This is the third part 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.” In his previous article, Rev. Davis discussed the Essence of Purpose of and Key to, Christian play and sports. In this article, he applies these principles to actual competition.

Understanding Christian Competition

In light of all that has been previously stated, Christian competition is not all about beating an­other person or team. It is not concerned with es­tablishing the superiority of one over another. Its focus is not winning at someone else’s expense. Its goal is not to be admired for one’s skills and to be considered better that others. It is not even about play against someone.

Considering the divinely ordained purpose for and essence of play along with the biblical key that enables Christians to play in a Christian way, Chris­tian competition is all about playing with someone to the glory of God. It is concerned with having holy and God-centered fun with others of like mind; therefore, it should be different from the perverse competition of the world both in its structure and in its implementation. Living antithetically, in spiri­tual opposition to the world and its wicked ways, should be evident as Christians compete in vari­ous games and contests.

Christian competition is an issue of cooperat­ing with others, not playing against them. Individu­als or teams agree to play together in order to fulfill God’s purpose for their play. The participants must agree to “cooperatively oppose” one another. Even the obstacles and hindrances (i.e. outstretched hands, defensive positions, screens, fakes, inter­ceptions, etc.) players put in the way of “opponents” are necessary for everyone’s creative and imagina­tive expression in the game. Each team cooperates with the other to give one another opportunities joyfully and thankfully to give expression to their physical and mental gifts and abilities from the Lord. Each team should strive to give players on the other team opportunities to be imaginative and creative within the rules and structure of the game. The players sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron when they play like this.

Given that Christian competition is a celebrative and thankful experience, players should be thank­ful to the Lord for their “opponents” accomplish­ments as well as for their own. To admire the gifts and talents of people from other teams is not in­compatible with playing hard and using one’s own gifts and talents as a faithful steward. To compete in a thoroughly Christian way is not in opposition to a godly desire to pursue excellence and to work hard to realize one’s potential in a game. Players from one team should strive to play well in order to help the other team play well. The “one another’s” from the New Testament (help one another, love one another, edify one another, submit to one an­other, forgive one another, encourage one another, bear with one another, etc.) are to be expressed in all play and games.

Christian participants in competition should give heed to the whole counsel of God as it bears upon this area of the Christian life. They should strive by God’s grace to show themselves meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, mer­ciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers (Matthew 5:5- 9). Christian players should view competition as an opportunity to let their light shine before men that they may see their good works and glorify their Father Who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Christian competition should demonstrate the biblical defi­nition of love:

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (I Corinthians 13:4-7).

Christian competitors should pray that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work (Colossians 1:9- 10). Those players who want to be considered great among those playing should be the servants of oth­ers, even those players on the other team (Mat­thew 20:26-28). The humility of the citizens of God’s kingdom should be evident in all play (Matthew 18:34). Christians at play with others should take to heart the following apostolic commands: “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:9-10). Christians should live out the following verses in their play and games: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-4). Obviously these verses and others like them mean that all forms of worldliness (i.e. bad mouth­ing the other team, arguing with officials, slam­ming the ball down in anger, losing self-control, pouting at the outcome of the game, viewing the other team as the enemy, yelling at teammates that make mistakes, laughing at others, etc.) are pro­hibited in Christian competition.

What about winning and losing? Winning and losing are not the main issues when it comes to play and sports. Both winning and losing should be taken in stride by Christians participating in games. Neither should make a very deep impres­sion on the Christian competitor, for competition from a Christian perspective should be positive and satisfying whether one wins or loses. Playing in a competitive way is still to be fun in the Lord, and if it is not fun to His glory (and the world tells us that losing is certainly not fun) then it is not pleasing to the Lord. Winning or losing should be viewed as incidental by the Christian involved in a game. To play hard and to strive to realize one’s potential in a game is not incompatible with viewing winning or losing in a detached way.

After all, is not a fervent and all-consuming quest for victory or first place or the biggest trophy a form of covetousness and a violation of several of the Ten Commandments? Is not having as one’s purpose for competing “going for the gold” and find­ing one’s chief satisfaction in winning (and thus one’s chief disappointment in losing) an exalting and promoting of oneself at the expense of others and a form of selfish ambition? Is it not wrong to view the ones with more points or runs as “win­ners” and ones with the fewer points or runs as “losers”? Should not Christian competition mean that everybody wins because everybody had play­ful fun to the glory of God?

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Rev. Bruce Davis is the minister of the Orthodox Christian Reformed Church of Standale, Michigan.