Community Post Summary: Can Sports Have a High Calling?

For a writer, a bracket is that weird symbol { } found somewhere on the keyboard.

For a carpenter, a bracket is what holds up a shelf.

But for a basketball fan, a bracket is chart full of 64 names that is penciled in every March.

The NCAA tournament is a collection of the nation’s best collegiate basketball teams who then battle each other through eight rounds until the champion is crowned.

It’s called madness because of the frenzy, the passion, and attention. Night after night college stands are packed and television crews zoom in on one of the most watched amateur competitions on the planet.

Even if you don’t watch or participate in sports, you have to appreciate the impact of sports on our society. From a child swinging at a plastic ball on a tee to a premier quarterback making $25 million a year, sport has a foothold in our culture. On my cable system, I count no less than seven full-time sports channels, with the opportunity to purchase many others from rugby to soccer to golf.

In an obsessive sports culture, here at The High Calling we ask, “can we find God?” Is there a high purpose, a high calling to participating in or observing sporting events? Our page Sports for the Glory of God features many great discussions of the this topic.

We’ve had a number of community posts that helped us probe this question. High Calling network blogger Bob Gorinski is a Pennsylvania physical therapist who takes care of the down side of sports – injuries. At his blog, he writes about the joy of sport, and even losing.

“We play for fun and fitness,” he writes. “What a shame when we pretend that failure is not an option, when we forget that to seriously try is to risk failure. Without that risk, the sports we play are really not all that fun.” Please read The Risk of Play.

John Meyer is a veteran sports writer, covering 11 Olympic Games while working for the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post. His work includes amazing stories about overcomers such as disabled athletes, a woman who competes in the Dwarf Olympics, and substance abusers who find therapy and rhythm in sports participation.

He confesses that throughout much of his career, he has been obsessed with finding “great stories.” Now, he wants to find God’s stories – which are all great. “Use me to show your love to the world.” Read his piece, The High Calling of Sports Journalism.

One of my favorite High Calling network bloggers is Jim Lange. His Five Foot Twenty Ministries reaches out to professionals and encourages their faith and vocation. He writes of a time in high school when he couldn’t make a basic layup, considered the easiest of all basketball moves. He wasn’t really open to instruction until the rest of his team had to Take a Lap every time he missed. It didn’t take long for him to correct his ways.

Tim Miller, who is responsible for the great photography here at The High Calling, is also an accomplished sports photographer in Australia, where he has a thriving business. His Work of a Sports Photographer explains to us the often grueling hours and tedious preparation that goes into the craft. He tells us that he “loves the opportunity to capture people at their best and worst.”

I was intrigued at his statement about the “worst.” But for some competitors, a visual image of their poor performance is motivation to improve. “I have been blessed with the spiritual gift of encouragement,” Tim said. “I love to cheer them on when they are doing well and to prop them up when they are struggling. To be able to capture that moment in an image is an incredible blessing of technology.

Tina Howard, who chronicles Laity Lodge’s Family Camp adventures, asked several families for their take on the impact of sports on families. Tina has a great summary post that highlights works by Kristine Leathers, Sarah Wolfe, and Angela Culpepper. Read her post here.

Finally, we offer you a featured post by Eileen Knowles, who is a true college hoops fan. Her dilemma comes from recording games to watch later. She does everything she can to keep from hearing the score – avoiding radio and sports broadcasts so she can enjoy her emotions in real time.

But sometimes, she watches a game that is already decided – one that she knows the score.The anxiety simply isn’t there and she watches with a cool knowledge of the final outcome.

Eileen then takes an eternal plunge. “As Christ-followers, knowing the final score as we journey up and down life's court, can bring incredible peace. When the road gets rough, we keep clinging to what we know to be true.” Read her post, which is our featured article this week from the community, Confidence in The Final Score.

Sports for the Glory of God

If God has created humanity with bodies that are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” we need to develop a Christian way of living that incorporates play and recreation, leisure and competition, sports and athletics. Faith in the Creator and Redeemer should lead us to identify the way sports and athletics are meant to be, discern when something is wrong with sports in our broken and sinful culture, and imagine ways to be instruments of redemption in this sphere. In this series, Sports for the Glory of God, we engage with stories of people who are working through these issues on a daily basis.

Image by Dean Thorpe. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.