A Christian Vision for Women in Sports
“Maybe you shouldn’t play with the big boys!”
I looked up from the indoor soccer turf to see another player in our co-ed league towering over me with a smirk on his face. While I was infuriated because he clearly fouled me on the previous play, his comment was nothing new to me or most women in sport. Women’s sports have spent decades jockeying to find a place in the male dominated world of athletics. Sure, we’ve been invited but an invitation to play isn’t enough—women have the added burden to prove we truly belong in sport.
It’s been over 54 years since the landmark Title IX mandated equal opportunities for female participation in sport. Over the past half century, participation has dramatically and steadily increased for young girls and women. There are more opportunities than ever before for women to experience the joy of sport.
But belonging has come at a cost. Title IX did not immediately change sports culture. Women have spent the past half century fighting for voices to be heard, fighting for equal resources, fighting to be seen and treated in equivalence to men—fighting to prove we belong.
That has led us here:
The NCAA has seen a 14% increase in female student athletes competing over the last decade.
In just the past five years, professional women’s leagues like the WNBA (basketball), the NWSL (soccer), and PWHL (hockey) have seen massive strides in attendance, viewership, and investment.
Revenue in women’s sports is projected to grow by 250% by 2030.
TOGETHXR’s “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” t-shirts are wildly popular sideline attire.
The message is clear: women’s sports are here to stay in America.
We belong here.
However, increased viewership and participation comes with a swirl of voices trying to sort out exactly what it looks like for women to belong in sport.
Comment sections on women’s sports articles can be read like arena battles as people offer their opinions on the female body, athleticism, and equal pay.
Sports betting culture is weighing in too. Novig, a sports prediction platform released an ad sexualizing women in sport. Female athletes took to their social media platforms with frustration. Many posted on Instagram with the caption “This is what a woman in sports looks like.”
A half century after Title IX and we are still wrestling with this question: “what do women look like in sport?”
Christianity might have some answers for us.
Gender Equality
According to Genesis 1:26, God created humanity with a purpose—to image God and rule the earth on God’s behalf. This mandate was not limited to one gender. Men and women were created with an equal capacity to express the likeness of God and rule over creation.
Genesis 2:5-25 tells the story of the creation of humanity from a different perspective. The story focuses on the first man’s need for a woman as a helper and companion, emphasizing how God created humans to rule the earth in community with one another.
In her book Being God’s Image, Carmen Joy Imes explains “Before Adam and Eve rebel against God, no hierarchy separates them. Both male and female are God’s image. Neither one rules the other. God’s plan is for us to work as partners. Both are to rule creation.”
This vision sets our standard for gender equality.
Women are equal to men in our capacity to image God and rule over creation on God’s behalf. We were made to partner together. Therefore, the Christian perspective affirms that female athletes, coaches, referees, and leaders are just as capable of glorifying God in sport as their male counterparts, and women should be given opportunities to partner with men to shape sport. It’s our call as Christians to seek to fulfill this vision of equality.
Respectful Difference
The Creation story in Genesis affirms that God created men and women with equal status and capacity to mirror God’s character, yet God also created men and women with distinct differences.
Women are designed with physiological qualities, capabilities, and needs that differentiate them from men. IMPORTANT NOTE: Distinct and different does not mean inferior.
On average, men have higher testosterone levels, skeletal muscle mass, and proportion of fast twitch muscles. On average, women have greater joint flexibility, a wider pelvis, and higher estrogen levels that can lower inflammation. The anatomical differences for male and female athletes are quite obvious. However, most sports were originally created by men and for men. This is an unhelpful lens to viewing women’s sports. A better framework lies in appreciating God’s distinct design.
Unhealthy Performance Comparison: Because men’s sports boast higher visibility, we are conditioned to be entertained by that particular expression of athleticism. Men’s sports are often elevated as the standard of athletic performance. Thereby, women’s athletics are compared and determined inferior. The way in which women compete in comparison to men does not make them more or less than an athlete. And considering our God given physiological differences, is this an appropriate comparison anyway? Why do we need to compare the two at all? Men and women’s sports should not be competing against each other. That’s a zero sum game.
Instead of comparing, Christians ought to be celebrating the unique contributions both make to the games we love. A Christian vision invites us to appreciate the different nuances that men and women bring to the beauty of sport through their distinctive giftedness.
Training Programs: For decades, women have been asked to train like men, yet female athletes have different physical needs and capabilities. For example, women are 3 to 8 times more likely to rupture an ACL due to the wider pelvic bone. A Christian approach to sports performance programs would consider tailoring strength, conditioning, and nutrition plans to the female athlete that takes hormonal fluctuations, menstrual cycles, biomechanics, etc into account. This would honor God’s design and better position female athletes to flourish in sport.
