The Case Against Sunday Sports Teams

Time to stir things up a bit with some good ol’ fashioned biblical fundamentals. Not fundamentalism, but just fundamentals; the kind of thing every Christian should do but don’t because of convenience or some other sanctified rhetoric.

I have written about this before, but since I received two or three witnesses’ worth of negative responses, I wanted to try again to see if I received more this time. So, with my motivations out in the open, here it is!

In 1981, a movie called “Chariots of Fire” directed by Hugh Hudson told the story of Eric Liddell. Eric was a Scottish Olympic Gold Medalist runner. Eric refused to run in a heat held on Sunday. He lost certain privileges. But you see, Eric was a Sabbatarian. He preferred to honor the Lord’s Day instead of the glory of a gold medal. Now, I don’t want to belittle my audience, especially because the vast majority of you are well-grounded catechists. Still, we should at least affirm that evangelicals have a widespread problem with the fourth commandment. You may disagree vehemently with an interpretation of the fourth commandment, but at least you can give Liddell credit for standing up to his convictions. I suspect we all need a higher view of a commandment whose promise reads something like, “Lots of good things will happen if you keep this one in mind!”

I am not writing to persuade you of Sabbatarianism. There are various shades of it, and some strike me as too strict and flat-out bizarre. But I do wish to convince you–drum roll–that when your children go on travel teams on Sunday, and you conveniently miss the worship of God’s people because of baseball or soccer season, you are violating the clear mandate of the Apostle in Hebrews 10:25 and any decent understanding of church theology and life. You fundamentally fail at the liturgical task of assembling.

Now, I know for a fact that your motives are pure. You want to spend more time with your son/daughter, or you may have aspirations for your children that will not come to fruition unless he plays in these more competitive leagues. Still, I have seen these scenarios played out repeatedly, and here–to quote the kids–is the skinny on it: your children will not be better Christians because they spend more time with you. Your children will grow in their Christian walk because they spend more time with the living God in his assembly. It’s probably one reason I have yet to hear a parent say (after their kid leaves home): “Pastor, I am so grateful we missed all those Sunday services to spend time with my child in those weekend leagues.” The reverse is always true, however.

I am, of course, aware of the things good parents do as an alternative to church worship. Some offer little devotionals, Bible readings, or some virtual option, and some will argue that where two or three soccer teams may be, there is God in the midst of them. This works well in kindergarten exegesis class, but not in the real world of Christian history and B-I-B-L-E. To stand in the gates of Jerusalem is a particular call to a familiar place, not a general call to any place. I suspect COVID hysteria has made that clear: church is church because it is peculiarly and beautifully decorated with people and order and means of grace rightly dispensed and displayed.

It will probably be a hard conversation to have, but as the summer unfolds and the school year draws nigh, I would make a definitive decision to forbid sports activities that would force you and your son to miss the corporate worship. You see, dear brother, families are not built in a baseball field; they are built in the field of the Lord. I know this is hard and will create some tension with the general mood of the home, but I guarantee that down the road, the fruit will be much more enjoyable.