In part 2 of my thoughts on sports, I will tackle (get it? Tackle…football…sports)
the life lessons that can be learned from sports. In the book “A Guide to
Biblical Manhood”, Dr. Randy Stinson lays out his list of life lessons that he
learned from baseball that he has shared with his children. While I would have
picked a different sport (soccer or golf), many of these ideas are true in all
sports. Here are the ones that I think are the strongest lessons from sports:
- Authority – If you ever notice, the umpire or referee always wins the argument. Regardless of the sport, the umpire/referee has the authority to eject anyone he thinks have gotten out of hand. Thus, the life lesson is that you accept the ruling without arguing. Another aspect of this is that you do not blame the outcome of the game on the umpire/referee since they are part of the sport you decided to play. This does not mean that the person doing the officiating is perfect. They will make mistakes and we will be treated unfairly. Guess what? Jesus was treated unfairly and he showed love and forgiveness to those who mistreated him.
- Self-sacrifice – When you play a team sport, the individual players need to think as a team. This means that sometimes, certain players need to “take one for the team”. In other words, a player might need to do something that they do not want to do in order to help the team. The life lesson here is that we need to think of others before ourselves. Since the coach has the responsibility to guide the team, this also means that when the coach asks you to do something, you need to obey. Again, there are times where the coach’s ideas will not be the same as yours. In the garden before Jesus was arrested, he pleaded with his “coach” if there was another play that would be run. His “coach” told him no and Jesus then went and was obedient. He ran the play that ended up killing him because he knew that was the best for us.
- Failure and Humility – In my one year of HS baseball, my batting average was .000, in other words, I did not get a hit all year (I was on the team for my fielding). While I failed all the time, even the best hitters fail 2 out of 3 times at bat. Whether it is a batter that is in a slump or a pitcher that cannot throw a strike, sports makes us face our failure. How will we react? Will you get mad? Will you blame others? Will you work hard so it doesn’t happen again? Peter failed Jesus when he denied that he knew Jesus and he left crying. Did he give up? No, he learned from his mistakes and was the leader of the church after Jesus went to heaven.
- Grace, Mercy, and Honor – Your opponent is someone that God loves and is made in God’s image. When they are cheating or playing in a way that you do not like, it is hard to see that. Regardless of our opinion of them, we are called to honor and respect them. Sportsmanship is a lost art these days. Too many times, the trash talking and taunting are accepted as normal but they show a lack of respect for the other players. You never know what opportunities may come up. Maybe that other player may visit your church. Did you show them respect and honor in the game? Please hear me: this does not mean you do not play hard! This means that you play hard but you do not insult them, humiliate them, run up the score, or get “chippy” when they are winning. Bottom line is that the people on the other side are more important to God than winning. There is no problem with playing to win but what is more important?
Stinson outlines more in the book and I do recommend it to
you to read. This section is pages 90-96 in the book. The book has sections on
how to be a Godly Father, a Godly Husband and a Godly Leader. One lesson that
this book makes clear is that in all that we do, we are to become more and more
like Christ. What would Jesus do…in our families? In our marriages? In our
jobs? In our fun times? And in our sports?
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