“When viewed through the lens of Scripture we will see that sport is more than a game, less than a god, and when transformed by the gospel can be received as a gift.” So writes Jeremy Treat in his paper titled “More Than A Game: A Theology of Sport.” And that is a theologically informed, well-crafted sentence addressing a topic that has not been written about sufficiently from a biblical perspective. We need a theology of sports in order to…
Parents, on the Mahaney Sports blog, we’ve recently concluded a series on posts called Don’t Waste Your Sports. These posts are adapted from a booklet produced from a sermon I preached on the topic. If you’ve encountered this material, I’m sure you’ve thought about the intersection of sports and your responsibility as a parent. I’d encourage you to read these posts to apply the biblical truths found there to your own experience playing sports. Also read with your child in…
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22 The gospel is the center of what we believe as Christians. If someone asked you to explain the gospel, how would you explain it? What is the problem? What is the solution? (Hint: check out Romans 3:10–26 or 1 Corinthians 15:3–4.) Does your passion for sports exceed your passion for the Savior, your church, your family? In an average week, how much time do you invest…
My swimming career—along with every other sport I played—is a pathetic example of how not to play sports to the glory of God. As I look back, I now realize just how proud I was. The pool and the field were my stage, my opportunity to glorify myself—or at least try to. The countless swim meets and basketball, football, and baseball games were wasted opportunities. At every event, I wanted to be noticed. I wanted applause. Come to think of…
We’ve been talking about how we can glorify God on the playing field—about how 1 Corinthians 10:31 applies to our sports. This passage of Scripture was written almost 2000 years ago. The apostle Paul was writing to people who were confused about eating steaks that had been offered as sacrifices to idols. It sounds like another world, one hardly relevant to us or to sports. Does anyone worship idols today? If Paul were writing another letter and addressing it to…