Sport and Love

There are three specific associations of Sport and Love that I wish to explore.

There is Sport as a means of impression, in other words, sport is utilised by either a fellow or a girl, to impress someone of the opposite sex by their sport performances and the associated glory that comes with some sporting situations.

This is not the sport groupies story which is mainly linked to young women who throw themselves upon sports stars. There have been numerous revelations shown on television programmes regarding this, but one would hardly call this true love.

More to the point, the genuine expression of performance sport is to illustrate the prowess of the athlete to their intended, and it illustrates to the intended how highly esteemed the athlete is to their immediate circle of sport team members. It’s local and personal.

I know of numerous situations in this mould. It’s lovely and there is an almost naivety associated with it and once again it pronounces the old adage that, ‘love is blind’.

Then there is a second kind of love and sport association. This is more associated with passion for a particular sport. These people love their sport above almost all else and will do the most surprising and remarkable things to see their beloved sport succeed.

This is where the fan base becomes the hallmark of this sport and love link. English football fans exhibit this kind of passion. AFL supporters too with their colours. Many Australian families are likewise enmeshed with an almost unbelievable passion for their particular sport be it netball or hockey or cricket or swimming or whatever.

Then there is a third kind of love and sport, where there is the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and to make disciples as Jesus commanded after his resurrection. This is a love in the Spirit, and sport becomes one of the vehicles to which that love of the Lord Jesus might be expressed.

Christians understand that they themselves have no power of conversion to see someone make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. This role is reserved for the Holy Spirit as God is Spirit and it is only in Spirit that someone can pass up control of their own life and freely give their self to the Lord.

Sport is a very public and a popular sub-culture and what better vehicle is there to convey this message. Christian athletes have direct access into the world of sport, as Christian scientists have direct links into the world of science. The issue is that sport is very public and reaches hosts of people, for example, it’s on television, in some cases 24/7.

There is no sense here of abusing the privilege of such links into the world of sport, rather it is the natural flow of conversation of two athletes where all the issues of life are raised.

As another kind of an example of this, I am a hockey man through and through. I’ve written 5 books on hockey. I’ve covered Olympics, World Cup and Champions Trophies for The Australian newspaper for 24 years to 1994. Any one who has been with me in a taxi (many taxi drivers in Sydney are from India or Pakistani backgrounds) and the first question I ask is their links to hockey.

That one question leads us into a breadth of conversation that invariably leads to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not contrived, rather it is where such conversations eventually lead. The love of the Lord and sport in this instance go hand in hand.

Another example was the day I captained the Illawarra Senior Hockey Team against Goulburn way back in the mid 70s and one of the young Under 21 team members wanted a lift and came in my car. I played a cassette on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which I’d planned to do in any case, and asked wether he might not mind. Listening to message on the cassette player and our subsequent conversation led to that young man eventually becoming a Christian, a follower of Jesus.

I encourage Christians involved in sport to find their own sport-link. Conversations with those you meet in the course of life are the life blood of making disciples of Jesus. You might not be aware until afterwards that you were on an Emmaus road where the other person/people says, “Didn’t my heart burn within me”.