Compete as a Christian or don’t compete at all

This was something I read by Stuart Wier, I thought it was worth passing on:

Scott Reavily in his MPhil thesis on competition, came to the conclusion that for the Christian: "the case against competition is more compelling than the case for it". If he is right, then Christians had better get out of sport.

If he is right Christians need not only to stop playing sport but also to stop doing business or entering politics as they will be obliged to allow their opponents to win every time! It is our view that Christians can and must stay in sport and face the tensions head on.

I believe, however, that the challenge for the Christian competitor is to bring a higher quality of competition into sport. That is the crux of the issue we are addressing. Christians are to take God’s world of sport and regain it for his glory. The world of sport, in Calvin’s phrase should become a "theatre of God’s glory". Christians are to be fully engaged in competitive sport, using their God-given talents to the full, giving 100% commitment to the contest. At the same time that commitment is to be given in a spirit of loving one’s neighbour as oneself.

There have been many examples of treating one’s opponent with love in the history of sport. For example, Eugenio Monte removing the bolt from his own bob and giving it to the UK team whose bolt had broken in the 1964 Winter Olympics – ultimately sacrificing his own gold medal chance; or tennis player Nduka Odizor lending an opponent a pair of his grass court shoes before playing him in a tournament.

I suggest that the Christian is to compete with three attitudes:

that competitive sport, like everything else for the Christian should be an act of worship;

that we are to love our neighbour (ie our team mate, opponent and the officials) as ourselves; and

that as Christ’s representatives we must play Christianly.

What better arena is there in which to exhibit the love of Christ than sport, as players love team mates as themselves, as they care for each other and make sacrifices for each other?

Accepting defeat as not the end of the world, and being content to have given 100% for God, may be a radical concept. It is also how Christians need to express their Christian faith amidst the challenges of professional sport.

Embracing Accusation

I feel like such a failure sometimes. I feel like I keep failing Christ, sometimes it really gets me down. There is a passage in Galatians 3 that states that if we do not follow the instructions in the Bible then we are damned, we are cursed! But, the passage does not end there, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by being a curse for us! I thought this was such a good reminded when I read this. There are so many times when I wonder where the heck my life is going. I feel like I am wandering aimlessly, and am not being of any use to anyone, let alone God, I fail and fall so often!

Then I went to the Shane & Shane concert and bought one of their CDs, I have been listening to one song in particular, "Embracing Accusation." This is such an amazing song. It starts with the devil preaching over the singer, saying that we are cursed and are hopeless. But, this is the beginning of the gospel! We are hopeless, we are cursed, we can not save ourselves, we are failures. But, that is not the end (as the end of the song is Christ singing the rest of the gospel message, louder and more powerful than the devil's accusation), Christ has saved us! This is such a powerful song... send shivers down my back each time!

When we feel useless and hopeless, these accusations from the devil that we can not gain our salvation, think about how this is the beginning of the glorious message from Christ! That it is Christ who saves us, there is nothing that we can do, it is all Christ!

Christ wants to use us as broken people, He wants to redeem us and use us for His glory!

The devil preaches the beginning of the gospel over us, that we are failures. But, he leaves out the refrain of the gospel, that JESUS SAVES!!!!

Our Value Part IV- We are Christ's Ambassadors

Well, I figured I could start this last installment with a bit of an update. So, as I stated earlier in these blogs... I am unemployed right now, and just trying to get my house in order again.
I will probably just work construction for the summer (while continuing to apply for jobs and seek direction for the fall), and get involved in a church in Saskatoon. I am excited to pick a church and get involved! I miss having that kind of community. It was an awesome year here though, I definitely grew a ton and learned a lot about myself, in some ways that I had not expected to! It was really cool to have the community here... but, now it is gone and I do not know where I fit. Feels really strange, to go from having so many people around and having that community and basically my whole life was wrapped up in this little college. And now it is gone and I need to kind of figure out my life again, figure out where I belong. Very strange feeling. I hope that I can find a community of sorts this summer... or else it could be a long, lonely summer... maybe I should have found a place to live in Saskatoon!

Well, I had a good evening last night. I went to the Starfield concert... I really enjoyed Shane & Shane. They were incredible! I wish that they would have been the headliners, I didn't want their set to end. I bought a few of their CDs, and DVDs came with the CDs, so my music DVD collection is starting to really grow, which I enjoy. I really enjoyed the worship experience. It was nice to see so many people at the concert who I knew as well. A few of us went out for something to eat after, which was nice. I have had some really cool times the last while just listening to music and reading my Bible... so needed. I will have more insights in the next while from what God has been speaking to me about in what I have been reading.

