"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
The State of Play
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Paul, Bickley, Theos, 2014
I love sport. I have played, watched, administered and thought about sport all my life. I have derived immense pleasure from sport. Along with Lord Kinnaird I regularly “thank God for football” and many other sports. I also believe that thanking God for sport is entirely appropriate, as sport and our ability to play it and enjoy it, are part of God’s creation.
I welcome any contribution to a Christian understanding of sport. Thinking theologically about sport – and encouraging others to do so is a great passion of mine. Sadly, The State of Play is a poor contribution to the field.
The report consists of an executive summary followed by Introduction, View from the Boundary (theological reflections). The view from the dressing room (player interviews), Sports Chaplaincy (reflections on chaplaincy and partly based on interviews with chaplains) followed by Conclusions and Recommendations.
The report has a very negative stance with regard to sport, referring to “the malaise of contemporary sport”, “sport’s moral failures”, “guilty of deep hypocrisy, abusing popular devotion for its own gain”, “the ill effects of this sporting context”, “the hotbed of the worst human behaviour” giving the reader “all the more reason to be suspicious of sport”. The danger of idolatry, pressure, poor behaviour or on and off the field are all part of what the report calls: “the charge sheet” against sport.
The style of the report is all too often sweeping statements and unsupported assertions or unreasonable extrapolations from limited evidence.
While the report states “In conclusion we argue that an authentic theological response to sport is to celebrate it”, this welcome message is strangled by all the negativity and criticisms of sport.
One of the great successes of the Christians in Sport movement over 30 years is to help thousands of Christians to see sport as part of their Christian life and an arena in which they can worship God. The words attributed to Eric Liddell in the 1980s film, Chariots of Fire, “God made me for a purpose but he also made me fast and when I run, I feel his pleasure” encapsulate what so many Christians at all levels feel about playing sport. It therefore seems odd in the extreme that a report prepared for Christians in Sport (and the Bible Society) should reject this fundamental part of the Christians in Sport view of sport.
The report, reflecting the views of Lincoln Harvey states: “the Church …has always insisted that “worship is worship and sport is sport”. Harvey is, of course, as entitled to his opinion as anyone else. The problem arises when this view – which to my knowledge has been universally rejected by UK sports ministry people who have read the argument – is put across as received wisdom.
There is a need for Christians to engage with the world of sport. However, this must not be done in condemnatory way or the church will be dismissed as the new Puritans. If you believe that sport is a gift from God and that we can and must worship God in sport as in all aspects of life, then we will approach sport positively and with thankfulness. There is a great need for engagement in sport at all levels from professional to club and recreational level – as players, coaches and administrators or chaplains. Let’s do it!
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