Guest post by Jason Miller
By definition, eternal means lasting for all time without beginning or end. By definition, eternity means a timeless state conceived as being experienced after death. By definition, value means the worth, importance, or usefulness of something to somebody. So, are sports worth something in the scope of eternity?
It was preseason and I was pretty hyped about the start of our basketball season. Each season, our college basketball team invited certain guys to go into prisons to scrimmage the prison basketball team. It really served two purposes. First, it was a great way to get us playing before the season started (these games didn’t actually count as the allotted number of scrimmages the NCAA would allow) and second, it was a way to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to people in prison.
So there I was…a cocky college basketball player, getting ready to go into prison to play against guys who played DI college basketball. Some guys played professionally. Many of them played on the streets, but in many people’s opinion were better than many of the guys in the NBA. The guys in prison played all year-round. So for me, this was a great challenge. I was going to show them how good I was. I didn’t have Christ in my life at the time so I didn’t truly get what this was all about. I just wanted to play basketball!
The plan was to go inside, play basketball, then, depending on how much time we had (many times the prison would be on lockdown for whatever reason, but many times we had all the time we wanted), share Christ with the guys after the game. I was excited about the playing ball part…the sharing Christ part, not so much. When coach began to share with us what it takes for the guys in prison to stay a part of the prison basketball team, my perspective began to change. The basketball team was the only chance that most of the guys would ever have for contact with the outside world. The prison had very strict policies regarding the behavior of men on the team. In order for someone to be on the team, and stay on the team, they had to live a “right” life. They had to consistently make “right” choices on and off the court. Basketball was the reason these guys wanted to change their lives!
Through my years playing collegiate basketball, I had many opportunities to interact with prison inmates. It was interesting to find out how many of the inmates went to church as young men. Many of the inmates gave their lives to Christ. When the inmates who were not in for life got out, they stayed out and tried their best to live a life for Christ…just like you and me.
This is just one of many examples of sports leading someone one step closer to Christ. There’s not enough room to write about all the instances that this happens. So why is it so hard for people to understand that sports has a place in eternity? When it comes to eternal importance, most people think of the ‘ministry’ to be the things that people do that “look like ministry”. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying that people are just trying to look like they’re ministering to people, but they’re really not. What I am saying is that if we do something to feed the homeless; that’s ministry. If we give presents on Christmas to the poor; that’s ministry. If we coordinate activities and classes for the youth in the church; that’s ministry. If we have an event that people come to and we share the gospel; that’s ministry. If we offer sports for youth and adults; that’s great that we give people something like that to be involved in. Huh??? I think we sometimes mistake the event or activity for the ministry that’s being done. Simply having an event or offering an activity is not what warrants the eternal value. It’s how you purposefully carry out that event or activity, with the intent of furthering the kingdom of God. So, just about anything can be used for ministry.
There aren’t too many things, apart from God, that break the boundaries of race, color, gender, social and economic status, and religious beliefs the way sports do. Sports connect people in a way that nothing else does. Sports provide a way to speak truth into people’s lives like nothing else. Sports have a power over people that will cause them to schedule their life around games, risk large amounts of money, sacrifice countless hours in pursuit of reaching the highest level, and sports can cause unity among people who have never met. Sports also has the power to drive a nation, influence policies, penetrate government, persuade justice, challenge character, and save a life. The list could go on and on.
When something has that much power and influence, isn’t it safe to say that if used in a redemptive way, our world as we know it would be changed and eternity would be impacted? I would have to say yes.
