Tuesday, January 31, 2006

FOUNDATIONAL THOUGHTS ON A CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY of PLAY, SPORTS, AND ATHLETICS

by Marvin A. Zuidema, P.E.D.
Professor Emeritus
Calvin College

I wish to commend those who have written on the subjects of play, sport, competition, and educational athletics.  On the Calvin campus the subject of a Christian approach to educational athletics has been highlighted by recent talks by Joe Ehrmann and Kathy DeBoer.  It is wonderful to see such dialogue!  The reaction statements and questions developed by Julie Walton and Brian Bolt in response to the Ehrmann talk were very thought provoking.  And for the most part, I surely endorse the tenets that were set forth.  I would urge all of you to reflect on the ideas presented by these writers and others who have taken the time to respond.

For those of us who have been trying to develop a Christian perspective on play and guidelines for Christian action in athletics, the way surely hasn’t been easy.  We were always encountering the social changes that have radically changed sport in America.  I believe that the rapid expansion of interscholastic and youth sport over the last twenty-five years has produced many practices that make sportive play a detriment to Christian living rather than an wonderful, integrative engagement for Christian living.  Then there is the matter of educational athletics.  Can education and athletics co-exist, or even more important, can and should competitive play be part of the co-curriculum or at least extended curriculum of schools?  I must state that I have had many challenges on some of my views on this subject.  Yet, interscholastic sport is alive and indeed thriving in most schools in America.  And the world of youth sport is now an almost bigger endeavor than school sportive ventures. (please click on READ MORE)...

As most of you know, some of us have tried for a long time to articulate and emulate a Christian perspective on the world of competitive athletics.  Publications like INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS: EDUCATION FOR EXPRESSIVE PLAY AND RESPONSIBLE ACTION and INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS: OPEN LETTER TO ATHLETES, PARENTS, AND FANS published in 1982 by Christian Schools International and the articles in CHRISTIANITY AND LEISURE and PHYSICAL EDUCATION, SPORTS, AND WELLNESS published by Dordt College Press in 1994 and 1999 were vehicles for bringing various tenets out for public awareness and reaction.  And now we see a new wave of awareness!  Recent attempts to review these tenets and to postulate new tenets are indeed encouraging.

What I would like to do in this article is to again present what I believe are some core tenets and principles for a Christian perspective on play and sports.  I truly appreciated the viewpoints developed by Joe Ehrmann and Kathy DeBoer.  Their remarks were made from the heart and with conviction.  I found their observations very meaningful and challenging.  However, I believe that their comments must be viewed from a more comprehensive view of sport.  I therefore alert you to some overarching tenets and principles which I think are critical elements to remember as we reflect on sport and sportive endeavors.

Let me start by quoting three sources which I believe give overarching ideas for a Christian View of Sportive Play:  “—-joy of sport as game; the detachment of movement; the release of many tensions; the testing of self-control, honesty, perseverance, concentration, intelligence, skillfulness and sense of community.”  Van Ach, J. C.  Physical Education from a Christian View of Anthropology.

“Athletic activities focus on certain aspects of dynamic living: namely health, skillful movement, wise movement decisions, willing
and doing, releasing self to go beyond self, beauty and drama, perfecting and enlarging, joy and disappointment, joyful busyness, and dramatic expressions.”  Zuidema, Marvin A.  “Athletics from a Christian Perspective” in Christianity and Leisure, edited by Heintzman, Van Andel, and Visker.

“We introduce the best of each competitor, we play fair, we find joy in both the performance and the movement, we are
exhilarated by the quickening breath and thumping heart, we hope to be the hero that makes the winning point, we bask in the
fact that we belong to, and are upheld by our teammates with whom we play, and we look up to a coach we love so much that
our desire is to please him/her.”  Statement written recently by Julie Walton, Professor of Physical Education, Calvin College. 

All these three statements center on the gift and beauty of expressive play, the struggle we have to give competition a Christian
reference, and our need to make responsible action the educational thrust in interscholastic and youth sport.  I still believe that
these pillars are the three big postulates on which interscholastic athletics for the Christian need to be based.  And I believe the
world of sport would be rid of many evils if these postulates would under gird all sportive play. 

Let me also include a few other expressions which for me continue to anchor my attempts to articulate and express a Christian viewpoint:

The body is a priceless possession.  We are indeed wonderfully made!  The proper care and use of movement, a dynamic part of our whole being, is part of our responsible service to God. 

The human being at play is expressing his/her God-given nature.  (Reference:  Johnston in The Christian at Play.
Our call as Christians is to worship with our whole being, work with all our strength, love others, and use life forms, including play, to God’s glory.

Play and movement are gifts from God.  They are celebration, an outer evidence of the inner joyous nature of a person secure in God.
Christians are free to engage in play activities which are morally acceptable and which are upbuilding of others and self.  The play experience should give happiness and joy but also lead to thankfulness.  Play opportunities are avenues of God-gloryifying self-expression.  They are times to exercise full physical, mental and emotional potential in experiences which combine excitement and drama.

