SHOULD CHRISTIANS PLAY SPORTS OR WHAT?
Introduction Part 2
Basketball in Heaven?
By Luke Elie
I really enjoyed some of my classes in high school. Especially the ones where I could drift into another world for 40 minutes where the impossible is typical and no subject was too outrageous for me to tackle. One day in such a class, I got caught up thinking about heaven. I didn't have a very well thought out theology of heaven or anything, but I tried to use whatever knowledge I had and thought about what it would be like to play basketball in heaven.
I smirked at the idea that the court was going to be made from the most amazing wood available in heaven. I tried to imagine playing in a long white robe and how difficult that would be for mobility purposes. But that would be all offset by my amazing jumping ability. I cracked a bigger smile on my face when I saw myself jumping from half court and using my newly fitted angel wings to dunk ferociously on a perfectly smooth golden rim attached to crystal clear backboard. And then the class bell would ring and I would be off to the next class and possibly the next world that awaited for me.
Years later I found myself with some of my college basketball buddies sitting around eating pizza when somehow we stumbled onto the conversation of “What would basketball be like in Heaven?” Since many of us grew up in the church, we attempted to get all theological and take the conversation seriously. We finally all agreed that we would all have perfect bodies and perfect abilities upon arrival. Therefore, if we were to play basketball in heaven the question became philosophical by asking “What would happen if a perfect defense would play against a perfect offense?”
Considering the nature of competition is to win and in doing so it is imperative to beat your opponent. I can see where some Christians may have an issue with sports from a philosophical standpoint. As these articles unfold, we will address the questions of competition and what that looks like in the Christian context. Also, as you know in this world we live in, there is no doubt that athletes are venerated to very unhealthy levels and this type of hero worship is seen all over and well beyond the sports scene. Much of the objections to Christians and sports stems from the concerns of pop culture. I believe there is a serious conversation that needs to be had here.
There is a lot of questions concerning Christians playing sports, churches promoting sports and sports ministry in general. I hope over the next several months or so to really delve into this topic and see what there is to learn about this topic and be as fair and objective as possible. We live in a complicated world as we all know and answers are far greyer then they are black and white. But as we continue to grow and evolve as a church and our understanding of scripture and who God is, we as a society have learned to challenge many of the methods and doctrines of the church that most of us were given and have gone unquestioned for centuries. This comes with great blessings and some pretty unfortunate drawbacks.
So, will there be basketball in heaven? Given my limited understanding and going with the mainstream (mostly misunderstood) view of what it will be like, the answer might be considered anti-climactic. The game would be played with playground rules (golden streetball rules). All the participants would have to line up and teams would have to be picked. Because we are in heaven, we would have to pick the least of these first because that’s just the right thing to do. You know, the whole “the first will be last thing.” And of course, there will be a lot of fans because all of the crowd of witnesses from Hebrews 12 will be there to cheer us on.
Naturally, if I am picking my team, I would want the Apostle Paul on my team because he loves “running races” and staying in shape. He would leak out on our fast break causing havoc to our opponent. I might want to put his rival Peter as our starting center, he would be aggressive and probably the physical presence that all teams need. Chemistry between him and Paul might be rough, but that is why we will put James and John on their “left and right” for balancing them out. And when things get rough, you know this tag team of brothers will bring the “thunder.” And of course I will be on the team. Our sixth man will be Moses, because we know how much he will cheer with his hands up and the guy is pretty good at getting water for his team. I tried to get Jesus on my team, but he insisted on being the referee and not take sides.
The game would go on for what kind of felt like eternity, but despite all my planning and efforts the game would eventually end with a 0-0 tie and the ball would literally stick to the half court line without anyone making any visible progress. But of course, we were all good sports about it and enjoyed the fellowship. Does that mean heaven will be super boring for someone who is naturally competitive? Hmmm...
I smirked at the idea that the court was going to be made from the most amazing wood available in heaven. I tried to imagine playing in a long white robe and how difficult that would be for mobility purposes. But that would be all offset by my amazing jumping ability. I cracked a bigger smile on my face when I saw myself jumping from half court and using my newly fitted angel wings to dunk ferociously on a perfectly smooth golden rim attached to crystal clear backboard. And then the class bell would ring and I would be off to the next class and possibly the next world that awaited for me.
