The Gospel through Sport

Remember that whether you win or lose, God can be glorified through your hard work

Source: Knowing Jesus

Sports are not the traditional way of sharing the Gospel, but we all have natural gifts and we are all called to use them. The roads to Rome carried the Gospel in the first century, but sports and other natural giftings could arguably be a means of carrying the Gospel today. Some might question why sports evangelism is even a consideration? However, sport is important for several reasons;

1. The World has become more resistant to traditional forms of ministry.
2. Sports attempts to go where traditional evangelism has not been effective in reaching the lost.
3. People are familiar with sports personalities, media events and competitions they are already following. (When these persons get saved, they tend to be very passionate!  and they already have a captive audience).
4. Sports connect with people and move towards active discipleship. Sports evangelism is necessary because it attracts the secularized and the ‘unchurched’; it primarily reaches two missing groups in the Church (men and youth) and it fulfills church growth principles.
5. People are mostly influenced while having fun and athletic facilities attract people.

The bible often speaks of analogies and stories as encouragement for persevering and achieving our goals. There are therefore many verses that can offer athletes motivation and inspiration for training and competition.  Remember that whether you win or lose, God can be glorified through your hard work:

Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all this through him who gives me strength’

Hebrews 12:1 ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us’

Isaiah 40:31 ‘but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint’

1 Corinthians 9:24 ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize’

Source: Berean Baskets

Christians in Football (CIF) is an example of the power of sport in bringing the Gospel to places and people that may not have been initially open to receive it. CIF was founded in order to serve the UK network of teams, Churches, and Christian players involved in non-league football. CIF is both a Network and Mission Agency which seeks effective and creative ways to help empower Church-based football groups and also aims to reach people for Christ and then bring them to maturity in both their Faith and their sport.

My son was privileged to be part of a CIF team and in doing so he traveled with the team to France, Croatia, Repton in Derbyshire and other parts of Britain. They spend time in fellowship after the games where some of the players would give personal testimonies. The team would also get involved in outreach in the communities they visited, arranging football matches with schools and colleges and other teams, where they were able to bring a witness when the opportunity arose; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 ‘There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work’ and 1 Peter 4:10 ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms’.

Heather Dorniden is a committed Christian, born 1987 and was a middle-distance runner and four times United States National Champion in the one-mile race. Heather was an ordinary person who did an extraordinary thing that went viral on social media. In an important track event in Minnesota in 2008 Heather gave an inspiring example of how we can do all thing through Christ who strengthens us, by taking a fall during the race, getting to her feet and incredibly winning. The short video at the end of this article shows you what happened. This is what she said in an interview about the race; ‘What’ s probably most powerful is the sheer quantity and variety of people with different backgrounds who all have felt compelled to reach out to tell how the race effected them’.  She continued; ‘this race is so easily relatable to everybody's lives.  I've heard of cancer survivors, people battling addiction, struggling artists, parents, athletes and runners of every age and ability, (taking part) the list could go on. I always tell people this race isn't just about never giving up, it's about discovering what you're capable of when you are given the opportunity to rise above adversity’. She also went on to say that she is constantly striving to represent God who has blessed her life abundantly; Colossians 3:23-24 ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving’.

May the Lord truly bless you. 

Author: Anonymous

May God bless and enrich your life     

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others