"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."

George Orwell

It's Saturday

It's Saturday morning and you wake up and think, "Yes. It's Saturday and I've got a game this afternoon". You are committed to Christ, you love your family and you like your job but at 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon you come alive in a unique way. This is a highlight of your week. You were born to play. If you identify with that thought or recognize the scenario, then this series just for you.

Perhaps you struggle to see where your passion for sport fits into your Christian life. You never feel as alive as you do on the basketball court, in the midst of the game. The thrill of intercepting the ball and setting up a scoring pass is amazing, often greater than almost any other experience. How can that be?

Many of us feel that we live double lives. At the rugby club we are very conscious of being a Christian and being careful not to cheat, swear or drink too much. But at church people sometimes think we are a more committed to rugby than to Christ! They seem like separate lives. We find it easy to be a Christian on Sunday but much harder on a Saturday afternoon. Should we stop playing? But we love playing. Sport has always been a central part of our lives.

Yet you sometimes feel that that people already disapprove of the amount of time you give to sport. "John really ought to get his priorities sorted out and put church ahead of his own pleasure". When you have to miss the mid-week Bible study for a game, you hardly dare say why you won't be there. You know you're no less a follower of Jesus because you play sport. But how do you deal with this tension?

Talk to your church leaders. Tell them that you feel that God has gifted you and called you to play sport. Show them that you see your club as the part of the world in which you are to represent Christ. Explain that you will miss some church meetings but that does not mean that you are any less committed to Christ or his church. Ask them to pray for you.

As we begin to addresses this tension we need to work through questions like: Is there a Christian view of sport? Are our sporting talents from God? Does God care who wins or how we play?

I believe that it is possible to be a Christian in the world of sport without being a worse Christian or a worse sportsperson. This series intends simply to show that there is no reason why you cannot play sport as a Christian and in a Christian way.

Playing sport is as much part of your Christian life as going to church. As Christians we are to do everything for Christ. If you really believed that playing sport was an integral part of your Christian life, how would it change your attitude to sport?

This meditation and the following series are based on the book Born to Play, Graham Daniels and J Stuart Weir, Frampton House Publications, Bicester, 2004

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