Stomp On 'Em In Love

[Meditation Moment]

Meditation Moment #91
Jun-01-2002
http://www.bbc-cortland.org/medmoment/

Once again the calendar has brought us around to the French Open. This second tennis grand slam tournament, played in Roland Garros, France, is the only one of the four major tournaments played on "clay." With the arrival of this annual event I allow my thoughts to wander for awhile in the arena of athletics. This wandering almost always leads me to wonder about the role of sports events in the Christian life. 

Personally, I have no difficulty imagining Jesus playing tennis…or baseball or whatever games caught the attention of guys in Nazareth during his growing up years. I hope that I will not be considered off the wall if I suggest that Jesus and His disciples might have unwound by shooting hoops if there had been hoops to shoot at somewhere in Capernaum. Even though there are few flannel graph figures showing our Lord in an athletic posture, it is no stretch to think that the same Jesus who held children on His lap might have been urged into a quick game of catch. 

What does give me difficulty is the fact that I cannot visualize Jesus demonstrating the same attitude as many Christian sports enthusiasts today.  The thought does not seem to occur to us that the Holy Spirit might want some involvement in our game times. Nor do we seem to catch the vision for bringing newness of life onto the field of play. Clearly 1 Corinthians 10:31 would indicate that the tennis court or the baseball diamond are not excluded as places where the character of Christ should be demonstrated. Yet, the troubling testimony is that there is often little difference between Christian and secular attitudes in our approach to athletics. In the name of being "competitive," we followers of Christ seem to be able to unblushingly tolerate and even promote some very questionable actions and reactions. Please permit me to share two observations and a few related thoughts.

The first observation is that often "sportsmanship" awards are treated as consolation prizes in Christian athletic groups. That is peculiar since sportsmanship deals with a broad range of character whereas winning only deals with success in a particular and limited skill. 

It comes to my mind that one of the reasons that winning teams seldom receive the sportsmanship trophy may rise from the mistaken notion that character is demonstrated in defeat. We examine the losing teams to see how well they accepted defeat. We do not examine the winning team to see how well they accept victory. Since a man is tested by the praise he receives (Proverbs 27:21 NIV), it would seem that some attention should be given to how a team experiences victory. I have watched winning teams of professing Christians develop attitudes of arrogance that are fully as obnoxious as those of their unsaved counterparts. I cannot accept the theory that the Holy Spirit smiles on this. The heat of the game is a poor excuse for the practice of disdain.

The second observation builds on the first. The reason for our depreciation of sportsmanship may be because we do not seem to be able to distinguish between winning and defeating. Related to that is the recognition that hostility is an attitude of warfare, not a part of Christian athletic competition. 

When I play tennis with a friend I try to think of it as just that…playing tennis with a friend. He is an opponent on the court, but he is not an enemy. Consequently, I believe that Ephesians 4:32 remains in effect. I am to be gracious in the competition. That does not mean that I do not strategize. That does not mean that I do not try to put the ball out of his reach. That does not mean that I do not throw myself aggressively into the action. Nor does it mean that I do not celebrate a well won point. But it does mean that if I find, as rarely happens, that my friend is not up to my level of play, I tailor my game so as to let him come away having enjoyed and benefited from the competition. To be sure, I enjoy winning the game. But I do not enjoy defeating my friend. Conversely, the joy of a match is lost when I sense that an opponent who is better than I is determined not only to beat me but to "kill" me. Does not the principle of doing to others as I would have them do to me (Luke 6:31) come into play? Where is the text that excludes this from gamesmanship among believers in Christ?

Built on those two observations, here are some other thoughts. The first has to do with spectators. There is no doubt that cheering for one's team is a positive encouragement. But, where does hassling the opponent fit into the Christian worldview? 

The second thought involves the incorporation of a win-at-all-cost mentality. The cliché that "winning is the only thing" is true in a life-and-death struggle against an enemy. It is not true of a testing of skills in competition on the court or field. Thus anger, wrath, malice, cheating and the like are not part of the game. In fact, it is those attitudes and not the guy on the other side of the net that God singles out as targets for our relentless aggression (Colossians 3:8). 

The third thought turns around our nod toward evangelism as a reason for Christian athletics. Let us be perfectly clear here. If a sinner is seeking a new life he has little reason to ask directions from a professing Christian who treats his opponent with disdain and justifies carnality in the name of the importance of winning. When I want to give a genuine word of praise to the guys and gals in our Academy's athletic program I will say tell them that if I were looking for someone to explain to me how to have a life I would seek them out on the basis of the character they demonstrated during a game.

When a friend is preparing to enter a competition, it is not uncommon for me to say to him, "Stomp on 'em in love." He will nod and smile with understanding. The obvious oxymoron reminds him that he is to play to win but he is not to win at all cost. When competing against the world, the flesh and the devil there is no substitute for winning (1 John 2:15-17). When competing against a fellow human being in a contest of skills, there are many things greater than simply coming away with the highest score. By application it can well be said, "What will it profit a man in the grand scheme of growth in Christ, if he gains the top score at the cost of grieving and quenching God's Holy Spirit?"

Your interaction would be appreciated.

Pastor Comings


Pastor Comings
pastor@bbc-cortland.org