Dear Friends,
Sometimes it is good to look back on your life and reminisce a bit, and this morning I did just that. From 2000-2008 I had the privilege of being chaplain and athletic director for Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale where I was also one of, yes, 17 pastors. I was there from the school’s inception in 2000, and I was blessed to be on the ground floor in the school’s academic and athletic development. Today with almost 2000 students, it is one of the largest Christian schools in the country and the athletic program has flourished producing a number of Florida state championships in football, baseball and basketball, and track and field. Little did I envision how successful the school would be become both academically and athletically, and I am grateful for those early years. It was during my eight years at Calvary that I began writing a daily staff devotional, and just this morning I came across one of those devotionals I wrote in 2008. It was especially encouraging to be reminded of not only the academic and athletic impact of the school, but even more importantly of its spiritual witness on the fields and floors of competition.
I share this devotional with you to point out how influential sports can be in shaping and impacting our world for Christ. What follows are the words I shared with the church and school staff as well as what I said to the basketball team I coached.
"God continues to use our wrestling team to win people to Jesus. Coach Steve (Steve Williams was an Olympic Alternate while wrestling at North Carolina State) has trained his grapplers to share their faith with competitors between their matches at tournaments and dual meets, and as a result our wrestlers have led a number of their competitors to Jesus Christ.
Our football team not only prays with our opposition at the mid field following the games, but rather than just a general prayer, players are encouraged to seek out players from the opposing team and get together one on one and pray with and for them individually. God has truly blessed this ministry of prayer. In fact, at one of our games, Dan Marino, the famous quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, whose son was playing quarterback for the opposing team, commented to one of our football parents, that he had never seen a high school team that so impressed him with their sportsmanship.
And as varsity basketball coach, I always ask the opposing coach prior to the game if his team would be willing to pray with us at center court at the conclusion of the game. Our volleyball teams do the same. Sad to say, I have had coaches of opposing schools, both Christian and non-Christian tell me, “We don’t do that kind of thing,” or “we pray in our locker room.” It has become such a normal part of our program that I often take it for granted that most Christian schools engage in this kind of prayer, but we are finding that this is not true and that we are a very small minority of those who do.
At a recent basketball game, we played a team that really challenged us to rise above the level of sportsmanship exhibited by our opponent. One of our players was knocked down while several opposing players clapped in approval, players were grabbed, tripped and kicked in a way that was not only illegal, but should have resulted in technical fouls or even worse, ejection. One of our black players was continually called the “N” word. My heart broke for this young man who was reluctant to make an issue of it, and who in fact had to be prodded to even share the taunting and trash talking to which he was subjected.
I watched in amazement as our players held their tongues and refrained from allowing their opponents to draw them into similar behavior. When my players were knocked down, they got up without saying a word. When they were tripped, held, or yes, even pinched, they didn’t complain. When they were taunted, they failed to respond in kind. I have coached most of my life, but I can honestly say that I was never prouder of any group of young men than I was of them. They shared remarkable poise as they lived out their faith on the court.
I shared the following reflections with them as we met the next day following the game for practice.
I wrote “We are not always going to find players from other Christian or non-Christian schools acting out their faith on the floor. Unfortunately, and it saddens me, there were instances on the floor where opposing players did not act in a Christian manner. Regardless of how teams act and regardless of what they say to us, we must always demonstrate self-control and protect and preserve our Christian walk. You did just that, and I am proud of you for the way you conducted yourself. Coach Sean (my assistant coach) and I are blessed to be your coaches, and we want you to know how very much we desire to see you develop, not just your basketball skills, but the kind of character that enables you to say with the Apostle Paul, ‘“Follow me as I follow Jesus Christ.’”
I then read to them from Hebrews 10: “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes, you were publicly exposed to insult; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated...So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved (Hebrews 10:32-33;35-39).
And by the way CCA athletes don’t just come to pray, they come to play as well, and this fall our six sports’ teams have amassed an almost 75 %-win ratio in all sports in all the varsity sports in which they have participated. Just maybe there is something to this praying and playing.”
It has been 12 years since I wrote the above staff devotional, and I look back with great joy knowing that even today, Calvary Christian Academy, Fort Lauderdale, exemplifies what it means to be a Christian School, not just in the classroom, or on campus, but on the fields and courts of athletic competition. May these kinds of schools continue to flourish for the glory of God.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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