Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Athletics as Ministry

Today's Blog comes to us from Social Foundations of Coaching Student Emily Conner.


“Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
- 1 Corinthians 9: 25-26

These words have always carried significant meaning for me as an athlete and a Christian. Growing up a fairly talented athlete, I always put a lot of pressure on myself. Each year, before my lacrosse and field hockey seasons started, I would have to run a timed mile with my team.  People always stressed out about making their times – I was no exception. 

Every season I came in first on the timed mile, but because of it, I always put extra pressure on myself.  It got to the point that I felt paralyzed for weeks leading up to the race.  People’s high expectations for me just seemed to make things worse. Then one day I stumbled upon the verse above.

It helped me realize that there is a lot more to being an athlete than menial run tests and games.  Instead, all the mental and physical pain that I endure on a daily basis is all part of a bigger picture.  The key part of the verse is, “after I have preached to others…” Sports have given me a platform that I would not otherwise have to do this, and I now know that what I do is meaningless if I only do it for myself. 

In Curtis Martin’s Hall of Fame acceptance speech, he told a story about the day he was drafted by the New England Patriots. He said that as soon as he hung up the phone and turned around, he said, “Oh my gosh, I don’t want to play football...I don’t even know if I like football enough to make a career out of it.” His pastor told him, “Maybe football is just something that God is giving you to do all those wonderful things that you say you want to do for other people.”

Afterwards, that completely changed Martin’s perspective on football and allowed him to have an incredible playing career.  As he moved the audience to tears with his speech, it was clear that his pastor was right.  Football was Curtis Martin’s platform to do the good things he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do.

While I will never have the visibility that Curtis Martin had as an NFL star, that doesn’t mean that sports cannot be my platform to do good in the world. Notre Dame Athletics has opened up many opportunities for me to work with kids and spread the gospel through sports. Specifically, I have been able to do this with my involvement with Hope Ministries’ homeless shelter in downtown South Bend.  If it was not for lacrosse, I would never have even known about this amazing charity.

Just like coaching is a ministry, being an athlete is about ministering as well. So while I still stress out about sports and competition, I think this verse helped me realize that there is a lot more to sports than winning and losing games or races.  With only selfish motives, sports will end up leaving you empty.  But if you look at it with the perspective of a ‘1st Corinthian Champion’ you will receive a bigger prize than any championship win could bring you.