I recently reviewed Game Day for the Glory of God on this site. I continue to recommend the book to many friends for its gospel-centered practicality. It is an extremely helpful book.
I was able to catch up with my friend and author Stephen Altrogge and ask him some additional thoughts about his book. Stephen is a student at The Pastor’s College in Gaithersburg, MD. You may also recognize Stephen’s name from some of the Sovereign Grace music albums. He also blogs at The Blazing Center.
-Why do you think this book is important?
Sports play a massive role in the lives of so many Christians. We love to watch, talk, and play sports with intense passion. Unfortunately, I think that many times we (I include myself here) do these things from a Biblically uninformed perspective. We play and watch and talk without considering how we might glorify God. In this book I sought to answer the question of how a Christian can love sports in a way that glorifies God.
-What sports did you/do you play?
Baseball from ages 9 to 19. Now I regularly play pickup basketball, and some sweet church league softball and volleyball.
-There are a lot of books and programs that seem aimed to integrate God with sports in a way that improves motivation or performance for the athlete. In reading your book it is clear that you are after something a bit higher, perhaps even cosmic, than participation in a game.
To be honest, my book probably isn’t going to improve your game much. And really, that wasn’t my goal. There’s lots of books written by professional athletes that can teach you how to shoot a better jump shot. I’m more interested in the connection between God and the game. I want to know how to play hoops (either well or poorly!) and watch Tiger Woods in a way that makes God smile. I want to know what God cares about when I lace up my cleats. That’s really what I was trying to accomplish in the book.
-There is no question that the sports industry is an idol for many. The Bible tells us not only to put off sin but also to put on righteousness. In terms of sports, how do you put off idolatry and put on righteousness?
Wow, big question. I probably can’t give you a full answer but I can at least offer some thoughts. I think it’s crucial that we identify from scripture what really matters to God on the playing field. In scripture it’s clear that humility matters to God. That means I need to put off pride and put on humility when I step onto the playing field. Scripture also tells me that God cares about self-control. That means putting off anger and putting on self-control when I’m playing football. Hopefully those examples are helpful.
-There are a lot of faithful Christians who are working with coaches and athletes on high school and college campuses, how can this book help them?
I would hope that the Christian athlete would come away from the book with two things. First, a deep sense of gratefulness to God for the gift of sports. Let’s face it, sports are a blast, and thanksgiving is one way of glorifying God when playing sports. Second, an awareness that sports present many opportunities to grow in godliness. Sports often expose the true motives and desires of our hearts, and in turn they give us the opportunity to put sin to death and grow in righteousness.
Coaches working with Christian athletes have a unique opportunity to teach their players about what truly matters to God. That winning, although important, isn’t the end all. That bringing honor to God is what truly matters when one steps into the batters box. That there are glorious truths that supersede the win loss record at the end of the year.
Coaches working with non-Christian athletes also have a unique privilege: telling athletes about Jesus.
-Self-righteousness through legalism is a danger for all of us. As someone who is a self-diagnosed ‘fanatic’ of the Steelers, how do you deal with the amount of emotional and mental attention that you give your team and the ever present nagging of your heart that this is not sanctifying?
Still working on this one. In fact, just today my Steelers got mercilessly beaten by the Eagles. As my emotional anguish started to rise I had to remind myself that in terms of eternity, it really didn’t matter. I had to fight the temptation to invest my emotional hopes in the victory of my team. So this is one God’s still working on in me. I want to learn to love the game without worshiping the game.
-You write in your book about the issue of passion. Why do you believe it is important for fans and athletes to be passionate?
God made us to be passionate people with real emotions. I don’t think that it honors God or serves my teammates if I only give 50% on the playing field. When I don’t work hard on the field, I’m really saying that I don’t care about the hard work of my teammates. At times playing without passion is simply playing selfishly.
I don’t think I would say that someone must be a passionate fan. After all, some people just don’t like sports. I would say though that the joy we receive from watching sports really is a gift from God, and that we should regularly thank God for the joy of sports.
-What is your MO on the basketball court?
Either a pullup jumper or strong post moves. I like to think of myself as a tall, skinny, much less talented Shaq. But I can make free throws.
You can pick up your discounted copy of Game Day for the Glory of God at one of the following stores…
Also, here is a video from Stephen talking about the book…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Tsylytti4]