Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• How can CSI help our church?
• What do you mean by the term "Sports Ministry"?
• Is it appropriate for a Christian to be involved in sports and recreation activities?
• Is it appropriate for a church to have a Sports Ministry?
• I thought the Bible said that physical exercise/activity had no value. Is that true?
• Should every church have a Sports Ministry?
• How does a church start a Sports Ministry?

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Q. How can CSI help our church?

Rodger Oswald (biographical information on "About CSI:CSI Staff" page) functions as a consultant via telephone, email or in person. Please check the "Resources, Seminars and Workshops" page for workshops and seminars that could be offered at your church. In addition to personal consulting, CSI offers a wide variety of equipping resources. If you check the "Resources" page, you will discover the instructional audio and videotapes, DVD's  as well as manuals. 

Through the assistance of Rodger and our resources, CSI can help your church gain a vision for sports ministry, help develop a leadership team, and then assist in developing a program as well as action plans for implementing that program. In addition, CSI can help you focus your programs on evangelism and discipleship, and train your coaches and ministry leaders to, truly, shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ.

One other way CSI can help is through our "Links" page that will refer you to other Sports Ministry agencies that could be of assistance.

Q. What do you mean by the term "Sports Ministry"?

While recognizing different points of view, in all Church Sports International literature and lectures, the word "sports" (in conjunction with the word "ministry") refers to any and all activities within the continuum of simple play to highly organized and competitive sports. It would include games, recreational activities, outdoor activities, fitness activities, team and individual sports, and general participatory contests and/or activities. "Sports" should be gender inclusive, age inclusive, and ability inclusive as well as intensity varied, and activity varied.

The word "ministry" has an Old and New Testament understanding of service or serving; therefore, a Sports Ministry is any sports or recreation activity that lends itself to serving God, the church (building up the believer), or the lost. The church should never consider that it has a Sports Ministry merely because there are activities. It is the combination of taking those activities and consciously planning to glorify God, edify the saint, and reach out to the unsaved that constitutes "Sports Ministry."

CSI Resources available:  A more extensive treatment of "Sports Ministry" as a term, as well as a means of accomplishing spiritual goals, can be found in the "Biblical Foundations of Sports Ministry and "Sports Ministry and the Church" manuals. Corresponding instructional audio and video tapes are also available. Please check the Resource page of this web site.)

Q. Is it appropriate for a Christian to be involved in sports and recreation activities?

If what you mean by appropriate is, does involvement in sports and recreation violate a principle or command of God, the answer is "no." It violates no command of God. Of course to say that means we need to define the word "sin" and then to determine if participation in sports and recreation falls into that definition. The word "sin" in early Greek was actually an archery term; it literally meant to "miss the mark." When an archer shoots at a target, he aims at the "bull's eye" - the center of the target. When the arrow landed anywhere else, the archer "sinned" - he missed the mark. The term began to be used in Christendom when people began to miss the mark - the absolutes of God found in His character or His commands found in Scripture. In other words, when I live my life contrary to the precepts, counsel or commands of God (the center of the target for my life), I have "missed the mark, I have sinned."

When involved in a sporting or recreational event, it is not the event that will determine whether the participant has sinned . . . sin will be the result of my motivation for participation, my actions within participation, or my attitudes after participation. A game is not intrinsically sinful; however, if one participates in order to achieve self-worth, that person has denied the value God places on him through the sacrifice of His Son. That is sinful. If the participant acts out violently or speaks wrathfully during participation, it is not the game that has sinned; the participant has. If the participant becomes haughty and proud because of victory, or despondent over defeat, again it is not the game that has caused this, but an ungodly response to the outcome of the game. The participant has sinned.

As long as the participant can maintain his or her Christian witness and bring glory to God through the participation (Colossians 3:23), no Christian is constrained to avoid sports and recreation.

CSI Resources available:  For further treatment of this subject, please check the manual and tapes on "Competition and Christianity."

