Give 110%

"I think of every part of my life as being Christian. God made me with the gifts I have.  I do feel his pleasure when I kick a goal."  Al Kennedy, Old Colfeians  and Cambridge University.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

Genesis 1:1

Ruth and Al Kennedy

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it

Genesis 2:15

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:37

When we think of work we may well think of the place we go for forty hours a week to earn the money to live. The creation story shows us a much bigger and richer picture of work, by revealing a God who works and who, as the New Testament explains, sends his son into the world as a carpenter! Genesis shows God hands-on making the world we live in. God likes work!

Genesis 2:15 explains that the first way we are to please God is by using our talents to be at work in shaping his world for him. This is the work he has called us to do! If our sporting talents are a gift from God, then it follows that we are to use them to work for God’s pleasure as we take care of that part of the world called sport. Our talent in sport is for his pleasure, and Paul elaborates on this in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”, and in Colossians 3:23 where he writes “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”.

The verbs used in verse 15 are “work, take care of, cultivate”. We are to have a share in God’s creativity in cultivating his world. We were made to represent (or image) him in this by using of our creative gifts as an act of worship, to bring him glory.  Think of the implications of that for our sport.

South African Olympic swimming Gold medallist, Penny Heyns, firmly believes this:

“Swimming has in some ways been my ‘classroom’ where God teaches me so much about his ability and [to have] faith in him.  I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim.  It’s the best worship I can offer him. I remember once before an important race I was so tired that I just thought, ‘I am going to swim up and down and praise the Lord and worship him through my talents’, hoping that I could just produce a half decent time”.

Pleasing God is not judged by what anyone else says about our performance. Indeed, it is not even about the trophies we might win.  It is doing the best we can with our talents that pleases God.

Over the years I have heard coaches at professional football clubs worry about the fact that a particular player has become a Christian, thinking that he will have lost interest in the game and lost his competitive edge.  That is completely wrong.  This is often based on a misunderstanding of Christianity.  Too often Christians have communicated to the world a “gentle Jesus meek and mild”  Christians are seen as wimps, who turn the other cheek and get sand kicked in their faces. The word Christian in modern usage has come to mean good-goody, nice but dull.

The Muscular Christianity movement developed in the nineteenth century partly out of a concern that the church was becoming overly tolerant of physical weakness and effeminacy. Someone even suggested that there would not be enough men to sing bass in heaven!  The Muscular Christians stressed that Jesus was a real man who called his followers to be real men too.  We need to represent a manly Jesus in the world of sport.

The Christian player who understands what it is to use their talents for God’s glory should, rather, be the most committed player in the club because they have the fundamental privilege of doing it for the Lord who gave them those talents.

As Christian sportspeople we must be people who give of our very best in all circumstances, win, lose or draw. I will not be a quitter and will always drive to get the very best out of my performance. This is what "taking care" of the world of sport for God actually requires of us.

Thought

The Christian should be the most hardworking player in the club and the most modest.

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