Praising after the battle - Pierre Spies

I saw this tweet this morning by Springbok and Blue Bulls rugby player, Pierre Spies. Pierre is known for being vocal about his faith in Jesus Christ. 

Keeping a balance between praising during battle is a challenge for all athletes who believe. The emotions of the battle, the emotions of the results, win or loose! That's the challenge. Will I praise you win or loose? Will I still praise you in the morning or the evening? 

What is special though about this picture he posted for me is that it includes players of both teams, win or loose, honouring and praising God after the battle. In Acts 1:7-8 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8 NIV)

The question though should be what leads athletes to be able to praise together after a battle, win or loose. 

The question should be were you praising God before the battle or was it just about destruction of the other person. 

The question should be were we praising God in the battle, in the heat of the battle, when we often loose total perspective and our minds in the moment. 

How we do battle for me is more a reflection of our faith, our walk with the Lord, an example to others, a guide to young and old athletes, a compass for the spectator and supporter, rather than just by going down on our knee after the battle. 

Yes this may be seen to watering down the statement Pierre and the other players were making, and that is not the purpose or the point to this post. The point however is are we reflecting the image of Christ, all the time. Are we reflecting the attitude of Christ toward others, all the time. Or do we drop down on our knee 'to praise' but have not shown our praise in the heated battle, how I conduct myself within the respect to the opposition, the rules, ethics and FairPlay of the game? Again I don't know Pierre well at all, so I cannot comment whether this true to him and the other players in the picture. I trust, having heard him share his testimony, however it is true! 

As athletes, and especially athletes that are on prime time viewing and in sports with massive following, you have a huge responsibility on how you praise! As coaches and athletes we have an enormous responsibility, but not only the popular big main stream sports, but in all sporting interactions. 

May our yes be our yes, may our praise be our praise, always. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (Galatians 5:22 NIV)

Sportsmen Showing their Faith

Over the last month i have been pleased and amazed to see high profile sportsmen from high profile sports publicly displaying their beliefs. On two occasions within the period of two weeks I saw two sportsmen wearing t-shirts displaying their love for God.

In the first instance, in the sports section of a local publication in Pretoria, RSA, I saw one of the Blue Bulls (Vodacom Cup) team members, after winning this prestigious competition for developing of young rugby talent in South Africa, wearing a t-shirt (at the trophy handing over ceremony) with the inscription Acts 1 v 8. This fascinated me and lead me to go upstairs and check what the verse said. It read "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (ESV).

What a challenging and inspiring verse. The fact that we as people can receive power from God when the Holy Spirit has come upon us is truly promising and amazing. The real challenge is then to live up to the second part of this verse, to be God's witnesses to the ends fo the earth. Where ever we go to be His witness and to testify of Him and His grace, passion and enduring love for us.

I believe this verse is so applicable to the sports men and women. They truly do often travel to the 'ends of the earth' in their sporting quests. What an opportunity they have to be the testament of faith.

In the second scenario I was watchign the final match of the local soccer PSL tournament. If SuperSport United drew the match they woudl win their innagural domestic football championships. Which they did and after the game the PSL proceeded to hand of the winning teams cheque and the trophy. This was all broadcast live on TV and when they were receiving their trophy I saw that their Captain Ricardo Katza was wearing a different t-shirt and reading it said ("Jesus is Alive"). Once again amazing how he was bold enough to wear this esepcially considering he is the captain and secondly that he was not wearign the club outfit and sponsors logo. Bold yes, but strong for Jesus!

SB