A Theology of Sports: Part One

First in a four part series.

“As a boy I played ball games, and that play slowed down the speed at which I learnt letters…. I was disobedient not because I had chosen higher things, but from love of sport.” St. Augustine

It doesn’t seem to have slowed him down that much.

Although he was one of the greatest philosophers and theologians in history, St. Augustine may have missed the importance of athletics in the life of God’s people, and the possibilities of finding God in our games as in any of our activities. In his Confessions he laments his childhood abuse of sports: “In competitive games I loved the pride of winning. I liked to tickle my ears with false stories which further titillated my desires…. Look with mercy on these follies, Lord, and deliver us who now call upon you.”

Yet as with any gift from God which can be abused, we sometimes view the abuse as the norm and thus become ashamed of it, losing sight of the beauty of the gift itself. Such can be the case with sports. They have sometimes been considered an inconsequential element of our society; athletes who bring their faith to their games have been accused of trivializing religion by doing so.

But when we truly understand how limitless God’s love for us is, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as an activity too “trivial” for God not to be interested and involved. God cares deeply about every aspect of our lives, and he wants to be included in our every activity. God can be found on an athletic field just as he can anywhere else--there is no place God can’t be found. Why then can he be difficult to recognize in our “insignificant” moments?

Perhaps it is because we tend to downplay sports and recreation as merely a break from the more “important” business of life--the inconsequential opposite of our essential work. Yet former baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti observed that leisure is, “in Christian terms, a moment of contemplation…. Contemplation is the result not of work but of an activity freely assumed whose goal is to so perfect the self that for a moment we see what lies beyond the self…” Our relationship with God is not (or should not be) forced upon us, but freely chosen. Why not use our athletic and recreational activities--also freely chosen--to explore the depths of that relationship? Recreation indeed means “re-creation,” when God uses seemingly trivial activities to build us back into the body he created us to be. Sports provide us with a ripe opportunity to do so.

In three subsequent part of this series, we will explore some theological implications of sports. Stay tuned.