Below are the top blogs from January on our site. Enjoy! By the way, we sent out an email to our database yesterday highlighting these. If you like to receive regular emails from CSO, fill out our subscription form.
Does God Care Who Wins? Part 4
God’s concern about winning and losing has everything to do with glory, not ours – his. He oversees winning and losing in light of the ways that his glory, his magnificence, his greatness can be displayed in both of those outcomes.
Why You Have Angry Coaches in Your League
I have never seen a coach enraged with a parent because God’s glory wasn’t be spread enough. I have never seen a coach angry with himself because he wasn’t spending enough time with his child. I have never seen a coach yell at a referee because the kids on the court weren’t having enough fun.
I’ve said it. You’ve probably said it. It’s uttered every Saturday on fields and courts across the country. It’s the ultimate retort to any sore loser or hyper-competitor. It goes like this: “It’s just a game!” The fact is though, it’s just not true.
Sports & Theology: Anquan Boldin
God gave Anquan Boldin an amazing gift of athleticism. By mocking other players and then pointing to the sky, he mocks that gift. He brings glory to himself as opposed to God. And to those watching who don’t know Christ, what are they to make of the mocking and then pointing to the sky? What does that communicate about Christianity?
The 3 Types of People in Sports Ministry
If I’m honest, when I started as a sports minister, I was the Christian, Sports Minister. I loved Jesus and I loved sports but I didn’t really know what I was doing when it came to marrying the two. Through God’s grace and the work of CSO though, I believe I’m now a Gospel Centered Sports Minister.
Evangelism…Why You Won’t Read This Post
So, why do people NOT want to read about evangelism? There are several reasons but I think the main reason is because we feel guilty. There are two topics within Christianity that are sure to cause instant guilt: prayer and evangelism. You rarely will meet a person who will say they are praying and evangelizing too much and need to cut back. Understandably, people don’t like to feel bad about themselves. Not reading posts about evangelism is protection from pain.
Every Sports Minister Needs a Coach
If you’re a sports minister at a local church, please ask yourself these questions: Do I have a coach or merely a supervisor? Am I satisfied with how I’m being shepherded? Do I have someone to share my struggles and concerns with who understands the nature of my work? Do I know other sports ministers who are like-minded and I can learn from? Am I being challenged to be a better sports minister?
Why We Rejoice in the Plights of Manti Te’o, Lance Armstrong & Tiger Woods
When I probed into my heart, I realized the answer. I was giddy about this Te’o story because it made me feel better about myself. It was just one more person I could add to the list of people I was better than. And it’s a great person to add to the list because he’s famous. Everyone is going to know I’m better than him! By pushing people down, I can prop myself up. My giddiness revealed a belief that still operates in my heart: I determine my value and righteousness by comparing myself with others. It’s a works-based system of righteousness that relies on comparison.
There’s far too much of this ignorance among celebrity Christian athletes. I can’t imagine a context in which using this verse as a rallying cry is a good thing. The book of Isaiah is about God’s judgement and salvation. It discusses how he will rescue His people from spiritual, physical, and spiritual oppression. Isaiah can be a difficult book to study but it seems as if this verse is regarding the future exile of God’s people and the hope that God gives them in the midst of their suffering. Or, perhaps it’s regarding the 2nd coming of Christ and the restoration of all things. Regardless of your interpretation of this section of Isaiah, Lewis grossly misapplied the verse(s).
Regardless of his motivation, Ray’s theology expressed here is popular among culture–even among Christians. We think, God has bigger and better things to do rather than waste his time in something as small and meaningless as sports. If that’s true, how do we determine what’s too small for God to get involved with? Just try it some time. Start categorizing the “important” things in your life with the “unimportant.” You’ll begin to see, it’s much harder than you think.
And I love what he says here about street sweeping and being the best you can be. I know that these are not his original ideas–he is paraphrasing a Martin Luther King Jr. speech–nonetheless, the fact that he looks to those ideas as inspiration is encouraging. It reflects a Biblical worldview that says anything can be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). He’s smart to acknowledge that it’s the journey that is important not the end result. If you measure success by the outcome, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Former Pittsburgh Steelers coaching great, Chuck Noll, echoes this idea when he said, “A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning.” Winning is out of our control but our effort is not.
