When my wife told me that my son received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at his football game, I used to be enraged. He’d aggressively thrown the ball back to the official he believed had missed a call. I flew right into a lecture about leadership, respect for authority, and composure. I even called family and friends to register my disbelief and embarrassment.
But before I got too self-righteous, my parents—all the time wanting to come to their grandchildren’s rescue—jogged my memory of the times I was removed from a model of sportsmanship. I’ve had my fair proportion of penalties and made hotheaded remarks. I’ve come a great distance, but I still haven’t fully mastered the art of balancing passion and prudence in the world.
Accordingly, I urge your charity as I explain (and preach to myself) why I think sports is usually a helpful servant for Christians—and an awful master. We can value the virtues that sports teach and be encouraged when players like Justin Fields and Paige Bueckers boldly proclaim their faith while being wary of the culture of idolatry, pride, disrespect, and selfishness that crops up in every level of American sports, from peewee soccer to the NFL.
As a former college football player and a current Little League coach, I’m convinced sports are a terrific method to construct character in children and teach the worth of leadership and institutions. Youth sports provide social proof that diligence and teamwork are essential features of improvement. Children learn real-world lessons by overcoming the mental and physical obstacles sports present. Truths which are difficult to speak in theory suddenly make sense on the sphere.
Sports are particularly precious in a culture where children are being stunted and harmed by coddling. They may help us cultivate courage and mettle. Today, many appear to think that every one toughness is toxic and that avoiding risk is the first objective in childrearing. Some of us have deluded ourselves into believing society has evolved to the purpose that our kids won’t ever need to invoke a primitive grit or fulfill the role of brave protectors and watchmen (Deut. 31:6; Ezek. 33).
We live in relative peace and prosperity, yes. But we must always avoid raising cowards just as intently as we avoid raising predators (Rev. 21:8). We can value our emotions without forgetting that fortitude remains to be a virtue (Prov. 31:17; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:3; 1 Pet. 1:5–6). A tackle won’t be the largest hit our kids absorb life. We’ll must train them to be tough in addition to compassionate, and that involves risk. The controlled risks of sports afford us the chance to exercise love and discipline and to check our kids’s resolve (Prov. 13:24).
Yet my lifelong love for sports has also shown me how sports can turn out to be idolatrous and appeal to our worst instincts. Since the ancient Olympics, sports have been connected to idols, and we proceed that idolatrous tradition if we make more of sports than we ought, like Israel in Isaiah 44. Sports will be profitable as tools but are disastrous as gods.
Concretely, this implies we shouldn’t encourage young people to center their lives around sports. An idol can never love you back (Isa. 44:18), and, like Gomer, sports are a promiscuous partner (Hos. 1). At some point, they’ll abandon (or betray) you. Whether through injury, team politics, roster cuts, or another misfortune, everyone’s days on the sphere will end. The band stops playing for you; your jersey bears the name of one other; and fans quickly move on. The transition from exceptional athlete to common person is disheartening and painful. It’s not so dissimilar to the experience of a forgotten Hollywood child star.
Too many athletes find themselves unprepared for this harsh reality, and a few never get well. After sports, many spend their days haunted by a combination of shame, regret, and bitterness about what might have been. How I wish they knew there’s all the time purpose and a future for individuals who know Christ Jesus (Jer. 29:11–14). But I understand how they turn out to be deluded. Without a redeemed perspective, the applause, recognition, and rivalry will be intoxicating. In the worst cases, sports can displace our devotion to God, smash parent-child relationships, and make us selfish, prideful monsters. Jock mentalities void of discretion and humility don’t serve athletes well in the actual world, and the formative features of youth sports can instill vices just in addition to virtues.
Over the past few months, we’ve seen in pro and college sports quite a few examples of the sort of inexcusable behavior I bear in mind. During the Super Bowl, Chiefs star Travis Kelce pushed and screamed at coach Andy Reid. Players cursed at coaches and brawled during March Madness. After former NFL MVP Cam Newton was jumped at a 7-on-7 tournament he was hosting, sports analysts lamented the disrespect endemic in sports culture.
And the issue isn’t confined to the professionals. Our youth sports culture is totally uncontrolled. Not only does it monopolize family time and eat into church schedules, but it could possibly disfigure whole families’ relationships to authority and institutions.
Far from being a friendly neighborhood game, modern Little League is the transfer portal on steroids. Kids jump from team to team to team to win championships or play a special position. I’ve seen children quit two or three teams in a single season because their parents’ expectations or demands weren’t met. Just like those that “church hop,” we’ve turn out to be consumers of institutions, and we don’t contribute or serve in turn.
As Yuval Levin explains in A Time to Build, we’ve lost our appreciation for institution constructing, because every establishment is now viewed as a platform for our personal ascendance. Like free riders, we use institutions without ever taking ownership, sacrificing anything for the greater good, or letting the institution shape us. We leave institutional maintenance to another person, choosing what suits us best, identical to an Amazon purchase, then throwing it away after we’re done. This teaches children nothing about overcoming adversity or sticking with their communities despite their imperfections and brokenness.
Sports can bring the worst out in players, parents, coaches, and fans. It can reflect essentially the most negative features in our culture and cause disordered priorities. But that doesn’t need to be the case. Christians can be sure that sports are serving us somewhat than us serving sports.
Let’s reclaim our Sunday mornings for God and reassert the bounds of this tool of character constructing. Let’s keep our public witness at front of mind and ensure even our trash talk is without contempt or vulgarity. Let’s teach youth win with grace and lose with honor. Let’s use sports to grow more like Christ as an alternative of constructing him compete for our affection.
Justin Giboney is an ordained minister, attorney, and the president of AND Campaign, a Christian civic organization. He’s the co-author of Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement.
