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In 2017 the acclaimed docuseries Religion of Sportsaired on Netflix. The series explored the dramatic interplay between religion and sports and made a bold statement: Given the decline of religion and the penetrating popularity of sports in society, rather than sports being like religion, sports have become a religion. Because sports have obtained a religion-like aura about it, the sports-religion topic deserves a deep dive to assess if sports and religion are competing against one another or if they are in mutual appreciation of each other.
A cursory view of this topic demonstrates that America is a sports craved nation. A recent report shows that 154 million Americans watch live sports every month. The activity of sports was listed in the top 5 hobbies Americans enjoy. Whether watching sports or doing sports, sports fascinate and resonate in the lives of people.
Sports intersects with religion by acting as a heightened metaphor to draw people into living out the Christian faith. Given the timeless draw of sports, it's no wonder St. Paul used sports as an analogy to describe being a committed follower of Christ. Writing to his spiritual protege, Timothy, Paul encouraged him with the following phrase,
“Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Tim 6:12).
Today, when we say he “fought the good fight” we generally mean he battled for some principle for justice - that he did what was right in the face of wrong. Yet, this is not what St. Paul is referring to. He is actually inverting this phrase to take earthly images to describe spiritual combat realities. The word for “fight” that St. Paul uses is the Greek word “agona.” Agona is better translated as a competition or contest. Interestingly, agona is the English root word for athletic competition. Here, we begin to see that Paul is invoking athletic imagery in how we should approach the spiritual battle set before us. Elsewhere St. Paul utilizes athletic imagery in the Greco-Roman world to describe spiritual combat. The best example is in 1 Cor. 9:24-27.
Continued below.
A cursory view of this topic demonstrates that America is a sports craved nation. A recent report shows that 154 million Americans watch live sports every month. The activity of sports was listed in the top 5 hobbies Americans enjoy. Whether watching sports or doing sports, sports fascinate and resonate in the lives of people.
Sports intersects with religion by acting as a heightened metaphor to draw people into living out the Christian faith. Given the timeless draw of sports, it's no wonder St. Paul used sports as an analogy to describe being a committed follower of Christ. Writing to his spiritual protege, Timothy, Paul encouraged him with the following phrase,
“Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Tim 6:12).
Today, when we say he “fought the good fight” we generally mean he battled for some principle for justice - that he did what was right in the face of wrong. Yet, this is not what St. Paul is referring to. He is actually inverting this phrase to take earthly images to describe spiritual combat realities. The word for “fight” that St. Paul uses is the Greek word “agona.” Agona is better translated as a competition or contest. Interestingly, agona is the English root word for athletic competition. Here, we begin to see that Paul is invoking athletic imagery in how we should approach the spiritual battle set before us. Elsewhere St. Paul utilizes athletic imagery in the Greco-Roman world to describe spiritual combat. The best example is in 1 Cor. 9:24-27.
Continued below.
Is Sports Becoming A Religion?
While sports and religion share common themes, has sports become a religion in our world?
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