But, the last of this series of mine... haha. I must say that many of my thoughts were inspired from what I learned at Athletes In Action's National Training Camp a few years ago... really changed my life in many ways!

We are Christ’s ambassadors! (2 Chor. 5:20- We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.)

The definition of ambassador is:

1: an official envoy; especially : a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment

2 a: an authorized representative or messenger b: an unofficial representative

This is an honour, we are the personal ambassador of Christ (His representatives!)

You can have confidence to go into any room, with any group of people and not feel small. It is their privilege to have you in their lives, because you were sent by the King of this Universe!

He will send us prepared if we are His ambassadors! (2 Chor. 3:5-6- Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.)

We are already able to deliver, He has made us competent!

We often feel inadequate, but Christ has made us adequate as His ambassadors to do what He has called us to do!

So, I would like to finish off this set of blogs to affirm our value in Christ.

Here are a few things that highlight who/what we are in Christ (I remembered this list from Athletes In Action National Training Camp a few years ago and keep it as a reminder for me daily.):

1) I am Alive with Christ – no longer dead!

2) I am Set Free from Sin – no longer a slave

3) I am a Child of God – no longer an enemy

4) I am Privileged – no longer a stranger

5) I am a Citizen of God’s Household and an Heir – no longer separate from Christ

6) I am an Ambassador of Christ

7) I am a new Creation

8) I am Worth the Blood of His Son

9) I am Not Worthy… But am Not Worthless… I am Loved!

10) In Christ I am an MVP… Most Valued Person (couldn't resist a sports one!)

The theme at our Youth Retreat here at Bethany this year was "Unboxed and Dreaming big," sometimes we view ourselves as so unworthy, and not worth as much as we are in Christ. We are Christ’s ambassadors! He has given us these dreams, and will equip us for them!

If anyone actually reads this I would love to get responses of what your dreams are! He has given us each big dreams, and we often think they are impossible, but nothing is impossible in Him and He has given you your dreams for a reason. I think verbalizing it is an important step! Some of us have verbalized our dream, but we need to remember the commitments we made to Christ!

Share your dreams with someone and encourage others to share their dreams with you. And then affirm those dreams in each other. Christ values us so much and His plans for out lives are so much grander than we could ever comprehend!

Lets affirm each other in our abilities and dreams…

Our Value Part III- A bit of a frustrated rant

Well, I mentioned that I had an unexpected visit last night. My brother, Byron, pulled in at about 11:30 pm last night. We talked till about 1:30am, and I got to sleep at about 2:30 am... let me tell you that waking up to have breakfast with him before he continued his journey was difficult, 7:30am felt like 5:00am! I am not used to late nights anymore. But, it was really nice to see him again... I hadn't seen him since Christmas, December 27th to be exact! He went to the Philippines to do missions, and just got back on the 16th of April. I am definitely praying for him, for wisdom, strength and direction. I wish I would of taken a picture to commemorate the visit!
Anyway, part three of my four part series! haha

I mentioned my singleness earlier. It has been interesting seeing how people have treated me as a single man in my mid 20s, especially as I have moved around from place to place the last few years. It has been kind of frustrating, because every time I move to a new place, like when I went to Bible College, then to Regina, then to work at camp, then to Trinity Western and finally here, every time I moved people would say, “Jadon, I am so excited for you. I have this feeling that you are going to find the woman of your dreams in Regina or Langley, etc.” In the Christian culture I find that people are led to believe that they are not as valuable if they are single! This is such a lie! You even look in churches. There is a Young Adults group until 23 years old, and then young marrieds, and then singles who are above 30 years old… what about those of us who are still single at 25… we do not fit and everyone is trying to find someone for us, or feels bad for us!

There is nothing wrong with being single! God has a plan for each one of us, and we are so valuable, whether single or not! I wonder if I would have went to Regina if I had met a woman at FGBI, or to Trinity if I had met someone in Regina or here now! I hate this concept of, “You’ll be OK, Jadon, you will find someone and then will be complete.” We are given the impression that we are complete when we find that special someone. I am more than OK if I am single, my value is found in Christ! Don’t get me wrong, I pray that God will bring the right woman into my life, but that cannot be where my value is found! I want to encourage you all, no matter where you are at relationally, not to put your value in relationships, but in Christ.

