"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Playing as a Christian
Treat others as you want them to treat you. Matthew 7:12Former Australian cricket wicket-keeper, Adam Gilchrist, has recently published his autobiography. He describes the incident in 2003 when he "walked". It was a World Cup semi-final Sri Lanka v Australia. As Gilchrist was batting, the ball touched his bat, then his pads and was caught by a fielder. [For the non-cricket readers, let me add that in such circumstances it is very difficult for the umpire to be sure if the ball only hit the pad (=not out) or the bat and pad (= out)].
Gilchrist knows he has hit the ball and is out but the Umpire is shaking his head and saying "Not out". Gilchrist knows the umpire has made a mistake - what does he do? He said that he heard a voice inside his head saying "Go. Walk". He walks off. Then he said he heard another voice telling me not to be stupid; cricketers don't walk; his teammates will be cross with him.
He reaches the pavilion and the captain, Ricky Ponting says "Did you see the umpire give you not out?" Gilchrist replies, "Yes. I saw him". Many people were surprised at Adam Gilchrist's action but most applauded the way he had acted in a sporting way.
Andrew Wingfield Digby, former director of Christians in Sport, has played cricket for Oxford University and Dorset. He used to say that the only scriptural guidance on this issue seemed to be Psalm 1:1, 'Blessed is the man who does not walk...'! More seriously he added
"The key is that whatever you do you must do consistently. I decided quite early on in my humble cricket career that I would walk and I did that throughout my career even when it was the team ethos not to walk, for example in some Minor Counties games. However, I do not think it is necessary that everyone else should adopt the same line. If you consistently leave the decision to give you out to the umpire, that also seems a defensible position".
In English we have two similar sounding words with opposite meanings 'sportsmanship' and 'gamesmanship'. Sportsmanship is playing fair; gamesmanship is taking an unfair advantage. Greg Linville argues for replacing 'sportsmanship' and 'gamesmanship' with the idea of 'Christmanship'. He elaborates on the concept: "Christmanship embodies the best of sportsmanship (fun, fairness and being a good loser) with the best of gamesmanship (giving one's best effort to win) but it transcends and surpasses them both. It challenges the Christian athlete to compete as Christ would compete". This is the 'What Would Jesus Do?' philosophy applied to competitive sport.
When you compete at the top level, how do you keep everything in perspective? How do you give it your best shot without treating it like World War III? The Christian's purpose is to show what Lowrie McCown calls 'the presence of Christ in sport', the idea of demonstrating Christ's presence with us and in us in the sporting competition.
How do we as Christians play in a way that honours Christ? This example is from cricket - what are the issues in your sport?