Q. Is it appropriate for a church to have a Sports Ministry?

Once you have reconciled the issue of the individual being involved in sports and recreation, you can address the issue of the church formally integrating a ministry through these activities. To determine the propriety, you must try to find Scripture that supports or defends the place of the activity in the church. This creates a difficult proposition in that Scripture is silent about the issue of sports and recreation. The Bible simply does not condone nor condemn Sports Ministry. Of course the Bible is equally silent about television or movies; however, we can find biblical principles that will guard and guide us regarding which TV shows or movies we ought to watch or how much we ought to watch them. The same is true of Sports Ministry. We have to find principles that give us the latitude or freedom to use this form of ministry.

As one reads the Book of Acts as well as the Pastoral Epistles (I and II Timothy and Titus), it is apparent that God has goals for the local church. While individual ministries may debate what is included and which is the most important, it is apparent that the church is to be involved in three things: WORSHIP, EDIFICATION (the building up of the believer; participating in God's plan for the believer to be conformed to the image of His Son), and EVANGELIZATION.

Based on Paul's "declarations of freedom" in I Corinthians and Galatians, it appears that as long as neither the individual nor the church violates any clear command of the Lord, there is freedom in accomplishing the work God has given the church to do. The key for the local church is to find what activities allow her to be most effective in accomplishing worship, edification and evangelization. Certainly the freedom and latitude that Paul expresses is available to the church for the inclusion of sports and recreation in order to glorify God and extend His kingdom.

CSI Resources available:  For further treatment of this subject, as well as an examination of the principles that create liberty for Sports Ministry, please see the manuals "Sports Ministry and the Church" and "Biblical Foundations of Sports Ministry," as well as similarly entitled audio and video tapes from the Resources page of this website.

Q. I thought the Bible said that physical exercise/activity had no value. Is that true?

There are some who incorrectly interpret I Timothy 4:8, stating that this verse indicates we should not be involved in any physical activity - including sports. However, this is not what I Timothy 4:8 says. Paul is writing to Timothy who is pastoring a church in Ephesus; Ephesus is right across the Aegean Sea in close proximity to Greece - a country that revered the body at the expense of the spirit. Paul is trying to help Timothy to understand and teach proper priorities in one's life. So, he says in verse 7, "discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." The word "discipline" also means train. In verse 8, Paul does not say that physical exercise has no value; rather he says it has some value. HOWEVER, of greater value is godliness - which also comes from discipline or training. Therefore, Paul would encourage both types of training to take place, but that godliness should always have a higher priority.

It would be inconsistent of Paul to warn someone away from physical activity here and then to challenge us to "run the Christian race" as well as to commit ourselves as an athlete - ultimately that our entire life may glorify God.

Q. Should every church have a Sports Ministry?

No, just as every church should not try to develop every ministry that other churches have. The indicators that a church ought to consider a Sports Ministry is when God places a vision for this sort of ministry in the minds and hearts of the leadership, when God has raised up a leader for this ministry, when God has placed gifted people within the congregation who have an interest in sports and understand how that interest can be used to serve the purposes of God within that church, and when certain circumstances lend themselves to the successful launching and maintaining of a Sports Ministry (e.g. finances, facilities, leadership, congregational "buy-in").

Q. How does a church start a Sports Ministry?

The previous question identifies a few critical issues as a church considers initiating a Sports Ministry; those, plus others offered here, present a sequential process for starting:

1. Endorsement and embracing of the ministry by church leadership (Pastor, Staff, Governing Body)
   
2. Visionary leader (Specific gifts/talents for this person would include a heart for the lost and a desire to see people grow in their faith, a background and/or familiarity with sports and recreation, people skills for the purpose of recruiting, teaching skills in order to train those recruited, and organizational and administrative skills in order to run the programs)
   
3. Survey the congregation in order to identify areas of interest for participation as well as potential leadership.
   
4. Observe the community in order to determine the activities, events, and/or sports to which people gravitate.
   
5. Based on the survey and observation, consider the three major determiners for offering an event, league or activity: FINANCES, FACILITIES, PERSONNEL - Leadership and Participants.
   
6. Construct a program based on the information from #3-5.
   
7. Develop a strategy for evangelism and discipleship for each program initiated.
   
8. Promote the ministry and the individual programs.
   
9. Organize and administrate the programs.
   
10. Evaluate and modify as needed.

For additional information, please check CSI resources for the "Starting a Sports Ministry in the Local Church" manual as well as pertinent audio and videotapes.