You are absolutely complete in Christ and have the power to walk in His truth by faith!

2 Chor 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Nothing can increase or deplete our value!

Our Value Part II- We are so Valuable in Christ

OK, so I had an interesting... quite productive day... back in November I had my car recalled. I guess the cruise control could start my car on fire. Well, they didn't have the part, so they just uninstalled it. And finally today I figured I had a free work day to get that fixed (since I do not have a job now!). So, I have cruise control now! I love it!
Then I went into the city and dropped my guitar off to get serviced. When I bought it there was a package where I could get it serviced once this year. So, I am guitarless for the next week. Then I went and got my oil in my car changed, and then went across the street and got my cell phone looked at. The screen on the outside stopped working. So, they are sending it off to get looked at and gave me a loaner. I definitely like my phone a lot better than this loaned one! At least I had the presence of mind to get my contacts transferred before they took it from me! Funny is, I had been texting my brother for a while before that, and I handed my phone to the young gal, and I guess while she was looking at it he had texted me the following message, "I love you!" haha, so she had been smiling at me lots the whole time and kind of shifted a bit then. When I looked at it to turn off all my alarms I checked the messages and saw that one from him... I explained it to her and she laughed and said, "Close loving family eh!"
Then I went to Parables bookstore and bought several CDs (some that I had wanted for a while... the new Kevin Max CD "Blood" and some cheap ones that brought back memories Paul Wright and Bleach) and two tickets to the Shane and Shane concert (I want to see them more than the headliners, Starfield).
And now my other brother, Byron is going to stay over night tonight on his round about way to visit friends.
I should probably go back to the house and see if he is there yet, but here is the next part of my talk about value:

A question that I think needs to be asked is Where is our value found?

Let me get a little vulnerable with you guys.

I grew up in an amazing, loving Christian family. But, looking back, I can see that my value was not based on Christ, and I still struggle with this.

One example is how I would often base it on things like trying to get the best marks. If I didn’t get 100% on a math exam I would be so mad at myself.

Or if I struck out in baseball or missed a breakaway in hockey or a serve in volleyball I would rip myself apart. My play would just plummet and my belief in my own value would be awful. My basis for doing stuff was often to prove others wrong and to show them that I was good at something!

Or, as many of you know, I have been single for 25 years. There have been times where I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Like if I am not good looking enough, or muscular enough, or if my personality just bugs people! I think I put my value in people liking me and I was often not myself. I would try to be the jokester, the storyteller and try to be friends with everyone, but as I moved around I noticed that I haven’t had very many strong friendships that endured. It bothers me that I do not have many people who I have kept in contact with.

But, a few years ago I went to AIA National Training Camp and they spoke about the value we have in Christ. It hit me so hard! This concept is something that I knew, but hadn’t hit my heart until this point and it has freed me up in so many ways… I definitely still struggle with my value and with confidence in who I am, but I am constantly reminded of where my value truly lies.

I want to encourage you all that you are invaluable! There is nothing on this earth that is as valuable as you! Think about that, there is no amount of money, or gold, or silver or diamonds that can be used to purchase you or determine your value! You were bought at the highest price possible, with Christ’s blood! Let that sink in. Nothing that you do can make you more valuable, because you are the most valuable thing on this earth! And nothing you do can make you decrease in value, because Christ has paid for you, and in His eyes nothing can decrease His love for you, you are still His beloved and nothing can take away your value. He paid for you with His blood! That is the ultimate price.

To put this into context. Think of the most famous musician in the World, for instance Bono from U2. He is no more valuable than a person like me who is plucking away at the guitar and am happy if I can tune it properly! Or the greatest athlete who, in the championship game of his or her respective sport almost single handedly wins the championship. Or even a person who does all the right things in church and in the community, the person who looks like the perfect Christian. He or she has not gained in value by their performance.

Or from the other perspective, say you have an audition with a dance or music team, and you just bomb it, or you have an opportunity to win the big game for your team and blow it, or you finally get the nerve to talk to that hansom guy or beautiful woman and you get shut down hardcore! Or even the sins that we have committed, no matter how bad they are, Christ has paid for them. Your value has not been decreased, because it cannot be decreased! You are still the most valuable thing on this earth.