The Christian Approach to Sports

By now you are probably tired of hearing about the blasphemy and mockery of Our Lord that took place at the Olympic opening ceremonies. I know I am. It was an egregious display and set the tone for the whole event, an event that I have avoided in its entirety but for a clip here or there that is shared on social media. I have never been a huge Olympic fan, but I have been a lifelong athlete and have always looked to the Olympics with keen interest in a couple of events, like the 100-meter sprint and Rugby Sevens. 

However, the blasphemy that began the games is an occasion to reflect on not only the absurdity of how an anti-God culture has infiltrated spectacles on the world stage but also an opportunity to consider the value of sports in the Christian life.

In our post-Christian world sports are, in many ways, worshiped like idols, and professional athletes have taken the place of saints and true heroes in the eyes of our children. I can remember spending hours and hours going over the history of great hockey players as a child, memorizing everything I could about Guy Lafleur and Maurice Richard and making sure I never missed the morning highlights of the previous night’s NHL action. When football became my obsession, I did the same with NFL players and the history of Super Bowls, etc. 

Of course, there is nothing intrinsically evil with admiring great athletes for their abilities and accomplishments, as we understand that a great amount of natural virtue is required to excel in sports at the highest levels. When we see an athlete raise the MVP trophy or the championship cup, we naturally admire the man for his years of sacrifice and dedication to his craft; and we recognize that he is, in a way, above other men because of what he has done. This admiration is, at root, very healthy and acts as a healthy antidote to the egalitarianism that plagues our meritless age. As an aside, I have never seen the DEI fanatics complaining about the racial makeup of the NFL or NBA, although I have seen them complain about the “whiteness” of the NHL…go figure.

At any rate, although this inclination to herald sports as a great thing is based on a healthy impulse, we must also admit that sporting culture has gone far beyond the cultivation of natural virtue and the admiration thereof. Without even considering the fact that Super Bowl halftime shows have become iterations of Bunyan’s rendition of Vanity Fair, the whole event has reached the heights of absurdity on its own. I did watch this year’s Super Bowl, and I must admit I was rooting for the 49ers for two reasons: first, because the Chiefs knocked my Bills out of the playoffs, and secondly, because I was enamored with the underdog story of San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy. 

Nevertheless, when the broadcast began, it was striking to consider the amount of money and pyrotechnics, among other things, that were sunk into the event. As much as I love football, it must be admitted that the Super Bowl has become something like the pinnacle religious event for American culture, wherein the gladiators entertain the whole of the nation for the supremacy of a particular city-state. 

For some, the state of modern sports is enough to write off the whole enterprise of sports as a waste of time or a conciliation with decadent modern culture. This is an understandable response given the depths of depravity and immorality that have infiltrated many professional associations; but I believe it is shortsighted. That sports have been co-opted by a materialist and consumerist culture is not in doubt, but this is the result of an immoral and misguided culture and not the goodness of sports themselves. The popes have not been silent on the subject of sport in the modern age, and their wisdom on the subject is timely.

Pius XI wrote that the Church should concern herself with sports and physical education in general “because it is a means that can serve or harm Christian education.” We recognize that sports and physical education can be harmful to faith and morals, but Pope Pius XI was also clear that participation therein could be an aid to Christian education. Echoing these statements, Pius XII wrote: “What is sport if not a form of education of the body?—This education is closely related to morality. How then could the Church not care about it?”

Reflecting on his predecessor, Pius XII recalled that Pius XI was a “master of mountaineering” and he believed that this sporting background helped form his “intrepid courage” that was necessary for his pontificate during a tumultuous time. According to Pius XII, “the prime purpose and object of sport…[is] to cultivate the dignity and harmony of the human body to develop its health, strength, agility and grace.”

For these reasons, sports have always been seen as an excellent way to foster natural virtue that can be perfected by grace. Who can deny that years spent grinding through difficult training and operating under considerable pressure will help a young man mature and handle other conflicts and challenges? To this day, I do my best to maintain the regimented practices learned from a life of sport, and I must say they have served me well. 

Although training for sport is not salvific in itself, the disciplines of training and dieting do translate well to practices of mortification and penance. On this subject, Pope Pius XII wrote: 

Have you ever noticed the considerable number of soldiers among the martyrs whom the Church venerates? Their body and character formed by the training inherent to the profession of arms, they were at least the equal of their comrades in their countries’ service, in strength, in courage; but they proved themselves to be incomparably superior to them by their readiness to fight and sacrifices [sic] themselves in the loyal service of Christ and of his Church.

NFL athlete Harrison Butker comes to mind as a contemporary figure who has been outspoken about how his sporting life and his religious practice complement one another. NFL kickers, although they are not often seen as the most impressive athletes in football, are nonetheless arguably the most pressurized players on their teams. With the whole world watching, they must kick a ball over a mass of angry humanity through a relatively small space—and there are no “do-overs.” Butker has been very clear that discipline in his spiritual life and discipline in his professional life are simpatico. It should come as no surprise that the man seen praying the Rosary on the sideline is able to operate under extreme pressure while keeping his calm when his number is called.

Again, none of this is to justify the absurdity of a decadent sporting culture. But I do believe the recent shenanigans at the Olympics should be an occasion not for retreat from sports as such but, instead, an opportunity to reflect on the virtue-building character of sports when they are done properly. In this age, we must be very careful about which leagues we put our children in and the time that sports can take away from family life. But there are ways to strike a balance. And when done in the right setting, a life of sporting discipline has been shown routinely to be one of the greatest methods of cultivating hard virtues that will help us to master our physical nature.

[Photo Credit: AFP via Getty Images]