The Bible

Someone said to me the other day, "If history is 'bunk' what word can we find to describe sports psychology?" It was a bit unfair; many people are being helped to improve their mental game by employing the techniques and methods advocated by sports psychologists. But it is also true that sportspeople will look almost anywhere to gain the "edge" over their competitors and, indeed, their team-mates. Many are notoriously superstitious - wear different socks, change clothes in the same order, travel a different way to the ground everyday, etc, etc. Sportsmen remind me a little bit of some of the people who sit in my car and try and read a map. They start on the wrong page, and turn it round and about so many times they almost end up sitting on their heads!

God's coaching manual - the Bible - may not help us technically with our game, nor may it give us six principles for effective concentration, but if we live our lives by its tenets we will enormously increase our chances of maximising our performance.

At one level this is fairly obvious. 1 Peter 4:3 encourages us to avoid 'debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry'. Participation in these things will damage athletic performance. Excellence is highly prized in Scripture. Paul tells the Colossians (3:17) that whatever they do (I take it that included their participation in 'the Games') they should do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus. To play sport 'in Christ's name' is one of the greatest privileges a sportsman can have. I used to think I played sport for fun; occasionally I meet professionals who are honest enough to admit they play 'for money'; others say they do it because they are hopeless at everything else. But to play for Jesus - now that's an incentive to excellence!

The Bible reveals why and how we are to live our lives for Jesus. He is the dominant theme of the whole book. In Genesis he is God's agent in Creation. 'God said…' (Gen 1:2) and it was so. Jesus, John tells us in the prologue to his gospel, is God's Word incarnate; God's words revealed in human form. Jesus is God communicating with us. In Genesis 3 we are told that the 'seed of woman would crush Satan's head'. When Jesus died on the cross he defeated Satan for ever - 'Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 15:59) - a victory foretold by the prophets (eg Isaiah 53). The Bible ends with a glorious picture of the post-match celebration in Heaven - no death, mourning, crying or pain...just the great victory (Rev 21). 'No longer,' it says, 'will there be any curse.' (Rev 22:3)

So, to play our sport for Jesus means maintaining a central place in our lives for Jesus' book. Serious athletes neglect training at their peril; serious Christians neglect the Bible at their peril.

Do you have a modern translation of the whole Bible? Do you read it every day? Do you have some notes, or a guide to help you understand it? Are you attending a church where a serious attempt is made week by week to explain the Bible? Could you find a small group where you could discuss what the Bible means?

In Christians in Sport we are determined to reach the world of sport for Christ. As each of us increasingly relies on God's Word, grows in understanding of it, and applies it to every part of our lives, so we will do the job better.

Andrew Wingfield Digby
Non-Executive Director, Christians in Sport

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