Philippians #2: The Christian Athlete And Humility

Is a Christian athlete or coach to be humble? Does being humble take away one’s edge in being competitive in athletics? Does a Christian who is an athlete or a coach have a pass from the Lord concerning being humble? What does God say about these things?

Last year, during my son’s college spring break baseball tour my wife and I followed around his team and watched all of their games. At one of the games in Indiana, one of the boy’s mom’s had her two year old later-in-life son with her. The boy was along the fence on the left field line, and his mom was throwing a nerf baseball for him to hit with a plastic bat. For only being two, the boy was already showing athletic prowess, hitting the ball maybe one out of four throws. What caught my attention and thoughts though was that every time that she threw the ball to the boy and he swung the bat, whether he hit the ball or not, he threw up his arms up in the air in goalposts like a football fan signaling a touchdown, and he would yell, “Yeah!” You could tell that in his mind he was playing before a huge stadium of people and really enjoying the crowd’s praise. The little tike was cute as a bug and amused all of the parents!

At a very young age kids begin to realize that people who excel at athletics are heroes and the crowds cheer them on. This becomes a major motivator for kids who have the athletic juices flowing within them.

I sometimes joke around and tell people that the only sport that I myself was mediocre at was baseball. Ummmm, the fact is that I was also horrible at the rest of them. But, the same type of motivator was working within me in junior high school and high school when I began playing guitar and got into a rock band because that was a way to get girlfriends. This motivator isn’t limited to sports.

Enjoying praise and recognition becomes a motivator for many athletically gifted, and as they continue to excel the crowds and accolades just get bigger and bigger. If they are part of the statistical few who make it to the pro ranks these athletes begin to find that there is huge worship of the athlete, and what becomes perilous for them is that money, sex, drugs, power, and you name it, are often at their finger tips.

In the NFL, for many years wide receivers have become the biggest glory hounds, and for all but a few their motivation ceases to be for the team but rather all about them. After a touchdown guys used to just spike the football in the end zone, then they began to do the silly dances that drew attention to themselves. Over time these celebrations grew more and more sophisticated (they are finally held somewhat in check today by new rules). In one game after Terrell Owens caught a touchdown pass, he pulled out a sharpie and signed the ball and handed it to his financial advisor seated in a luxury seat in the end zone.

Today, the Terrell Owens’s around the league celebrate their touchdowns by going to a corner of the end zone and expressing to the crowd their greatness while all of the fans encourage their narcissism. Because of the inflated egos of many athletes and their exhibitions, it is no wonder that many around our country have quit watching and attending professional sporting events. We who are Christians know that God is to get all glory.

The emphasis on self and self-glory has all but ruined the entire concept of “the team” in professional sports. I think in many ways our modern free agency has fed these attitudes as well. Athletes are considered naïve and foolish if they don’t go after the biggest buck and leave their team in a quandary for the chance to play for a team that has the ability to buy a championship. In contrast to this attitude of course is the players of old. Great sports organizations of the past have always been those who knew what it meant to build a “team” mentality. After the legendary Red Auerbach’s death a couple of years ago, Bill Walton (a star on Auerbach’s team) was being interviewed on television one night and he said that the thing that had made the Boston Celtics the winningest basketball franchise in history was the fact that every guy in that locker room cared for everyone else in that locker room more than he cared for himself. What a contrast to today’s athlete and the mentality of sports organizations today, with few exceptions.

My son’s college baseball coach has emphasized to his players over and over again that he is not interested in player’s stats because what is important is what the “team” does, and emphasizing or focusing on stats takes away from the “team.” Coach Chuck Knox who once coached the Seattle Seahawks declared before a game one day that he knew that his team was going to win because “you cannot beat 45 guys who are all playing like a team,” and as a footnote they went on to win that game.

In my previous article from the book of Philippians, I discussed the fact that the joy of the Lord is to be the Christian’s strength, and I encouraged us to consider what is the source of joy in our life. I mentioned how the Philippians were Paul’s favorite church, one that had a special bond and allegiance to him, and one which hung with Paul through the good and the bad times as well. But, there was a major issue in the church in Philippi that Paul wanted to confront in the book. There was a lack of unity in the church, and in particular there were two women who were leaders but they fought and refused to get along. Paul addresses in the book the importance of humility and being of one mind.

At the beginning of chapter two, Paul asked the Philippians four rhetorical questions for which the assumed answer is affirmative: Is there any encouragement in Christ? Is there any consolation of love? Is there any fellowship of the Spirit? Is there any affection and compassion? He then went on to say that if they conclude that the answer to these questions is true, he in turn admonishes them to: “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

These questions were designed to show how the work of God within the believer’s life is working towards a goal of making him humble and so he will be willing to be in unity and fellowship with the other members of the body of Christ, intent upon one purpose with them.

Paul then continues this theme in verse three of chapter two: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” From this verse we see what the enemies of unity within the church or any group are, “selfishness’ and "pride" or “empty conceit.” These are what kills the team concept whenever they crop up. They are what keeps a bunch of very gift and talented athletes from being able to set aside their selfish interests and ambitions for the betterment of the team.

