Should Athletic Competitiveness Be Important to Christians?
I’ve been heavily involved in a church community for my entire life. From being a child who was told to stop roughhousing in the sanctuary after a sermon to now being employed by a church, it’s a lifestyle I’ve always loved.
Whether I was a child playing sports or an adult coaching them, one sentiment has always been a pain point for me. In the Christian community, there can be an attitude of, “Winning and losing in sports doesn’t really matter. There are more important things to worry about.” I want to first say I understand where they’re coming from. There can be an Ecclesiastes-esque wisdom to life when considering what’s truly important. Also, in the absolute literal sense, yes, there are more important things.
But I do want to challenge that thought because it can ultimately diminish work ethic and competitiveness. The reason is that it can cause people to not give their best in the name of “Why does it matter anyway?” It can make Christian athletes appear soft or apathetic. So hang with me here as I dive into why coaches and athletes should always work hard for success, even if they have professed faith in Jesus Christ and know that, in the grand scheme of life, sports shouldn’t be their number one priority.
Bible Verses Addressing Work Ethic as a Faith-Based Priority
Colossians 3:23–24
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Both of these passages are fantastic and could stand alone in addressing the importance of Christians being hard-working competitors.
In the world of sports, the leadership hierarchy is simple: Coach → Player. Players are inherently expected to work hard for their coach. They’re supposed to do what the coach says and respect their authority. But we’re human. We doubt. We get jealous and resentful. Those emotions often reduce our desire to work hard for a coach or even a team. Our effort can become like one of those heartbeat monitors going up and down that we see on TV shows.
“I’ll work hard if…”
The athlete’s human mindset becomes transactional. We subconsciously trade hard work for reward. The reward being playing time or a role on the team. When the desired reward is removed, both ends of the transaction are often terminated. We decide what deserves our effort. We decide if it’s worth it. Ultimately, apart from God, we will always look out for ourselves.
But what if we applied those two verses mentioned above to our athletic careers? What if we changed the hierarchy to God → Coach → Player? Instead of playing for a temporary leader, you play for an eternal Savior. That changes the entire equation. The human elements of jealousy and bitterness would no longer dictate your effort. It rewires your mindset from “I can’t believe Coach is making me work out at 6 a.m.” to “I’m giving God my best today, even if I’m tired.”
There would no longer be human-to-human transactions. Instead, the mindset becomes: “Even if I don’t play, I am working for the Lord, not for human approval.” As a result, we would respect our coaches more. Why? Because the Bible tells us to respect authority and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We root for the team regardless of our role. We respect our coach because he/she is in charge. We cheer on our team because that’s what we would want if the roles were reversed.
Those verses above say that no matter what you’re doing, whether it’s a Bible study, school class, job, or sport, you should work at it as hard as you possibly can. Why? Because it brings glory to God. God created you intentionally. There were no accidents. And if He created you to compete as an athlete, then when you give your ultimate effort and compete to the best of your ability, it honors His creation. He receives the glory when you work in His name. That’s why you owe it to your team and yourself to compete with everything you have, even though the score of the game doesn’t appear on a scoreboard in heaven.
Let’s look at another reason why Christians should be hard workers, even in the realm of sports: God disapproves of laziness. God created humans to work, not to lounge around. Adam was created and immediately given work to do. Again, work honors the Lord.
Proverbs 13:4
“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.”
Proverbs 6:6
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!”
We can glean from these proverbs that a life of laziness offers nothing but emptiness. You create a void in your purpose, even in sports. How do I know that? Because everything and everyone is a creation of God—including sports. We are to be like the ant. Ants are notoriously hard workers. They never stop. When one task is done, they move on to the next. God calls us to be diligent no matter what we’re doing.
To wrap up my thoughts, I’ll say this: Not only should Christian athletes be hard workers, they should set the tone for what hard work looks like. Because they are working to honor their Lord and Savior, not a temporary gain. It’s not “just a meaningless sport.” It’s a way to honor the Lord by doing what He created you to do.
God Bless
Hunter Price
