"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Free to compete
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Reflections on sport from a Christian perspective, Roger D Lipe, Cross Training Publishing, 2013
Opposite the contents page of the book there are several comments on “Free to compete”. The first one is: “Roger Lipe has a unique ability to comment on sport with a Christian frame of reference. He takes Christ seriously and takes sport seriously, helping the readers to process their sports experience in the light of the Bible”. It must be right because it is attributed to me!
It is a fair summary of the value of the book, which consists of over 60 reflections in two sections:
Section I Reflections on Life in Sport from a Christian Perspective pages 9-95
Section II Reflections on Ministry in Sport from a Christian Perspective pages 97-174
The book is inevitably a bit disjointed as it consists of a series of discrete reflections but there are gems on every page such as the challenge: “We who represent Christ Jesus in the world of sport must be stewards of its culture” – something Christians have in general neglected.
Roger expresses well something that many of us feel – “There are untold numbers of us who live in sport culture and even prefer it to most other cultures in our world. We prefer the cricket ground to the abbey. We feel closer to Christ among the handball team than with the hand bell choir. We experience Jesus’ grace more often in a raucous stadium than in a placid sanctuary”.
In a reflection entitled “A Biblical View of Participation in Sport”, he argues: “While I will concede that the Bible does not speak directly about sport, but simply references it, I will strongly assert that it powerfully addresses matters of which sport is comprised. I would like to have you consider that sport is:
A rich environment for engaging the Gospel of Christ.
A lifestyle of noble work.
An expression of worship.
An experience of community.
I resonated too with a consistent theme that we may (and must) worship God as much on the sportsfield as in the choir. For example, “Sport is an expression of worship. Throughout the Holy Scriptures there is a wide variety of expressions of worship. Men and women throughout the ages have employed a myriad of methods to declare their love for, their devotion to and the greatness of their God. Musicians play, sculptors sculpt, preachers speak, painters paint, writers compose, dancers perform, and athletes compete. In each of the aforementioned expressions of worship there are physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual dimensions”.
Two other outstanding reflections are “Misapplication of Scripture in Sports Ministry” and “Sport Culture – Live in It ”.
I end with another challenging quote for those who try to represent Christ in sport: “To be an agent of Christ’s transforming power in sport culture is to demonstrate God-honoring values and to love people extravagantly in the daily life of sport. It’s simply insufficient to tell Sunday School stories, to repeat tired clichés and to recycle last Month’s sermon for this week’s chapel talk. If we speak of worship being something that happens exclusively within the walls of the church and exclude the activity of sport as an expression of genuine worship and praise to God, we miss our opportunity to help sportspeople experience real joy and fulfilment”.
Whatever your role in sport this book will help you to do it better as a Christian.
ISBN: 978-1-938254-15-4