How should a Christian view sportsmanship?

We meditated recently on epieikeia, — gentleness, yieldingness: and we saw that it was one of the special marks of our Lord. Perhaps that is partly why His righteousness attracts, rather than repels. And you recall we are to let our epieikeia be known unto all men. But our justice must also be known: not hard, cruel justice, that demands the last cent: but justice that is always fair, and always "plays the game". I recall a Chinese Customs Officer in China passing the baggage of a Christian without opening it, "Because", he explained to the others who had to open theirs, "a Christian would not do anything that was not right". I wonder if we all would measure up to the standard set by that Chinese man, who may not have been a Christian himself? But most assuredly we should. Whether it is the customs, whether it is the postage on a letter, whether it is keeping the rules of the road when driving: in all these things let us be scrupulously just. It has distressed me very much to see a Christian send a letter in an unsealed envelope, at perhaps half the proper price: or make a false declaration on a Customs form, to save duty to the friend receiving the parcel. Were we habitually meditating on "whatsoever things are just" we would not do such things. And you young people who may read these lines, let me beseech you, if you are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be absolutely honest and fair in all you do: your school work, your games, or whatever it is. I remember an old missionary in inland China whom the shop-keepers used to call, "Jesus". They knew no better. But what a challenge to that man to behave in a way that would bring honour, and not shame, on that worthy Name he bore! And you bear that same Name, if you are a Christian: for you "have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). Seek by His grace to bring honour on Christ's Name.

This is commonly the case where young persons of opposite sexes mingle much together. There is no reason why Christian young men and women should not meet and enjoy one another’s company in a pure and holy way. But often it is otherwise. If you feel there is a snare in such commingling, then be honest with your own souls and avoid what might dishonor Christ and hinder spiritual growth. Timothy was exhorted to treat elder brethren with the reverence due to fathers, “younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity” (1 Timothy 5:1,2). The last three words are important, and if overlooked, will lead to many a snare. Young people need recreation; older ones, too, for that matter. It is a mistake to suppose that body and mind must always be keyed up to serious pursuits. “Bodily exercise profiteth [a] little” (1 Timothy 4:8)—not a great deal, but a “little.” Therefore beware of giving it an undue place, but do not neglect it. And in all your recreation see that there is nothing that hinders godliness, for godliness is of profit both in this life and the next.

Anyone in reading the epistles can observe that in Paul’s many references to athletics, there is no suggestion that he in any way disapproves of the exercise in itself. The dangers are two: first, associations; second, excess. Be temperate in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25), and be as careful of your companionships in your recreation as in the other affairs of life.

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every one that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Cor. 9:24-25).

Here the Apostle uses the illustration afforded by the athletic games of the Corinthian Isthmus. We all know of the strenuous training the athlete will subject himself to. How he will abstain from foods and drinks that would impair his fitness. In other words he is self-restrained, for that is the meaning of the word “temperate” in our text.

When we come to verse 24 we can see how the Apostle's thoughts began to expand and take in the whole spirit and character which should mark the servant of the Lord. We are viewed as athletes contending in the games, whether running or fighting. Hence we should be marked by zeal, directness of purpose, and a temperate, self-denying life in all things. The athlete, whether in the Grecian games of two thousand years ago, or in the contests today, is careful not to let his body get the mastery of him. The very opposite. He masters his body, brings it into subjection to a very strict regime, even buffets it with continual exercises. And all this to the winning of a crown that quickly fades. Let us aim at the same things, only of a spiritual sort, that we may be invested in due season with a fadeless crown; for, alternatively, it is possible to ignore these things, and though a very eloquent preacher to others, to be rejected oneself.

In the dining room in our school there were five long tables, with about 30 boys at each table. One of these was called "The Training Table," and any boy who seriously wished to train for a race, other sports, sat at this table. The food here was plain, no pies or fancy puddings, as at the other tables: but the boys at The Training Table knew they must deny themselves, — and they did so gladly, — for the sake of the prize they hoped to gain. As you looked at some of these boys, with their daily training and self-denial, you could not but say, of some at least, They are a type of perfect boyhood. When he speaks of those who are 'perfect,' I think the apostle is thinking of those who seek to run the spiritual race with all their hearts, as these boys sought to run their school races. Please read 1 Corinthians 9, Verses 24 to 27.

Again: "If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." That is, he cannot obtain the prize unless he complies with the regulations. Now these regulations insisted upon systematic discipline and training as indispensable qualifications for entering upon the lists; history furnishes us with the particulars of the training which the competitors in the Greek athletic sports underwent; the diet, exercise, fixed hours, and hard life which were endured in order to obtain a corruptible crown. So the servant of the Lord in these days of ease, affluence, and self indulgence, is to practise the very contrary on himself; in order that, according to the will of his Lord, he may exercise his ministry and service.

We can only run the race with patience if we lay aside every weight and the sin which entangles. Sin is a very effectual hindrance. It is likened to an obstacle which entangles our feet so that we fall. In the first place however weights are mentioned, as though they were after all the greater hindrance. Many things which could by no means be classified as sins prove themselves to be weights to an earnest Christian; just as there are many things quite right, and allowable to the ordinary individual, which are wholly discarded by the athlete. He strips himself of everything which would impede his progress to the goal. And every Christian should consider himself a spiritual athlete, as 2 Timothy 2:5 also shows.

In 1 Corinthians 9 Christian service is spoken of under the figure of a race; here Christian life is the point in question. It is a figure very much to the point since a race requires energy, concentration, endurance. So here the exhortation is, "let us run with patience," and patience has the sense of endurance. The normal Christian life is not like a brief sprint of 100 yards, but rather like a long distance race in which endurance is the decisive factor.

"Know ye not that they who run in a race-course run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And everyone that contends is temperate in all things; they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, as not uncertainly — so combat, as not beating air. But I buffet my body, and lead [it] captive, lest by any means, having preached to others, I myself should be reprobate." (Vers. 24-27.) The figure from these games would be most striking to the Corinthians accustomed to those of the Isthmus. Indeed the use is plain to anyone. Spiritually, the prize is not for one, but for all, if all run well. But even in the games the candidates must be temperate in all things, though theirs were but a fading crown, ours an everlasting.

The concluding paragraph is fully in line with these statements of the Apostle. He uses as an illustration the Greek stadium, the race-course, well known to the Corinthians on account of the games on the isthmus of Corinth. In order to run successfully and obtain the prize, self-denial was necessary. There was a prize for him who won. Spiritually, not one, but all may obtain the prize, if all run well. And in the race every man that striveth for the mastery, to obtain the victory, is temperate in all things. They do it to obtain a fading crown, a wreath; but we have the promise of a crown that fadeth not away, an everlasting crown.