Are sports biblical?

[InterestedApologist]

Nuh, I did not post that for critising sports. That Scripture is best to understand that sports is ok, but Godliness is more important to focus on.

GOD bless you.

Apologies for the misunderstanding. I agree.

 

[SolomonVII]

When it comes to legalistm, and asking what is Biblically kosher, the rule would be that everything that is not expressly forbidden is therefore licit and permitted. Glowering God, looking down with disdain at people having fun, is very much a human invention, and not a Biblical understanding of the Divine.
Christian athletes that Praise God! after every successful feat are fine. Christian athletes who express appreciation to their teammates are fine too. Cheering for you team is great. God likes passion and he is very happy with people who fully appreciate the gift of life by celebrating it with excuberance and unlimited enjoyment. This is his gift to us after all.
The Bible sets parameters of where the good life is. People going outside of those parameters will eventually find out that running off of clifffs or skiing into a tree is not all that much fun. But moguls within the parameters are a pretty great way to spend a day, and being with friends and competitors who push us to limits we had no idea we were capable of is fun too. The agony of defeat is fun too, truth be told. It makes the next win all the much sweeter, and at the very least in trains us into endurance and that there is a difference between failing and dying. These are the life lessons of sports that are transferable to life too.
Glowering Christian sneering at people having fun have been with us since before Cromwell. I suppose being a killjoy is Biblically permitted to, but for the rest of us, life is too short to refrain from the good, clean fun of playing a game to the max.

 

[RDKirk]

1Timothy 4:7-9
"...train yourself for godliness. For the training of the body is only little profitable, but godliness is profitable for everything, because it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. The statement is trustworthy and deserving of complete acceptance..."

May GOD bless you.....

I'm not sure of the point you intended to make, but Paul is comparing physical exercise to spiritual "exercise."

He is comparing the flesh to the spirit, in that the flesh is corruptible and therefore whatever done for it's sake is going to have a time limit on its usefulness. That doesn't mean we should never, for instance, eat or drink because the benefit of a meal only lasts for a short period.

He's saying that compared to strengthening one's spirit, strengthening one's body is profitable in a lesser way.

Take someone like Jack LaLanne compared to Billy Graham. Jack LaLanne was the original "exercise guru." He exercised hard all his life and was amazingly healthy until he died at age 93.

But two points about that: Although he was amazingly healthy into his 90s, he could certainly not still do at 90 what he could do at 30. His physical strength would plateau at some point in his life and then decline, no matter how hard he exercised.

OTOH, Billy Graham could continue to improve in spiritual strength all his life--a continual incline--until he died.

 

[Anguspure]

As a metaphore. God mentions prostitution many time too.

Not as a favourable metaphor when the bride of Christ prostitutes herself it is a very great shame.

Running a good race is metaphor that we can all aspire to.

More generally sport is about good community and good relationship. The people that play together stay together.

The Church would only be strengthened if it encouraged sport among it's members.

 

[Angeleyes7715]

Everything in the world doesn't have to be categorized as bibical or non bibical.I remember Paul saying (im paraphrasing) that some things are neutral and are neither for or against God and it's up to the person whether or not they fill that that thing either propels them toward or away from God. I believe it's in Galatians or Thessalonians or Romans. I will need to look at the scripture again, but it's def. there. I think it was when he was talking about edification of the Spirit.

Anyway running the race has absolutely nothing to do with Sports. It's an analogy or metaphor comparing living life for God to running a race because of the difficulty of such.

Personally I believe sports are one of those neutral things that as long as you don't worship them and put them before God, it really doesn't matter.

God makes the sunshine on both good and evil so if someone who does evil wins it really doesn't mean anything. Same for the religious person it means nothing unless God is specifically using that victory to reach someone and save their soul or to move the athelete into a position or place that he wants I don't really think it's connected to religion at all. If people want to thank God for winning then let them. God gave people determination and a mindset to train and win as well as the energy to wake up so he deserves praise.

 

[4x4toy]

Sports or being athletic has no bearing on spirituality .. If you do one push-up or one hundred a day for sport it doesn't have anything to do with the Word of God or reward in heaven .. Having said that , if some one wants to harp on sports as being evil I'd say that they are way down the list of things that ''Thy shalt not''

 

[SolomonVII]

Everything in the world doesn't have to be categorized as bibical or non bibical.I remember Paul saying (im paraphrasing) that some things are neutral and are neither for or against God and it's up to the person whether or not they fill that that thing either propels them toward or away from God. I believe it's in Galatians or Thessalonians or Romans. I will need to look at the scripture again, but it's def. there. I think it was when he was talking about edification of the Spirit.

