Sports Evangelism, Fulfilling The Great Commission (Matt. 28.19-20)
Sports Ministry Mission Statement

Mission

Building bridges with people through sports, introducing them to Jesus Christ, establishing them in

their faith, assimilating them into the church and training then to reproduce.

Biblical Basis
People are valuable to God (Luke 15)
People are lost without Christ (Luke 19:10
Christ died for lost people (Romans 5:5)
Lost people need to hear the Gospel (Romans 1:16)
Sports build bridges with people (1 Cor. 9:19-23)

Core Values
Christ and Biblical truth
Prayer and evangelism
Relationships and friendships
Character and sportsmanship
Ministry and leadership development
Assimilation and discipleship

Rationale
It helps fulfill the “Great Commission”
It reaches people who would not normally come to church
It involves people who would not be part of other ministries
It provides and unique opportunity for discipleship
It furnishes natural opportunities to share the Gospel
It includes all age groups
It opens doors for service
It develops leaders and leadership skills

Ministry
Clinics
Leagues
Camps
Tournaments
Exhibitions
Mission trips
Individual lessons
Sports banquets

Qualifications for Sports Ministry Leaders
Love for Jesus Christ (John 21:15-17)
Love for People (John 13:34-35)
Love for God’s Word (John 8:31-32)
Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5-22-23)
Christian character (1 Tim. 3:1-13)
Submission to authority (Heb. 13:17)

Issues In Sports Ministry Theology
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago launches a sports ministry major in 1998-99 within its Department

of Lifetime Fitness and Sports Ministry, for which organizers only recently received faculty and

administrative approval. Ideally, the program will accommodate a range of student interests, from those

desiring a course or two as part of another major to those wanting to major in a specialized b.a. program.

Moody hopes to capitalize on its urban setting, a modern facility, and a history of community-based

ministry and teaching, all of which are conducive to this more formal approach to sport ministry. The

program organizers also have sought to build ties to a newly formed organization of sport and

recreational ministers, with an eye toward placement for its graduates in the near future.

In addition to Briercrest and Moody, other liberal arts colleges and seminaries are starting on a smaller

scale, developing one or two courses within existing programs rather than building major or minor

programs in sport ministry. Some of these programs are located in physical education or kinesiology

departments, others in Bible or theology, and others in evangelism or Christian education. For example,

Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando recently offered a two-hour elective on "Theological and

Historical Foundations for Sport Ministry."

Such scattered placement suggests at least two things—that no single model or standardized approach

has emerged, but also that colleges are willing to think in terms of their own resources and existing

strengths as academic settings for sport ministry. Similarly, at least two denominational seminaries are

planning to offer courses in sport ministry on a trial basis.

So what are we to make of these sport ministry programs? The bad news is not inconsequential. To date,

there is little evidence of adequate recognition of the academic or intellectual context of such programs.

Little attention is being paid to the philosophy, history, sociology, or psychology of sport. No apparent

larger picture exists on which to base training for sport ministry. These programs have an ahistorical

and market-driven emphasis.

At best, this is shortsighted. Current cultural arrangements and ministry emphases become the norm

without any reference to past models and problems. There is also little evidence that any specifically

theological foundation or background for the doing of sport ministry and evangelism is a significant part

of the developing curricula. Implicitly, this mirrors Hatch's earlier observation that evangelicals are

driven primarily by concerns for evangelism and not by the need to develop intellectual or academic

underpinnings. Instead, what usually fills this void is a kind of "folk theology" based on an inductive

reading of the Pauline passages that incorporate sport metaphors illustratively. If sport metaphors were

good enough for the apostle Paul, the reasoning apparently goes, then we can simply assume that sport

ministry at the end of the twentieth century in North America has a sound biblical basis. As a result, the

symbol system and discourse of sport ministry rely disproportionately on the culture of sport and

athletics, not on discourse and teaching drawn primarily from the Bible and theology.

But as serious as these misgivings are, the picture is not all negative. Indeed, it is more complex, with

some indications of a positive future for preparation for sport ministry in the classroom. Already, the

different approaches being taken by Bible colleges, liberal arts colleges, and seminaries suggest a kind

of plurality and flexibility in responding to the perceived need. Clearly, the need is different in Canada

than the United States, and the need is different at the local church level from that of parachurch

organizations such as Athletes in Action. In the best of worlds, an implicit sorting process should result

in programs and needs matching up after a kind of "elective affinity" occurs by which perceived

strengths and needs find each other.

Another implicit strength is the adaptability and flexibility that evangelicals historically have had in "ad

hoc-ing" their stategies and methods to fit changing conditions. Decision making and authority are

quite diffuse among the organizations and churches involved in sport ministry, with no single central

bureaucratic clearinghouse necessary. No one seems intent on starting over from square one but is

rather satisfied to work within and to accommodate to existing structures and programs.

What is presently taking shape in sport ministry, then, can be interpreted as the next logical step after

nearly a half-century of more informal approaches. We can only try to anticipate what lies ahead in the

continuing saga of evangelical involvement in sport. One might hope that educators and church leaders

alike will be more discerning than their predecessors. Stay tuned!




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Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today International

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