This is the second of a four-article series. The full title which the author gave to his articles was: “On Developing and Implementing a Christian Perspective on Play and Sports.” Last time the author introduced his topic and stated the problem that we face as Christians in our involvement in play and sports. In this article, the author discusses the Essence of, Purpose of, and Key to, Christian Play and Sports.
The Essence of Christian Play and Sports
What is the essence of play and sports for those made in the image of God and recreated in the image of Jesus Christ? It is expressing oneself in creative and playful ways with all joy and thanksgiving before the Lord. It is the celebration of God’s goodness to us with hearts filled with love, praise, and gratitude. In our play, which is a gift from heaven, we are called to have fun in the presence of our God as we rejoice in Him. Christian play is imaginative and creative fun in God’s world which is expressed in a God-centered and God-honoring, way. Christian play, which is done according to God’s Word and through the enablement of the Holy Spirit, is a vital part of our fulfilling the chief end of man, which is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The Christian life of gratitude to God for the redemption which is in Christ Jesus includes thankful and joyful play. In Christian play, we experience celebrative and thankful fun before the Lord as we use our minds and bodies, which are not our own but belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ, in ways which glorify our good and gracious Father in heaven.
God’s law requires that we love Him with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. This includes loving God and others in our play and sports. Because of our sin and misery, we do not love God and our neighbors as we should; in fact we cannot do so because we are totally corrupt people, by nature wholly inclined to all evil and incapable of doing any good. As children of Adam we sin against God and our fellow man in every area of life, including our play, in thought, word, and deed. We know this as we see ourselves and our play in the mirror of God’s holy law; but God is pleased to use His law as our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ that we might be forgiven in His Name, on the basis of His substitutionary and sacrificial work on our behalf, and justified by grace through faith. As God’s redeemed people we are called to live lives of gratitude to our Lord in new obedience to His commandments through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our grateful devotion to our God is to be expressed in every aspect of our lives, including our play and sports.
The Bible is filled with illustrations of God’s people expressing their playful natures, in joyful and celebrative ways, in thanksgiving to God for His abounding lovingkindness. Note Zechariah 8:3- 5; Jeremiah 31:10-14; Exodus 15:20; 23:14-17; Leviticus 23:39-41; Luke 15:25-32; I Samuel 18:7; and I Chronicles 15:29. Saints in Christ Jesus testify of the blessedness of the kingdom of God’s grace through Christian playfulness. The richness of God’s kingdom is seen in part through the play of His subjects. Play characterized by sanctified joy is an offering of praise and thanksgiving to our God. Our play should be antithetical to the wicked and perverse play of the world, for in our play we are called by God to express the redemption which is ours in Christ Jesus. As we express our redemption in our play we will expose the darkness of the world’s play and live out a distinctively Christian testimony, for our play will be imaginative, joyful, and creative expressions of thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father.
The Purpose of Christian Play and Sports
The divinely-given purpose for Christian play and sports is having fun to the glory of God. The chief end of play and sports is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The Lord calls us to frolicsome and joyful play in His presence. The God-given essence of Christian play is lost if play is used as a tool to serve other purposes. The purpose of play is not usefulness in learning desirable character traits, in gaining physical skills, in growing socially, in developing mentally, or in preparing for life as an adult in God’s world. These are secondary benefits that are ours through play and sports, but they do not constitute the biblical purpose for Christian play and sports. Many theories about play start from the assumption that play must serve something which is not play; but a Christian perspective declares that the purpose of play is not utilitarian. Christians should play for one reason and for one reason only, to have celebrative and thankful fun before the Lord to His glory and honor; and while we play with this purpose we should humbly look to the Lord to bless us in various ways in and through our play so that we are better equipped to live for Him in His world.
The Key to Christian Play and Sports
The only way Christians will play in a Christian way is through God’s renewing their minds by His Spirit according to His Word. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). As new creatures in Jesus Christ, by God’s grace recreated in righteousness, true holiness, and true knowledge, we are to seek God’s renewal in the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:23) that we might bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). Apart from this renewal Christians will not be all that they should be in play and sports (or in any other area of life for that matter). Right acting comes from right thinking, and right thinking is biblical thinking which opposes worldly thinking. The chief reason why many professing Christians do not exemplify biblical standards in their play is because of unbiblical and worldly thinking which leads to unbiblical and worldly acting. Flee from this ugly reality by seeking from God the mind of Christ Jesus so that you develop and grow in a thoroughly Christian way.
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Rev. Bruce Davis is the minister of the Orthodox Christian Reformed Church of Standale, Michigan.