Anyway running the race has absolutely nothing to do with Sports. It's an analogy or metaphor comparing living life for God to running a race because of the difficulty of such.

Personally I believe sports are one of those neutral things that as long as you don't worship them and put them before God, it really doesn't matter.

God makes the sunshine on both good and evil so if someone who does evil wins it really doesn't mean anything. Same for the religious person it means nothing unless God is specifically using that victory to reach someone and save their soul or to move the athelete into a position or place that he wants I don't really think it's connected to religion at all. If people want to thank God for winning then let them. God gave people determination and a mindset to train and win as well as the energy to wake up so he deserves praise.

I think it is neutral. What is not neutral is being a member of society and participating in the life of the community. It is unfortunate that sports is one of the main activities left where communities come together around a common goal. More than this though, for young people especially, it is almost impossible to play a sport and check up on your mobile devises at the same time. You can go for a walk with your friends, or go to a restaurant for a meal, or for coffee, or even in a class room, and be checking in on the latest message on your cell.
Pretty hard to play tennis or be fourth and goal in football and check up on your cell though.
There is also the idea that the body is a temple. We are a people who respect the body to the extent that we look forward to eternal bodily resurrection. A sedentary life is a lot of things, but what it is not good for the body. Sports are invigorating for body and mind and spirit and soul, or at least they potentially can be all that.

 

[Shard]

Are sports biblical?


I see it all the time. Some athlete runs the race, scores touch down and raises hands to the sky to thank God. I do not get it. What does God have to do with that? Next day that very same athlete looses to openly homosexual, cross dressing child molester and it means what exactly? Does it mean that God favors that person now? In minds of many it may.


Yes there are passages in the Bible about running the race but it is just a proverb. Same way there are proverbs comparing peoples and nations to prostitutes but does it mean an endorsement of prostitution?


One thing to run around, jump around for some exercise. Not many people in the Bible sat at front of computer all day for a living. Another thing is to beat your body up to the point of disability, like most professional sports do. I heard on the news about congressional investigation of massive neo-opiate pain killer epidemic. Apparently much of is attributed to sports injuries even in teens. I remember conversation with my coworker before his double knee replacement surgery. He pointed and his knees and said: “This knee is basketball and this one is football”.


I think Christianity is all about making oneself smaller, child-like so that God can make us great in His ways and for His glory not about beating others, making our selfish selves greater than others the way sports do. Feed our pride and wallow in in pain of those who were defeated. Superiority of one man over another, competition for adoration for being better than others maybe even becoming rich and famous doing that… how can that be comparable with teachings of Jesus?


I do not see how competitiveness can be a good part of character for a Christian. To a Christian the only opinion that should matter is an opinion of God, the only standing that should matter is standing before God. Christians do not have to compete with each other for is His time and attention. He is outside of time so He has time to be an individual God to every individual that seeks personal relationship with Him.


Massive waste of time, effort, money…. Entertainment and distraction. Why would God have anything to do with it? The way I see it sports is nothing more than modern version of idolatry. People are so obsessed with players, teams, scores, statistics….. spend so much money, waste so much time!


Many say that sports make them happy, relaxed, relieves stress and God wants us to be happy, so sports must be ok then. Never mind that people can be “happy” for all kinds of very wrong reasons. Felling of unhappiness comes from the enemy and by dialing back on unhappiness while people are engaged in sinful or wasteful activities he can make then run around and chase happiness in all kinds of very wrong places. If God wanted us to be happy in chasing a ball around He would at least give us four legs or do you think He created us to be miserably bipedal all our lives?


How sports is not idolatry by new, modern name. Famous athletes are revered by many as demigods of some sort. Followed around and more or less worshiped. Teams are used to divide and conquer minds and souls. People hate each other to the point of violence and even murder at times because “my team” won or lost to “your team”.


The whole “my team” thing totally escapes me. Here in Western Washington USA when Seahawks won seems like everything everywhere turned green and blue with number 12 on it. I did not even realize how widespread this form of idolatry was until I came into some supermarket store and saw that at least half of people wearing Seahawk football jerseys. It was a day before Stuporbowl (intentional misspelling) aka finals of NFL. Rare wearers of the uniform of opposing team were getting hateful stares or even “boo-eing” by people just passing by! Yeah! Satan loves to make people to hate each other does not matter how ridiculous the reasons for that are!