Years later I found myself with some of my college basketball buddies sitting around eating pizza when somehow we stumbled onto the conversation of “What would basketball be like in Heaven?” Since many of us grew up in the church, we attempted to get all theological and take the conversation seriously. We finally all agreed that we would all have perfect bodies and perfect abilities upon arrival. Therefore, if we were to play basketball in heaven the question became philosophical by asking “What would happen if a perfect defense would play against a perfect offense?”
Considering the nature of competition is to win and in doing so it is imperative to beat your opponent. I can see where some Christians may have an issue with sports from a philosophical standpoint. As these articles unfold, we will address the questions of competition and what that looks like in the Christian context. Also, as you know in this world we live in, there is no doubt that athletes are venerated to very unhealthy levels and this type of hero worship is seen all over and well beyond the sports scene. Much of the objections to Christians and sports stems from the concerns of pop culture. I believe there is a serious conversation that needs to be had here.
There is a lot of questions concerning Christians playing sports, churches promoting sports and sports ministry in general. I hope over the next several months or so to really delve into this topic and see what there is to learn about this topic and be as fair and objective as possible. We live in a complicated world as we all know and answers are far greyer then they are black and white. But as we continue to grow and evolve as a church and our understanding of scripture and who God is, we as a society have learned to challenge many of the methods and doctrines of the church that most of us were given and have gone unquestioned for centuries. This comes with great blessings and some pretty unfortunate drawbacks.
So, will there be basketball in heaven? Given my limited understanding and going with the mainstream (mostly misunderstood) view of what it will be like, the answer might be considered anti-climactic. The game would be played with playground rules (golden streetball rules). All the participants would have to line up and teams would have to be picked. Because we are in heaven, we would have to pick the least of these first because that’s just the right thing to do. You know, the whole “the first will be last thing.” And of course, there will be a lot of fans because all of the crowd of witnesses from Hebrews 12 will be there to cheer us on.
Naturally, if I am picking my team, I would want the Apostle Paul on my team because he loves “running races” and staying in shape. He would leak out on our fast break causing havoc to our opponent. I might want to put his rival Peter as our starting center, he would be aggressive and probably the physical presence that all teams need. Chemistry between him and Paul might be rough, but that is why we will put James and John on their “left and right” for balancing them out. And when things get rough, you know this tag team of brothers will bring the “thunder.” And of course I will be on the team. Our sixth man will be Moses, because we know how much he will cheer with his hands up and the guy is pretty good at getting water for his team. I tried to get Jesus on my team, but he insisted on being the referee and not take sides.
The game would go on for what kind of felt like eternity, but despite all my planning and efforts the game would eventually end with a 0-0 tie and the ball would literally stick to the half court line without anyone making any visible progress. But of course, we were all good sports about it and enjoyed the fellowship. Does that mean heaven will be super boring for someone who is naturally competitive? Hmmm...
Introduction Part 1
"Jesus Would Never Play Basketball"
By Luke Elie
I was a teenager in the 90s. The 90s were an interesting time for the Church in America. Pop culture was on a significant rise in the 80s and Christians spent all of the 90s attempting to catch up and rival its secular rivals in music, arts and even sports. If there was a popular secular song that young people liked than it would not take long before there was a Christian parody of it or something that surrounded eerily similar with a positive Christian message. If Michael Jordan was the biggest man in basketball than the Christian world would work hard to find the Christian equivalent to latch on to. AC Green and David Robinson were forced upon me as the players I should look up to as role models. After all, we can't let the youth of America think that Christians were boring and not fun.
One of the other things that defined the 90s for me was over the top t-shirt message campaigns. I am convinced that everyone was a walking billboard for something. I think I spent more time reading t-shirt messages then my Bible during those days. T-shirt messages ranged from simple to complex, political to religious, and random to evangelical. Christian t-shirts were interesting. Christian t-shirts could have a simple message of only "JESUS LOVES YOU" or an entire small print script of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. After awhile, Christians got "creative" and tried to make a Christian message out of everything popular. Such as, instead of the mega popularity of the “NO FEAR” brand we Christians would say “FEAR NOT” on our copycat t-shirt. Even the Tommy Hilfiger logo was baptized, sanctified and born again into “TOMMY HELLFIGHTER.” (I actually paid $19.95 plus tax for that one). One of my all-time favorite rip offs of that era was the “AIR JORDAN” t-shirts. Once Christians got a hold of it, the silhouette of Jordan was replaced with a cartoonish Christ and the catch phrase “AIR JESUS” was added. Oh yes, not even the Jordan brand was safe from the hands of Christian propaganda executives.
