I’ve recently taken on an unfamiliar role for me: assistant coach of a 5 to 7 year-old flag football team. Fortunately for me and the kids, I am the third coach, and the first two actually know what they are doing. You can see how I have captured the boys’ attention with my commanding field presence and mastery of the game. 🙂

This, along with Austin’s growing interest in sports, has me thinking more about the role of sports in the Christian life. So, it was nice timing when I came across an excellent sermon by C.J. Mahaney entitled Don’t Waste Your Sports.

The message is an application of 1 Corinthians 10:31 to the area of sports. He seeks to answer the question “How can I glorify God in my participation in sports?” I found it both helpful and personally challenging. As you listen, see if you don’t agree with me that much of what Mahaney talks about in relation to sports is equally applicable to many other areas of life.

First, Mahaney offers two basic principles…

1. Participation in sports must be informed by the knowledge of God. We must behold the glory of God before we can play to the Glory of God.
2. Participation in sports must be done as worship of God and not as an opportunity to bring attention or glory to ourselves.

Second, Mahaney recommends two basic practices…

1. Give thanks to God for sports. Sports are part of God’s kind design of humanity and a means of rest and refreshment, joy, and improved health.
2. Displaying godly character in sport. Sports can be an opportunity for the development and display of godly character. However, if our understanding of sports is more informed by culture than by Scripture, then the development and display of athletic skill will be more important to us than the development and display of godly character, turning a beautiful gift from God into something ugly.

Mahaney asserts that we can only glorify God when we play with humility. The humble athlete…

• pursues and welcomes critique and correction from coaches and teammates
• recognizes his own limitations
• recognizes that others are more skilled than he is
• encourages his teammates
• is gracious in defeat and is modest in victory
• respects coaches and officials
• assigns all glory to God and refuses to allow others to assign it to himself

Mahaney then gives some great advice for detecting when sports has become idolatry…

First, examine your heart and your time. Are you preoccupied with sports? Is your conversation more dominated with sports than God, family, church, etc.? Do you have an excessive passion for your favorite team, becoming overly elated when they win or depressed when they lose?

Second, are you more committed to playing or watching sports than to your local church? Mahaney gives a good, extended treatment of this that you’ll have to listen to yourself.

Whether you play, coach, parent, or watch, I highly commend this message to you. You can download it here.