Resources
 Devotions
Adult League Devotions: Week 11
Paul and Sports
No one
serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants
to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an
athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes
according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to
receive a share of the crops. - 2 Timothy 2: 4-6
In
a series on the theology of sport, some people may be surprised to find
no reference to Paul's references to sports. These verses have
certainly been used to justify sports or to argue that Paul (or even
God) approves of sports!
There are two major problems with
this approach. Firstly it is to misunderstand the verses and their
context. Secondly if the inclusion of Paul's references to sports
implies God's approval of sports, then the references to slavery must
equally imply God's approval of slavery.
The fundamental
question as we approach 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Galatians 2:2,
Philippians 2:14-16, Philippians 3:13-14, and 2 Timothy 2:5, 4:6-8 etc
is what is Paul (or God) trying to teach us about sports from these
passages? My answer is nothing!
In all of these passages Paul
is using a sporting analogy to teach spiritual truth. He is using as an
illustration, something that his readers would have been familiar with
- as thousands of preachers have done since. In none of them is his aim
to teach us about sports.
Take 2 Timothy 2:4-6 as an example.
Is Paul trying to teach us about soldiers, about farming and about
sports? No, he is using these three analogies to show Timothy that it
is hard to be a Christian. You need the focus of the soldier, the
self-discipline of the athlete and the hard work of a farmer to be a
successful Christian worker.
Again in Romans 11:23-24 I think
it is to miss the point of the passage to ask what is Paul teaching us
about growing olives! Or to try to develop a Biblical view of farming
from Luke 8:1-15, Luke 12:13-19, Romans 11:24 and 2 Timothy 4:8. What
Paul is trying to develop is a heart for God in all those he might
influence…
Discussion
Questions:
1. What are
your thoughts on what you’ve just Read/Heard?
2. What’s the
“Take-A-Way” for tonight?
 This
devotion
is available for download. Click
here to download in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.
Credit:
This devotion was written by Rich Green, Sports Minister at Mount
Pleasant Christian Church (Greenwood, Indiana) and adapted from
devotional writings from Stuart Weir.
|
