Glory and Sport Series: Giving Glory Through Our Actions

This is the fourth video in a four part series written and recorded for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). The videos are linked to their sharing platforms.

In the last video we talked about bringing glory to God within the context of sport through our motivation. And we talked about how to use focal points as a way to remind ourselves in practice and competition to re-align our motivation from wanting to make much of self to wanting to make much of God. 

It's worth noting that coaches can do this too. You can utilize focal points! This last year while coaching 3rd and 4th grade football, my FCA wristband was my focal point. It was a reminder to me every time I looked at it that there's greater “wins” available than what happens on the scoreboard. While coaching 3rd and 4th graders, I'm reminding myself: Character matters. Transformation matters. Yes, we're going to go after the win. But there's much greater wins available within sport.

But doesn’t God care about our external actions in sport too? If we are prioritizing our hearts and motivation, does that mean we shouldn’t care about how we perform as a competitor at all? This is not an either or mentality. It’s both and. We can glorify God through being properly motivated and through pursuing our athletic best as competitors. 

Colossians 3:23-24 shows the connection between our motivations and our actions. Pauls says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability, as if you are doing it for the Lord. That’s motivation! It’s the “why” behind what we do. But it is also the how behind it as well. Do it as if God is your sole audience. Work, play, eat, practice, whatever, do it for an audience of one. If God is our primary audience, and sport offers an opportunity for us to bring him glory, what does that look like practically?

For starters, it probably means that we are bringing our best whenever we have the opportunity. It means pursue excellence. It means we practice and compete to the best of our ability, knowing that the effort we put in is in a very real sense, our worship to the Lord who gave us these gifts. The beautiful part of this, again, is that we don;t need to be the best athlete or coach during competition, or even the one who comes out with the win to bring glory to God. Because God’s expectation is that we bring our best, not necessarily to be the best. 

We see this in Mark 12 when Jesus was watching people give offerings. The text says that many rich people threw in large amounts. But a widow contributed only two copper coins. Jesus sees this and he calls his disciples over and says “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Jesus’s message is simple, our worship to the Lord requires we bring the best of what we have. Not our best compared to other people. 

That’s the first part. Bring your best. It glorifies God. And it honors your opponent. 

The second one, and I say this as if there are only two ways. There are plenty more ways to glorify God through our actions in sport but in my opinion, these two stand out. The second is to notice those on the margins in sport and show them dignity and respect. 

Jesus was the master at this. The religious elite, and even Jesus’ own disciples at times, had expectations for who Jesus should talk to and who he should stay away from…and he often went against their expectations. He made time for children and women in a culture that didnt place a high value on either. He made time for the hungry and the sick and the demon possessed and the tax collectors and the crippled and the blind. You get the point. But if Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory—and we glorify God by looking like his son, it means we need to make time for those on the margins in sport.

So, who comes to mind for you? Is it the person on your team who is injured? Is it the volunteer assistant coach who is just trying to learn? Is it the person on the end of the bench or the transfer that doesn’t knowbody? What about the janitors and the administrative assistants and the maintenance workers responsible for keeping the field cut and ready? 

*Yes, I am aware the video cut a little early. After that last sentence, we closed the series by recapping each video so you didn’t miss much!

Part One: Glory and Sport Series: What Does God Want Most?

Part Two: Glory and Sport Series: What is Glory?

Part Three: Glory and Sport Series: Giving God Glory Through Our Motivation

Part Four: Glory and Sport Series: Giving God Glory Through Our Actions