"there has only ever been one perfect man, the Lord Jesus, and we killed him. I only missed a putt."
Focus on sport in ministry
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Lowrie McCown and Val Gin, 360 Sports, Marietta,GA, 2003 ISBN 193261100-2
Lowrie McCown has been acknowledged over many years as one of the leading thinkers and teachers on sports ministry. This book, written with Val Gin of Gordon College, gives us a systematic account of his ideas. Each chapter gives about 6 discussion questions.
Chapter one "A sport-eye view" deals with some of the fundamental questions
* What is sport?
* Where did sport come from?
* Is sport good or evil?
* Why people play sport
* Value of sport in life and culture
* Value of sport for the people who play
* Value of sport in ministry
Starting from the premise that many people play sport to gain a healthy self-image, the book argues that the Christian "does not have to compete to defeat the opponent in order to feel good about himself; instead, he competes because of who he is. Thus, as believers in the world of sport, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our identity in Christ to people who are searching for healthy identities". [Page 26]
The book uses the term "sport in ministry" to denote Christian ministry in sport which values sport and to distinguish it from much of traditional "sports ministry" which has seen sport only as of extrinsic value (eg an aid to evangelism) but with no intrinsic value in itself.
The authors continue "Sports evangelism, the predominant approach to sports ministry, is an 'outside-in' approach to ministering to the sports world for Christ. Traditionally what is done in sports evangelism is to send believers from 'outside' the world of sport, as missionaries 'inside' the world of sport to evangelise". Page 139
They propose a higher way, arguing that the purpose of sport in ministry "is to ultimately glorify God by helping the people of sport to grow together and in Christlikeness and seamlessly glorify God with our whole being in and through the activity of sport". [Pages 95 and 166]
To achieve this the Christian in sport needs to be set free from much contemporary evangelical thinking that sport is at best trivial and not a good use of time and at worst intrinsically evil. The aim is to release "the people of sport to be the people of sport by encouraging thought and reflection on the connection (integration) between biblical principles and how they relate and affect the sport experience" [Page 155]. The book argues that we need to help that Christian to be a follower of Jesus in the world of sport as much as anywhere else.
The book argues for a holistic, integrated approach to ministry in which "we have to be careful that we do not segregate spiritual life from other areas of life. To think that ministry only happens during a Bible study or on Sunday mornings inhibits us from promoting the integration of Jesus into all of our experiences - especially sport" [Page154-5].
This leads on to the challenge to regain the world of sport for Christ. "As stewards of creation, we are called to restore sport and increase the dividends on God's initial investment". [Page 157] To fulfil this, the Christian sportsperson must seek to become an agent of redemption in the world of sport.
The only weakness in the book is in the summary of the historical context (eg 114-117), which contains a few inaccuracies.
The McCown sport in ministry map (previously called the sports ministry map) is arguably the most useful tool in existence to help us understand the range and diversity of sports ministry and also to plot our position within it. Pages 67-169 give a detailed account of the map. Those who have heard Lowrie present the map in 30 minutes will welcome an unhurried development and explanation of it. Every sports ministry leader and worker will benefit from a clear understanding of the map.