Worship or Sports? Or....

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (Exodus 20:8)

Sunday morning has become a battleground in Minnesota (and throughout this nation). 

Coaches of youth wrestling and youth basketball feel the squeeze for gym space.  They want to see their children grow in talent and experience, so they schedule tournaments for one of the only times that the gyms are free: Sundays!  The tournaments often take up much of the day, so they begin as early as possible to get people on the road home.  Sunday morning becomes a time for sports.  But what about worship?

Preachers insist that Sunday morning is God’s time!  They rail against a culture that would willingly pull people away from worship for something as ‘trivial’ as a sport.  They ask, “Ultimately, what is more important?  Jesus…or a three point shot?”  They quote the commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me,” and “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”   They say, “Thirty years ago this wasn’t an issue!  Those evil sports are destroying the church.”  But are sports actually destroying faith?

The battle lines are drawn and many families find themselves squeezed between the two.  Parents realize that faith development is important to their kids and that worship and Sunday education times are crucial to that growth.  Parents also realize that sports are important to the life development of their kids.  While 99.9% of the kids won’t become professionals, sports teach many important life lessons, including winning/losing, teamwork, and physical fitness.  Faith is good. Sports are good.  What is a parent to do?

Last Wednesday night at our Lenten service Curt Olson (D-E varsity wrestling coach and Peace Education Team Leader) talked about his involvement in the Northland Youth Wrestling Association.   This coming weekend wrestlers from all over the state will come to Rochester for their state tournament.  Because of the sheer size of the event it begins on Thursday and runs through Sunday.  Several years ago the decision was made to include a small worship service on Sunday morning.  At first, a few people showed up at the end of a bleacher.  Over the years the worship service has grown, now needing its own room!  God AND sports, not one or the other.

The reality of life is that tournaments WILL happen on Sundays.  No amount of pontificating by preachers will stop that, but does it need to be worship OR sports?  What would it look like to add a service to the tournament schedule?  It could be something as simple as a prayer, Bible reading, and brief message.   The message could come from a coach or other sports role model who could talk about how God has worked in their life.  It wouldn’t take a lot of work to coordinate.  Even if 10 people came, I’d call that a huge success. 

God is good.  Sports are good.  Loving one does not mean that you have to hate the other.  It’s possible to worship and play on the same day.  How might you work with your youth sports leaders to make this a reality?