In verse four he continues his admonishment: “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Finally, Paul places the crescendo on his admonishment using an illustration that we could hardly expect, yet one that is a perfect fit. Beginning in verse five, Paul sets before the Philippians the Lord Jesus as our example of humility and obedience: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Paul tells the Philippians to have the same sort of “attitude” or thinking as the Eternal Son of God, the second personality of the Triune God (God is one being but consists of three persons, each of which are equal in all ways). The eternal Son of God did not hold onto the fact of His being equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, but was willing to lay aside His privileges and throne to come and take on humanity. In the incarnation, God was not limiting His omnipotence and omniscience by taking on human form, for we see that Jesus could control the forces of nature, know the thoughts of men, and even heal someone from a far distance. Rather, He added humanity to it, and became what we refer to as the Godman, fully God and fully man. Yet, He set aside His power and privileges to live as a man.

Consider the infinite greatness and majesty of the Lord, and His humbling of Himself to take on humanity in order to become the Savior of the world and die upon the cross to pay or atone for mankind’s sins. His humbling of Himself would be like one of us deciding to limit ourselves and be born and live our whole life out as a mosquito because of our great love of mosquitoes.

The fact of taking on humanity and living a life here in a finite human body is impressive enough. But, Paul says here that He also became a “bond-servant” (one who freely commits himself to serve as a slave to another), and that He also humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death upon a cross. Obedient in all things to His Father and the Law that He had created, Jesus Christ suffered the most horrible of deaths in going to the cross on Calvary’s hill. Having all power to halt the events, He allowed Himself to be beaten, given thirty-nine lashes, made to carry His cross to the hill, spit upon, railed against, stripped naked, have a crown of thorns pounded into His skull, nailed by His hands and feet to a cross, and even after death have a soldier’s spear thrust into His side to pierce and drain out His heart. Now that is a perfect example of humility. That is our example as Christians for how we are to humble ourselves before God and men.

In case you are wondering whether or not this humility thing is optional for a Christian, it is not. The scripture says that we who belong to Christ have been bought with a price by Him and that our life is not our own (1 Cor. 6:19-20). We who are Christians have given up our rights to the Lord, and we are His servants, servants to obey, bond-servants.

Everyone in the church is responsible to maintain unity. Its not just the responsibility of the leaders or the staff, it is equally each of our responsibility. On any team or group, just one person who puts themselves and their interests and ambitions above the group or team has the potential to destroy the effectiveness of the entire team.

Being humble does not mean that you cannot and should not be competitive in athletics, nor that you lose any competitive edge. But it does mean that you play your sport as unto the Lord, and you give Him the glory for all that you are able to accomplish. Many great athletes of the past have been humble committed Christians (Reggie White-football, the Doctor Julius Erving-basketball, Orel Herschiser-baseball, etc., etc.)

Here is an illustration that ought to serve well as a reminder. The year was 2003. The Cubs hadn’t won a World Series in 95 years, but it was looking like they finally were ready. It was Game 6 of the National League Championship Series and the Chicago Cubs were leading the Florida Marlins 3 to 2 in the series. The Cubs were ahead 3 to 0 in the 8th inning of this game, with one out. Moises Alou was playing the outfield when a fly ball was hit up against the fence just foul. Alou was in position and ready to jump up and snatch the ball just before it went over the fence, but a Cubs fan named Steve Bartman in the excitement of the game and wanting to have a very valuable souvenir for himself, deflected the ball from Alou causing it to land one row into the stands. This would have been the second out of the 8th inning and the Cubs up to that point in the game had great momentum. But, encouraged by Bartman’s interference the Marlins went on to score eight runs in that inning, and the Cubs, who had been leading handily lost the game 8-3, and, eventually lost the series in seven games. It was the actions of just one man, a man who was just a fan, who caused the team to lose all of their momentum, never to gain it back.

After Bartman interfered, the whole stadium started chanting, “Kill him!,” and security had to lead the man out of the stadium for his own protection. Eventually, because of the infamy of his name and image from television, Bartman had to move completely out of Chicago. The same kind of thing that Bartman did can happen in the church or on any team. So many churches and so many teams have been ravished because one member put his selfish interests and ambitions before the team. Sometimes this can happen as easily as Bartman simply sticking his mitt out in a thoughtless instance in time.

Here are some tips for the parents of athletes:

• Christian parents need to get a handle on keeping their son or daughter’s pride in check. They need to encourage their child from the earliest ages to ask themselves regularly what his/her motivation is for what he/she is doing? Why is he/she excelling at their sport?

• When your child emphasizes personal stats over how the team did, the child needs to a talking to.

• Someone once said, “The true test of a man’s humility is not when he is down on his luck but when he is successful!” How does your child act when he/she does well? Does he/she get puffed up and think that he/she is really something?

• How does your son or daughter who is excelling treat the other members on their team, especially the ones whose stats aren’t really that good?

• Is he/she a team player and willing to do whatever the team needs even if it is at the expense of personal stats or even preferences, and even if that might mean sitting the bench for a time or playing a small role? The sacrifice fly, bunt, or ground ball that advances a runner in baseball is all about “team” because it kills personal stats, but it is something that every baseball player must be willing to do.

• Is your child happy when he/she did good but the team loses? Is the child unhappy when the team won but his/her stats suffered? What are your child’s motivations?

David wrote in the Psalms, “Search me O Lord and see if there be any hurtful way in me.” Christian athletes need to allow the Lord to examine their hearts on a regular basis. The real statistic that counts in life is whether or not our lives are pleasing to the Lord. We were created for His glory and to be a grand expression of His grace and mercy in human flesh. We need to glorify the Lord not ourselves in all that we do.