I remember seeing that Air Jesus t-shirt as a young kid and asking my mom if I could have it. I was so sure that this t-shirt would make me a little bit more cooler in my private Christian school bubble. However, after one glance my mom said something to the effect that the t-shirt was sacrilegious and that Jesus would never play basketball. If she would have said that the t-shirt was simply ugly, I would have probably accepted that answer as my eyes matured and realized how awfully designed it was. However, she said that Jesus would never play basketball. I was a bit perplexed by this as a young basketball player who had dreams of playing in the NBA and who was also trying to learn what it takes to be a Christian in this ever growing complicated world.
I think for most people today in the church or “Christians” in general, the idea of “Should Christians be involved in Sports?” is a rather ludicrous question or idea and one that should not take up too much of our neuro-activity in our brains. But the truth is, I have heard this question or debate on more than several occasions and I feel like it is coming up more and more. Before I attempt to unpack some of this debate I must make it clear that I am the director of a Christian sports organization. Some people may assume this would naturally make me bias in my view. That could perhaps be true, but I guess you will have to keep reading to see. I will also be attempting to tackle a lot of other issues that surround the heart of this debate as well.
One of the other things that defined the 90s for me was over the top t-shirt message campaigns. I am convinced that everyone was a walking billboard for something. I think I spent more time reading t-shirt messages then my Bible during those days. T-shirt messages ranged from simple to complex, political to religious, and random to evangelical. Christian t-shirts were interesting. Christian t-shirts could have a simple message of only "JESUS LOVES YOU" or an entire small print script of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. After awhile, Christians got "creative" and tried to make a Christian message out of everything popular. Such as, instead of the mega popularity of the “NO FEAR” brand we Christians would say “FEAR NOT” on our copycat t-shirt. Even the Tommy Hilfiger logo was baptized, sanctified and born again into “TOMMY HELLFIGHTER.” (I actually paid $19.95 plus tax for that one). One of my all-time favorite rip offs of that era was the “AIR JORDAN” t-shirts. Once Christians got a hold of it, the silhouette of Jordan was replaced with a cartoonish Christ and the catch phrase “AIR JESUS” was added. Oh yes, not even the Jordan brand was safe from the hands of Christian propaganda executives.
I remember seeing that Air Jesus t-shirt as a young kid and asking my mom if I could have it. I was so sure that this t-shirt would make me a little bit more cooler in my private Christian school bubble. However, after one glance my mom said something to the effect that the t-shirt was sacrilegious and that Jesus would never play basketball. If she would have said that the t-shirt was simply ugly, I would have probably accepted that answer as my eyes matured and realized how awfully designed it was. However, she said that Jesus would never play basketball. I was a bit perplexed by this as a young basketball player who had dreams of playing in the NBA and who was also trying to learn what it takes to be a Christian in this ever growing complicated world.
I think for most people today in the church or “Christians” in general, the idea of “Should Christians be involved in Sports?” is a rather ludicrous question or idea and one that should not take up too much of our neuro-activity in our brains. But the truth is, I have heard this question or debate on more than several occasions and I feel like it is coming up more and more. Before I attempt to unpack some of this debate I must make it clear that I am the director of a Christian sports organization. Some people may assume this would naturally make me bias in my view. That could perhaps be true, but I guess you will have to keep reading to see. I will also be attempting to tackle a lot of other issues that surround the heart of this debate as well.
Sports is an amazing medium for community, physical, mental and spiritual growth among many other things. Sports has a unique way to divide and bring people together in a single instant. It is amazing how opinionated people can be as fans and participants in sports. Regardless of your views and experiences in sports, there is no doubt that God is and has used sports in an incredible way throughout history. All over the world there is a growing need for Christians to step up in sports. Please enjoy our random thoughts on all things sports related and cheer for us by adding to the conversation.