The only men who is rightfully saying “my team” are the team owners raking in billions of dollars from pockets of suckers of new idolatry. Those are the new “priest class” of idolatry by new name. Plus the whole class of sports facilitators and administrators. (AKA new idolatry “temple priests and prostitutes”). Some may say that Christian sports stars promote Christianity. Yeah sure, same as “Christian prostitutes”. Nothing in the world changes, really. Just changes names.


Even pastors in churches cheerleading for teams. Everything short of jumping around with those cheerleading pom poms right at the church pulpit! Disgusting! I am sure it happened in some churches somewhere though.


Never mind almost, almost naked girls jumping around in all kinds of poses including explicitly sexual ones! Don’t they understand that many men in the bleachers are thinking: “I wish my wife could do that and without any clothes on.” Many of them consider themselves good Christians too.


I do not watch TV anymore. I am not implying in any way that watching TV is sinful but personally I found it to be very beneficial when I stopped filling up my mind with junk. One day I had to wait in lunchroom at work for a while, TV was on and NatGeo special on sports gambling was on it. This whole issue is entirely foreign to me. I knew next to nothing about it but apparently it is a huge shadow industry that hurts a lot of people. Just another strike against idolatry of sports.


Also. How many people end up trading church for playing sports, going to games, taking kids to practice sports? Yes most of it is done on Saturday but that is when God should be worshipped. On the holy day of Sabbath, instead of temples of God people take their children to temples of idolatry. Sabbath is not a suggestion it is a commandment and does not expire like an old can of beans or something. Instead of God’s temples people go to temples of idolatry. But that is a whole different topic of Sabbath observance.


The only exception being of course the martial arts. Read the Old Testament. All kind of godly and even appointed by God “martial artists” there! How about Samson with a donkey jawbone! Read the Book of Jasher thrown out of teachings of early Christian’s teachings by Jew-hating Constantine because in it early Hebrews are portrayed as supernaturally (not superhuman) powerful “martial artists”.


Yes, God does allow necessary killing. “Shall not kill” is a mistranslation. It actually says “shall not murder”. Jesus in not some long-haired bearded hippy either. Read the Revelation. But that is going into whole different topic….

You must be a blast at parties.

 

[Skitnik]

You must be a blast at parties.

My "party" is in Heaven, Millennial Kingdom an on New Heaven and New Earth. With God Himself and for all Eternity. So sad to see people living for parties on this temporary, corrupted dirt hole of the Earth.

So sad!

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Are sports biblical?


I see it all the time. Some athlete runs the race, scores touch down and raises hands to the sky to thank God. I do not get it. What does God have to do with that? Next day that very same athlete looses to openly homosexual, cross dressing child molester and it means what exactly? Does it mean that God favors that person now? In minds of many it may.


Yes there are passages in the Bible about running the race but it is just a proverb. Same way there are proverbs comparing peoples and nations to prostitutes but does it mean an endorsement of prostitution?


One thing to run around, jump around for some exercise. Not many people in the Bible sat at front of computer all day for a living. Another thing is to beat your body up to the point of disability, like most professional sports do. I heard on the news about congressional investigation of massive neo-opiate pain killer epidemic. Apparently much of is attributed to sports injuries even in teens. I remember conversation with my coworker before his double knee replacement surgery. He pointed and his knees and said: “This knee is basketball and this one is football”.


I think Christianity is all about making oneself smaller, child-like so that God can make us great in His ways and for His glory not about beating others, making our selfish selves greater than others the way sports do. Feed our pride and wallow in in pain of those who were defeated. Superiority of one man over another, competition for adoration for being better than others maybe even becoming rich and famous doing that… how can that be comparable with teachings of Jesus?


I do not see how competitiveness can be a good part of character for a Christian. To a Christian the only opinion that should matter is an opinion of God, the only standing that should matter is standing before God. Christians do not have to compete with each other for is His time and attention. He is outside of time so He has time to be an individual God to every individual that seeks personal relationship with Him.


Massive waste of time, effort, money…. Entertainment and distraction. Why would God have anything to do with it? The way I see it sports is nothing more than modern version of idolatry. People are so obsessed with players, teams, scores, statistics….. spend so much money, waste so much time!


