Everyone who has played on a sports team can think of a game where nothing went right. I think of one specific basketball game where nothing seemed to go our way. Our shots were not falling, the refs were not making the calls we wanted them to, and the scoreboard was not in our favor. It’s games like this that require me to have a deeper reason for why I play.
If I play only to win, the whole team fails. If I play to make myself look good, I am never satisfied. Even if I play to have fun, it’s nearly impossible to find joy in a game like that. So, is it all for nothing? Why have I spent so many years of my life playing sports?
Being a part of athletics at FLBC has given me a reason for why I play, different from any other team I have been on. Playing on Christ-centered volleyball and basketball teams has taught me how to live on mission in all I do as Paul says in Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
The team culture at FLBC is about more than the results on the court, rather, we are taught to “live on mission”. Hebrews 12:1-2a says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”
Whether in another country or on the court, as Christians, our lives are a mission field to shine the light of Jesus. When my eyes are fixed on Him, I show Christ to the other team, refs, and audience. It is through the Holy Spirit in me that I can live my life for Him.
It is a relief to know that games like I mentioned earlier do not define us, but we are set apart because of our identity in Jesus and His word. We can fix our eyes on Christ and know that we are not playing for ourselves but for the glory of Christ. As 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “And He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
Faith Peterson
FLBC Class of 2025
First published by Ambassador Publications, Free Lutheran Bulletin Service, 2025
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