Meaning in Athletics

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

Thoughts: In our culture we value athletics.  But it is clearly losing its appeal,  The real push for athletics in the late 1800s (when both football and baseball truly caught on in America) was to see athletics and bodily enhancement as part of a three legged stool of 1) Mind, 2) Body, and 3) Soul.  Education had taken hold in the rise of the university in the Renaissance and Reformation (yes many universities were founded in the reformation- Geneva for example).  But the body was devalued in the Middle Ages as the part of us that causes lusts for earthly things- including sex, money, and power.  But movements like the Young Men's Christian Association and later Youth For Christ fueled not only the mission movement but also a growing value of the body as a good thing created by God. The Greek and Roman Olympics were revived.  Especially in the South football and religion were wedded with prayers and chaplains.  Now the pendulum has swung the other direction.  Players in the NFL can get fined for a religious gesture of prayer in the end zone (but dances are okay).  The purpose of sports appears to be fame, scholarships (the mind), and maybe big money int he pros.  In the end, if we cannot appreciate the God who made the body, the appreciation of the body grows selfish and shallow.  But there is a real joy and purpose when we not just glorify ourselves with our bodies, but glorify God. 
    Paul had his priorities right- physical training is of some value.  It is temporal and short.  Education also has value.  But one day we will have to give up our minds and give up our great bodies.  We will lose our minds and we will lose our bodies.  But let us not lose our souls.  Godliness has values in all things- enhancing our minds with a purpose here and now;  enhancing our bodies so that we do all our training for a higher purpose - to point upward.  There is a complete joy when we add the joy of spirit to the joy of mind and body.  We knew that in the early 1900s, and have somehow squandered and squelched that joy today.  But the joy of living a life of purpose and meaning is still there for those who would claim it in Jesus.  

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you made me, body-mind- and soul.  Let all that I am point to you.  May my life be a life of meaning and love that reflects your call and your love for me.