Our Scriptural admonition is to “whether we eat or drink, or whatever you do, do ALL to the GLORY OF GOD” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ). Our sole purpose is to use basketball as a means to bring glory to the one and true living God. John Piper put the purpose of life this way: “God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display His supreme excellence in ALL spheres of life” (including basketball).
Winning is not the “end all” of basketball—excellence for the glory of God is. Excellence is defined as using the gifts God has given you to the fullest extent to show forth the character of God to all peoples, Christians and non-Christians alike.
Playing to win is a Biblical concept. Paul the apostle uses athletics as illustrative of the Christian life and makes the comment that “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize?,” signifying that if one competes in athletics—winning is acceptable.
The reality of living in a world of mediocrity is that when we strive for excellence for the glory of God winning often follows. God gives us seven pillars of fruitfulness in II Peter 1:3-11. These are to be our areas of striving for excellence in all things.
- Excellence-virtue
- Knowledge
- Self-Control
- Steadfastness
- Godliness
- Brotherly Love
- Agape Love
Peter tells us that “If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:8).
Teams that strive for these qualities will bring glory to God and fulfill the purpose of athletics for the follower of Jesus Christ.
Teams that pursue these qualities will:
- Serve one another – esteem others better than self
- Make the one extra pass so your teammate will shine
- Be models of Christian young men for younger players
- Pursue academic with joy and enthusiasm
- Have a passion for the spreading of the gospel, visibly fulfill the gospel, and as Jesus told us, the world will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another (John 13:34 -35)
