Legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” While this quote is often attributed to Lombardi (and he did say it), the origin of this famous catch-phrase can be traced back to the 1950’s and longtime UCLA football coach Red Sanders.
It’s no secret that in the dog-eat-dog world of competitive athletics, coaches are generally evaluated by the frequency and volume of the games they win—and as a result, they often look for creative ways to motivate their players—including coining clever catch-phrases.
Athletes are often judged in the same way. Back in the late 1970’s, ABC’s Wide World of Sports was perhaps the most popular sports program on television. Each week in the introduction portion of the show, ABC producers would run a short video clip showing the difference between “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” As I recall, sports icons Muhammad Ali and Mario Andretti were shown as representatives of “the thrill of victory” and little known Yugoslavian ski jumper Vinko Bogataj (who wiped out and violently tumbled down the ski slope) was the visual symbol of “the agony of defeat.”
Like it or not, we live in a world that loves to elevate winners and denigrate losers. People love it when their favorite sports teams win and their countenance seems to fall when they lose. Folks get excited when their children’s and grandchildren’s teams are victorious and when they lose they often console them with, “don’t worry, you’ll get ‘em next time.”
As Christians, how are we to view winning and losing and athletics in general? What level of priority should we place on winning? Should winning even be a goal of the committed believer in Christ?
These are all valid questions that I hope to answer in a short series of articles on the subject of “Sports & the Christian.” To begin, let’s consider the Christian’s involvement in sports.
Participation in Sports
While the Apostle Paul in particular often uses athletic examples to illustrate spiritual truths, the Scriptures themselves neither endorse nor condemn participation in sports. Their frequent mention in the New Testament simply confirms that athletics were a major part of the culture during the days of the writing of the inspired text. That being said, if Paul in any way deemed athletics to be sinful, he surely would not have used them to illustrate the Christian life.
While not an exhaustive list, the following is a sampling of the usage of athletic terminology in the New Testament:
“…while John was completing his course” (Acts 13:25)
“…so that I may finish my course” (Acts 20:24)
“…the man who runs” (Romans 9:16)
“…those who run in a race all run…run in such a way that you may win” (I Corinthians 9:24)
“…compete in the games” (I Corinthians 9:25)
“…run in such a way…box in such a way” (I Corinthians 9:26)
“…discipline my body” (I Corinthians 9:27)
“…I might be running or had run in vain” (Galatians 2:2)
“…you were running well” (Galatians 5:7)
“…I did not run in vain nor toil in vain” (Philippians 2:16)
“…I press on toward the goal for the prize” (Philippians 3:14)
“…fight the good fight” (I Timothy 1:18)
“…fight the good fight of faith” (I Timothy 6:12)
“…fought the good fight, I have finished the course” (2 Timothy 4:7)
“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1)
While there are a myriad of concerns with the modern-day infatuation with athletics (we’ll consider these in our next article), let’s first consider some potentially positive aspects of the Christian’s involvement in sports:
1. Participation in sports can be a good primer in the development of moral character. There can be much value in learning to be a member of a team, learning discipline, learning to properly handle disappointment and praise, learning to sacrifice for the good of the team, learning the value of hard work and perseverance and learning to respect and obey authority (2 Peter 1:5-7).
2. Participation in sports can be a way for an athlete to use his or her God-given abilities and talents for His glory (I Corinthians 10:31).
3. Participation in sports can aid in maintaining the health of our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19).
4. Participation in sports can provide an avenue to serve God and have an impact on the lives of others including fellow teammates, coaches, and fans (I Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:6-8)
5. Participation in sports can aid in keeping kids from being involved in detrimental activities.
6. Participation in sports can be an effective tool for evangelism and discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8).
7. Participation in sports can help to unify and bring people together (i.e. schools, communities, states, countries).
8. Participation in sports provides jobs and income to support families, which in turn, can also help to support the economy.
It’s interesting. Near the end of Vince Lombardi’s life he was asked again about the quote that he made famous, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” His response might surprise you. He said, “I wished I’d never said the thing…I meant the effort. I meant having a goal. I sure didn’t mean for people to crush human values and morality.”
It is this negative aspect of sports that we will consider in our next article.