We’ve just come through one of my favorite times of the year in sports affectionately known as “March Madness.” It’s the pinnacle of the college basketball season and this year it lived up to its name. But I bet many of you do not know how it all got started. Most people know that James Naismith invented the game, but most do not know that he invented it with a mission in mind. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, John Murray related the story of how it all began.
James Naismith realized that he could serve the Lord better through sports than through preaching. As a result he took a job as a physical education instructor at the YMCA’s International Training School for Christian Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts. His personal vision was, “to win men for the Master through the gym.” And so in 1891 he set out to invent a new kind of indoor game that could be played by students during the winter season. He tried a variety of games, including variations of football, lacrosse and soccer, all without success. In the end he decided to use elements from all of these games, using a ball that could be easily handled, while combining running, passing and goal scoring without tackling. The result was basketball. Naismith and his athletic director, Luther Gulick, maintained and expected high ethical and moral standards as a reflection of Christ and Christian character by all of those who played, in order to use the game as an evangelistic outreach.
Murray notes that over the 50 years following Naismith’s invention, basketball served as an important evangelical tool. In fact, in 1941 Naismith wrote that “whenever I witness games in a church league, I feel that my vision almost half a century ago, of the time when the Christian people would recognize the true value of athletics, has become a reality.”
Over the years many athletes have chosen to use their ability and skill in sports to honor God and serve as a witness. Actually in recent years so many athletes have been outspoken about their faith that it has actually been a source of irritation for many sportswriters. And college football has actually amended their rules after this past season to prohibit college athletes in the future from any physical display of faith. Chuck Colson has answered that criticism well, “which would you prefer-players known for their faith and good sportsmanship, or players who are arrested for assault or drug use?” Well said Chuck!
So if you have a young athlete in the family, first encourage them to live for God and elevate the things of God over all other sports achievements. Then, as Colson has suggested, you might also tell them the rest of the story of basketball and how and why it was invented as a tool to “win men for the Master through the gym.” And then urge them to make honoring God the goal over scoring a goal, a home run, a basket or a touchdown!
What Do You Think?
