“Sports don’t build character. They reveal it.” Coach John Wooden
We all need this revelation. We have blind spots. We deny who we really are. Even the likes of great men like John Piper need this revelation.
Don’t get me wrong. John Piper is one of my heroes. I cannot understate the impact of his book, Desiring God, on my life. There, I found the passions of my heart affirmed and directed toward their ultimate satisfaction – God. God used this affirmation and direction to help shape much of who I am today. Time and time again I go back to the premise of the book – God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. In addition to Desiring God, I have thoroughly enjoyed other books of his, including Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, Don’t Waste Your Life, The Pleasures of God, and A Godward Life.
Yet, as I said, even the likes of great men like John Piper need this revelation of our hearts. Sports provide such a laboratory to bring forth that revelation. I read recently about this process as Piper’s son, Barnabas Piper, describes it in this article by Jonathan Merritt:
RNS: What is one thing people would be shocked to learn about the Piper household?
BP: Depends on who you ask. Those who are huge fans might be surprised to know that our family has a lot of tensions and quirks. We have dysfunction and conflict. We don’t always get along very well. It’s not the idyllic repository of peace and knowledge they might have painted a picture of in their heads.
Those who see him as a heavy-handed fire breather would be surprised to know that he loves movies like “What About Bob” and is fiercely competitive. He even got a yellow card for berating referee at one of my brothers’ soccer games one time.
(See more at: http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2014/07/01/john-pipers-son-discusses-dysfunction-conflict-upbringing/#sthash.Hlfiuvnm.dpuf)
In bringing this up, I am not putting John down or am I surprised by this revelation. We are all broken in our approach to sports. All I have to do to be reminded of the brokenness is to look in the mirror of my own sports experiences. Our sports are broken because we, as broken people, are involved in them. Even people like John Piper.
I bring this up in order to provoke all of us to go further with the revelation of this brokenness that sports provide. If I had the opportunity, hopefully I would ask John Piper some questions to further dig into the receipt of that yellow card like the following (that is if I repented of my own worship of John and pursuit of his approval so I could move in love for him and desire to glorify God!!!!!) :
1) Why were you angry with the referee?
2) What goal of yours was the referee blocking by his behavior that stirred your anger? (Anger is usually provoked by a blocked goal, according to psychologist Larry Crabb.)
3) What emotions might you be feeling that lie underneath the anger? (Anger is always a secondary emotion. I know. I have a doctorate in anger.)
4) How does your berating the referee bring glory to God?
5) If not about glorifying God, whose glory was your interaction with the ref about?
6) What might this interaction reveal about your heart that needs repentance?
These are the kinds of questions I ask myself when I get angry in my sports – whether participating, coaching or watching. They usually lead me to the place that I see how self-centered my sports were at that moment. They were about me – my glory, my way of satisfying my desires – rather than about God – his glory and his ways of satisfying my desires. This revelation from such a laboratory enables me to repent of that pursuit and move toward God and his glory, which energizes my pursuit of sports and allows me to glorify God as I am satisfied in him. This beautiful gospel centered process is found in the silliness of our sports when we use it as such a laboratory.
So the next time you find yourself wrenched up – both good and bad – in the midst of an athletic endeavor, look deeper. After all, sports don’t build character. They reveal it.