Guiding principles for play involvement include:  (a) Preserves and Restores; (b) Builds up; (c) Generates Thankfulness; (d) Reflects Christian Decision-making and Behavior; (e) Ethical Fairness; (f) Unifies and Builds Others; and (g) Stewardly Use of Resources. 
Serious sport usually involves competition.  Competition is neither morally right nor wrong in itself; it is how we use competition that gives competitive play moral and ethical overtones.  Competition can range from a duel where we try to destroy that we may be enhanced to comues (competition with values) where the challenge of striving is integrated with expressions of inner values.  The true meaning of sport to me says that competitors must strive to bring their best game, rally around skill-related challenges, and they are ready to assess all responses against Christian virtues, values and standards.

I realize that the core postulates and tenets found in this position paper are very theoretical concepts.  The proof of perspective really is in the action!  That is why Joe Ehrmann’s thrust on affirmation and love, and being loved, is surely an important goal and methodology.  That is why Kathy DeBoer’s reasoning that gender differences are important as we set-up and lead programs are important variables.  Their thrusts, I believe, highlight the responsible actions goal that I mentioned earlier.  But I believe it is also important to believe and stress that play is part of our creative core and that competitive play must be moved from the realm of destroying others to embracing others in fun and stimulating engagement.  A true Christian athlete can learn to understand and appreciate a Christian approach to competitive play.  Consider, for example, the following two examples:

How do you engage an opponent before and after a competitive game?  What is represented in the usually handshake that is customary before and after games?  I believe that real competitive play has wonderment and thanksgiving and should not produce hatred and envy.  A warm handshake, a hug, and some meaningful conversation at the end of a tense, challenging game may be more meaningful that the result on the scoreboard, which is often forgotten over time.

What would you do in the following situation?  A soccer player scores a game and championship-winning goal for his/her team but he/she actually hits the ball into the goal with a hand.  After the game, the “hands ball violation” becomes big talk in the locker room.  How should we deal with such a situation?  Would we consider canceling the goal and re-playing the contest?

For the sake of dialogue, let’s consider at least one feature important to gender considerations.  It is important, I believe, to examine what we think God would best want us to do with sports in this fallen world.  This means we should have a pretty clear understanding of how God would have females and males function in this world, and how saved persons will function in the new heaven and earth.  Are the goals for sport, and our vision of sport, really different for men and women?  Are character traits and core virtues different for defining God-pleasing masculinity and femininity?  Or are we all to be persons of empathy and love?  I surely don’t have fixed answers for these questions, but the questions are worth addressing.

I will end with a list of tenets, adapted to sports, based on a list by Ann Landers of what she describes as important life virtues.  The tenets recommended are modifications by yours truly of ones suggested by Joe Bean and Layton Shoemaker, college coaches, in a book entitle Soccer Coaching Bible published by National Soccer Coaches of America.  The authors suggest that these tenets are examples of “competing with class.”  I would like to suggest that these tenets, at least as modified, ought to be tenets that Christians embrace.  I know that Joe and Layton, fine Christian coaches, would share this view.  Please remember that these traits don’t happen by simply engagement!  In fact, athletic prowess is often enhanced by the exact opposite characteristics.  Christian traits are developed through education and the athletes committing themselves to God-pleasing virtues.

Athletes respect teammates, coaches, officials, and spectators.  They are willing to sacrifice for the greater God-pleasing interpretations of good.
Athletes ooze with confidence, not cockiness.
Athletes have an element of pride without being proud.
Athletic play has nothing to do with status, position, or wealth other than serving all.
Athletes know you need not extinguish another’s candle in order to let your own shine.
Athletes exhibit thankfulness for getting the job done. 
Athletes look for ways to praise and thank others.
Athletes are void of excuses.  They learn from failure and move on to new efforts.
Athletes know the meaning of doing to others what you (and God) would have others do to you.
Athletes have a sense of humor and know that laughter lubricates the machinery of human relations.
Athletes cultivate the art of using good manners, recognizing them as a series of small sacrifices.
Athletes are genuine. 
Athletes seek to deemphasize the idea of rivalry and rally around challenging playfulness. 
Athletes know and practice the true meaning of SHARING, CARING AND PLAYING FAIR.

The following questions were written by me for inclusion in the original brochure, mentioned earlier, published by Christian Schools International.  Most of these questions are still worthy answering!

Do you feel happy about your involvement in athletics?
Can play in a competitive sport be celebration to honor God?
Which view of competition best reflects your thinking?
Which of the following Christian decisions do you have trouble living up to:  (a) playing fair even without an official or coach; (b) respecting officials; (c) loving your opponents; (d) winning without conceit; (e) losing without ill will; (f) playing intensely and joyfully; (g) thanking God for the gift of movement; (h) respecting self; (i) respecting teammates; (j) accepting responsibility; (k) working up to ability level; (m) respecting coaches; (n) listening to others even when views are different; (o) acting with confidence; (p) controlling emotions; (q) respecting spectators who don’t respect athletes on their support team or the co-competitor’s team; (r) accepting honor with humility; and (s) having fun playing.
Do athletics cause you to serve yourself more than others?
Do you need the best equipment to play your best?
Do you truly believe that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made?”
Is the search for an athletic scholarship a good or bad enterprise?
Do you boo opponents or officials?
Can you play on a “losing on the scoreboard” team and still be joyful?
Do you evaluate coaches only by win/loss records?’
Can you accept limited playing time and still be totally involved?
Are athletics in your life a selfish passion or idol?  Or are they a celebration to honor God? 

I thank you for again for being reflective.  What we all need to do is reflect, communicate with each other, and find ways of putting into practice our beliefs!  May God lead!

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