Many say that sports make them happy, relaxed, relieves stress and God wants us to be happy, so sports must be ok then. Never mind that people can be “happy” for all kinds of very wrong reasons. Felling of unhappiness comes from the enemy and by dialing back on unhappiness while people are engaged in sinful or wasteful activities he can make then run around and chase happiness in all kinds of very wrong places. If God wanted us to be happy in chasing a ball around He would at least give us four legs or do you think He created us to be miserably bipedal all our lives?


How sports is not idolatry by new, modern name. Famous athletes are revered by many as demigods of some sort. Followed around and more or less worshiped. Teams are used to divide and conquer minds and souls. People hate each other to the point of violence and even murder at times because “my team” won or lost to “your team”.


The whole “my team” thing totally escapes me. Here in Western Washington USA when Seahawks won seems like everything everywhere turned green and blue with number 12 on it. I did not even realize how widespread this form of idolatry was until I came into some supermarket store and saw that at least half of people wearing Seahawk football jerseys. It was a day before Stuporbowl (intentional misspelling) aka finals of NFL. Rare wearers of the uniform of opposing team were getting hateful stares or even “boo-eing” by people just passing by! Yeah! Satan loves to make people to hate each other does not matter how ridiculous the reasons for that are!


The only men who is rightfully saying “my team” are the team owners raking in billions of dollars from pockets of suckers of new idolatry. Those are the new “priest class” of idolatry by new name. Plus the whole class of sports facilitators and administrators. (AKA new idolatry “temple priests and prostitutes”). Some may say that Christian sports stars promote Christianity. Yeah sure, same as “Christian prostitutes”. Nothing in the world changes, really. Just changes names.


Even pastors in churches cheerleading for teams. Everything short of jumping around with those cheerleading pom poms right at the church pulpit! Disgusting! I am sure it happened in some churches somewhere though.


Never mind almost, almost naked girls jumping around in all kinds of poses including explicitly sexual ones! Don’t they understand that many men in the bleachers are thinking: “I wish my wife could do that and without any clothes on.” Many of them consider themselves good Christians too.


I do not watch TV anymore. I am not implying in any way that watching TV is sinful but personally I found it to be very beneficial when I stopped filling up my mind with junk. One day I had to wait in lunchroom at work for a while, TV was on and NatGeo special on sports gambling was on it. This whole issue is entirely foreign to me. I knew next to nothing about it but apparently it is a huge shadow industry that hurts a lot of people. Just another strike against idolatry of sports.


Also. How many people end up trading church for playing sports, going to games, taking kids to practice sports? Yes most of it is done on Saturday but that is when God should be worshipped. On the holy day of Sabbath, instead of temples of God people take their children to temples of idolatry. Sabbath is not a suggestion it is a commandment and does not expire like an old can of beans or something. Instead of God’s temples people go to temples of idolatry. But that is a whole different topic of Sabbath observance.


The only exception being of course the martial arts. Read the Old Testament. All kind of godly and even appointed by God “martial artists” there! How about Samson with a donkey jawbone! Read the Book of Jasher thrown out of teachings of early Christian’s teachings by Jew-hating Constantine because in it early Hebrews are portrayed as supernaturally (not superhuman) powerful “martial artists”.


Yes, God does allow necessary killing. “Shall not kill” is a mistranslation. It actually says “shall not murder”. Jesus in not some long-haired bearded hippy either. Read the Revelation. But that is going into whole different topic….

In this world we live in , professional entertainment including sports is not just sinful but also much worse........

Your post was so long.... maybe more later ? ....

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Great question and the best answer is , did Jesus play ? We love our sports and we start our children off very young , we give more time and money to sports than we give to God. Most of them are violent so I always say no... Could it have been, yes ...

Just thought of this while reading thru some posts,,,,

how many little children, children , teens and adults become active in sports....

COMPARED TO

how many become DISCIPLES OF JESUS, FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ?

world vs heavenly. Few find the heavenly (narrow road to life),
many stay on the wide road to destruction..... pertinent ?

 

[messianist]

My "party" is in Heaven, Millennial Kingdom an on New Heaven and New Earth. With God Himself and for all Eternity. So sad to see people living for parties on this temporary, corrupted dirt hole of the Earth.

So sad!

Amen