knowledge and experience of Him – we can always grow in our relationship.

It’s true, Creation can lead us to God, but it is also the case that it can lead us to “Hell”! “How” we relate to creation then makes all the difference. I’ll be discussing this “how” in detail through the next several posts.

 

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.