For women to truly belong in sport, we need to consider God’s goodness in his distinct design of women. If we appreciate and value the differences, then we can eliminate the comparison game. That frees us from positioning men as the standard so that we can enjoy, admire, and support women’s sports for what it is: beautiful and good.
Radical Inclusion
Women were involved in God’s redemptive plan from the jump. God chose Mary, a woman, to carry and birth the Savior of the world (Luke 1:30-31). This points to the radical inclusion of women to participate in the greatest mission ever. Furthermore, Jesus invited women into a community of belonging and gave them prominent roles in His ministry.
For example:
Anna, a prophetess, saw Jesus as an infant and was among the first mentioned to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah (Luke 2:36-38).
A ‘sinful woman’ anointed Jesus as King with expensive perfume. Jesus does not condemn her but forgives and commissions her to walk in peace (Luke 7:36-50).
Jesus heals and blesses the faith of women who are outcasted, sick, widowed, demon possessed and poor. By doing so, Jesus reaffirmed their dignity and restored their place in society (John 4:7-26, 39; Luke 8:43-48; John 8:3-11; Mark 7:25-30; Luke 7:11-17).
Two of his female disciples were named Martha and Mary. They carried significant roles in his ministry (Luke 10:38-42).
Women were the first to be told that Jesus was resurrected and they ran to tell the others (Luke 24:1-11).
This was counter cultural. The inclusion of women in Jesus’ ministry was radical.
Jesus affirmed the value of women and gave them prominent roles in the Kingdom of God. Should we not do the same in sport?
Women belong in sport—not just to take up space by participating but to shape it. Our voices, talents, and perspectives are needed in prominent leadership roles if we are to cultivate a sporting community that reflects the Kingdom of God.
Dignifying the Female Athlete
Body image is a significant issue in women’s sports. There is a temptation to commodify, objectify, and codify women’s bodies which is having a detrimental impact on female athletes.
According to a 2024 NCAA Report, only 45% of collegiate female athletes felt they have a good body, 35% were happy with their weight, and 31% liked what they looked like in pictures.
Studies show that teenage girls are twice as likely to drop out of sport, with some sighting judgement and body image as contributing factors. Social media further intensifies this statistic with one study showing that 45% attempted to change their appearance to be better suited for sport.
It’s long been documented that much of the media we consume is curated for the male gaze—including women’s sports. Advertisement campaigns often sexualize female athletes in order to sell more products. Beauty standards are set by social media influencers. There’s a picture of the good life being presented to women and young girls that centers on a certain physical appearance.
A Christian vision for women in sport counters the commodification and objectification of the female athlete’s body in every way. Instead of allowing culture and media to dictate the narrative for what a female athlete ought to look like in sport,we must adhere to and seek a Biblical standard.
Being made uniquely in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27 & 31) means that:
Female athletes’ bodies should be dignified, not commodified or objectified.
The female body is not good on the basis of athletic performance or beauty standards. The female body is good because a good God created it.
God created girls and women with the potential for embodied joy, athleticism, creativity, and physical capabilities to grow the sports we love.
Female athletes have immense capacity to embody God’s glory. Sports give women the opportunity to glorify God with their bodies. Every sprint, jump, dive, and agile movement is a celebration of God’s good design.
Moving Forward With A Christian Vision for Women in Sport
As Christians, it is our responsibility to shape sport to look more like the Kingdom of God. That vision involves gender equality, appreciating difference, radically including women, and dignifying the female athlete. As we partner in this endeavor together, here are 4 things to consider:
Support the Christian Vision. What ideas about women’s sports are you promoting or appeasing? Whether it’s through your likes and comments on social media or conversations with others, you are endorsing a narrative about women in sport. Does it align with the Bible?
Words are powerful (Proverbs 12:18). How do you speak about women in sport? Consider how you complement or criticize female athletes. Are you focused on their bodies or performance alone? Or do you honor their capacity to glorify God?
Use Your Voice and Influence. This is for men and women. Men, take every opportunity to advocate and call out injustice for your sisters in Christ. Women, you belong here—your voice matters. Let’s seek unity and progress in the name of Jesus together.
Appreciate The Difference. Whether it’s women or men competing is beside the point, the sport remains the same. There’s much to appreciate and respect about women’s sports. This is not a call for you to choose watching only women’s sports over men’s. It’s a call to honor and respect the God given athleticism, creativity, and beauty found in women’s sport. How are you supporting and appreciating the differences?
God Gets the Final Word
“Maybe you shouldn’t play with the big boys” still rings in my ears from time to time.
It’s a reminder that some still doubt or question the presence of women in sport. However, that does not have to be the end of the story. I place my hope in a Christian vision for women in sport that says: Sport is a beautiful gift from God meant to be enjoyed by all. Sports don’t belong to men. Sports belong to God. God gets the final say on what women look like in sport. It looks like equality, radical inclusion, respectful difference, and dignity.
Women should play and compete not to earn inclusion or prove self worth but because God says women belong here.
