Sports for the Glory of God

The world has again turned its attention to the international stage of sports, with the recent UEFA Euro Cup, the Summer Olympics preparing to launch in Brazil, and FIFA’s World Cup qualifications already under way. On average, the Euros attract nearly 60 million viewers worldwide.[1] The World Cup draws 3.2 billion global viewers,[2] and the Olympics 6.8 billion worldwide, making it the most-watched international sporting event.[3]

These major international tournaments are a celebration of ethnic diversity in the unity of the sport, and a practice inspired by the ancient Greeks. As early as 776 bc, the city of Olympia organized regular sporting events every four years, a period that was termed “Olympiads,” and from which we derive the Olympic Games. Historically, “the games were created to provide unity to the Hellenic world, which, at that time, was split into city-states which were constantly at war.”[4] This gave rise to the Panhellenic Games, with competitive sports taking place every third year of each Olympiad at Delphi, and every two years at both the Isthmus of Corinth and at Nemea. According to the scholars of the Olympic Museum:

These Games were special because they brought the Greek world together (pan = all, hellene = Greek) at a time when Greece was not a single state… From Greece and the colonies (in Italy, North Africa and Asia Minor), people travelled to take part in or attend these Games, inspired by the shared feeling of belonging to the same culture or religion.[5]

These ancient games have since developed into our modern sports, with some such as hockey, basketball, and soccer being altogether new developments from the mid- to late- nineteenth century. Modern tournaments such as the Euro Cup, World Cup, and the Olympics take place every four years, continuing the Greek tradition.

Sports in Scripture

Clearly the world of sport is significant on a popular, international level. But where does it fit in the individual life of man? The apostle Paul made particular references to the sports in his writings:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

As the biblical researcher Gordon Franz writes, “Paul probably had the Isthmian Games in mind when he penned the words,” surmising, based on the history and geography of Corinth, that Paul had been exposed to the Isthmian Games in the spring of ad 51, during his visit to that Greek city, as recorded in Acts 18.[6]

The Panhellenic Games were of “major religious significance,” as each of the games was “celebrated in honour of a specific god;” the competitions at Olympia and Nemea were dedicated to Zeus, Delphi honoured Apollo, and the Isthmus of Corinth paid tribute to Poseidon.[7] The Isthmian Games took place in the stadium, theatre and in the hippodrome, but prior to any athletic participation, the participants were required to swear an oath of fair play in the Palaimon, an underground structure situated near the temple of Poseidon.[8]

This is not the only time where Paul mentions athletics, he also writes:

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (1 Tim. 4:7-8).

 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules (2 Tim. 2:5).

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing (2 Tim. 4:6-8).

In his first epistle to the Corinthian church, Paul encouraged the believers to run the race of faith, to “compete” by their exercise of self-control (1 Cor. 9:24-27). An athlete was required to undergo “ten months of strict training and was subject to disqualification if he failed to do so.” Paul explains that “the athlete goes through such discipline to receive the victor’s ‘crown,’ a ‘perishable wreath.’ In contrast to that, Paul tells the Corinthians, ‘we get a crown that will last forever.’”[9] As New Testament scholar Gordon D. Fee writes, “In this metaphor the Christian’s ‘crown’ is not some specific aspect of the goal but the eschatological victory itself… it should affect the way they live in the present.”[10]The sports imagery that Paul uses, whether it was competitive racing, shadow boxing, body training, or merely following the rules of the sport, demonstrated a positive illustration for Christian living, for the perseverance of the saints. As a cultural product of the time, Paul recognized the difference between the sport and its religious significance, but instead of shunning the cultural activity, he simply reoriented its focus from paganistic idolatry to Christ-centered worship, diverting the recipients of the letter away from idolatrous religion, and towards the true glory of Christ. As archaeologist Oscar Broneer wrote:

The words in Greek have a more distinctly athletic flavor. To bring this out the passage [2 Tim. 4:6-8] might be rendered: “I have competed in the good athletic games; I have finished the foot race, I have kept the pledge (i.e. to compete honestly, with reference to the athletic oath). What remains to me is to receive the crown of righteousness, which has been put aside for me; it will be awarded to me by the Lord, the just umpire, on that day” (an allusion to the last day of the games when, presumably, the prizes were handed out to the winners).[11]

Sport as a Cultural Expression