“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
Victory
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD. Proverbs 21:31Sometimes you read a Bible verse and ask yourself: ‘how does this apply to sport?’ I am still working on “The first shall be last and last shall be first”! In his commentary on this verse, Derek Kidner says that the verse “warns us not to fight without God. It condemns not earthly resources but reliance on them”. The context is much more battle than the Olympic 200 metres final!
How do we apply the thought that victory rests with the Lord to our sporting life? Eight runners go to their marks – some are Christians, some not. Does the one who loves Jesus most win? Why does God allow atheists to win? I don’t think it is quite as simple as that. No matter how “holy” I might be, I would never beat Usain Bolt in a 100 metre race, not even when he is retired. Winning is a subtle mixture of natural ability, training, self-confidence, strategy and race execution.
In my athletics writing work, I often speak to athletes immediately after a race. One athlete recently summed up a victory “Jesus did a miracle”, another started the answer with the word, “first of all I want to give glory to God”. I have no doubt that both athletes were utterly sincere, expressing what was in their heart, as they were amazed that they had the privilege of winning on the world stage, something that 99.9% of people will never experience.
Ed Uszynski, adds a helpful caveat, “Sometimes it bothers me—athletes sky-pointing, praising God for the win. What I’m surprised at is that when the loser gets interviewed he never gives the glory to God. It could be, ‘I’m sad we lost, but thank God for the opportunity to play today.’ To me, frankly, it’s in the midst of losing that Christianity should speak loudest.”
We must strive to give the competition our best but then be able to accept the outcome and to know that our significance as people depends on who we are – created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus – and that it does not depend on the outcome of one game or competition.