Sports Ministry as an Identity
“Identity always assumes an other to whom we are presenting ourselves and from who we seek affirmation.”
“If you are not your own but belong to Christ, then there is nothing you can do or must do to justify your life.”
- Alan Noble, You Are Not Your Own
“What are one or two things going on in your ministry that you can share with the group?”
The room was filled with chaplains and sports ministers from the West Michigan area and I was third in line to answer the question. As a historically slow processor, my brain struggled to come up with something quickly. After populating a list of potential stories or highlights to share, I quickly narrowed the list down to what I felt were the two most important. Actually, let me rephrase that…I narrowed the list down to the stories that made “my ministry”—and me—look the most impressive.
Why did I do this? Because the cry and craving of my heart (along with everyone else in the world) is to be accepted, valued, loved, and considered worthy. And so I often chase this validation through vocational ministry. Alan Noble says in his book, You Are Not Your Own, “With every piece of information we share, we define and validate our identity.” We’re validated by the stories we live and the stories we tell. And sports ministry is one of the “best” vocations to justify ourselves in front of others. After all, what’s more impressive than getting to invest in the athletes that our society collectively worships? The need to validate myself is hardly limited to small group sharing with fellow chaplains. As it turns out, there are a myriad of different ways sports ministers like me can minister for identity instead of ministering from identity.
If the phrase “ministering from identity” is new to you, this is how I would describe this posture in ministry: When we minister from identity, our thoughts, words, and actions reflect an understanding that God has already fully validated us in Christ, therefore, we don’t need to chase validation through what we do.
With that said, here is a list that I have struggled with at various points along my sports ministry journey. If you work in sports ministry, maybe you have wrestled with these realities too.
Sports Ministry FOR Identity vs Sports Ministry FROM Identity
We minister FOR identity when the stories we share are inspired by the question: how might I be most glorified? We minister FROM identity when the stories we share are inspired by the question: how might God be glorified?
We already covered this in the intro. But this is a good time to clarify something about lists like this. These types of “this or that” lists are intended to provide extremes. In my experience, I rarely find myself at either end of polarized options. I tend to lean towards one of the sides. So, even as you read these remaining examples, a good question to ask might be: which side do I lean more toward?
We minister FOR identity when we obsess about taking/posting pictures to social media (or prayer letters) to validate our identity. We minister FROM identity when we appropriately capture the moments to glorify God and encourage others about what He is doing in the lives of athletes.
Who doesn’t love a good picture? Especially when we can share it on social media and validate our identity through the accumulation of likes, shares, and comments encourage others with a visual expression of how God is working through the ministry! Seriously though, haven’t we all done this? The quickest way for validation within the context of sports ministry is to post pictures online of all of the athletes we serve.
We minister FOR identity when we feel compelled to consistently provide the answers for athletes. We minister FROM identity when we lead with questions and help athletes self-discover.
Give a man a fish and you feed them…you get it. Helping athletes self-discover and giving them the tools to walk the Christian life without us holding their hand or even needing us is what we want to move toward. If we are always feeding them the answers, we do at least two things: we keep them dependent on us for truth (making us look and feel like the heroes) and we rob them of the joy of learning how to fish on their own.
We minister FOR identity when we find ways to name-drop athletes we are working with into casual conversations. We minister FROM identity when we have the freedom to tell ministry stories without name-dropping the actual people we get the privilege to work with.
This is a hard one for me and I just started noticing how often I (and others) do it. It’s comments like:
“Yeah, he goes to the Bible study we help lead.”
“Oh you mean Rob? Yeah, love that dude. I’ve been discipling him for a couple of years.”
“See that guy? He has been to our summer camps.”
“Yeah I love that team too. I’m actually a chaplain for them.”
What do we gain by subtle comments like these? Temporary validation.
We minister FOR identity when we overshare publicly about what happens privately. We minister FROM identity when we use discretion with how much we share.
Chaplains and sports ministers have no shortage of stories. And knowledge about someone else, even if they didn’t technically say you shouldn’t share it with others, becomes power that we can mishandle. I have learned, especially as someone who sends out monthly ministry updates, the importance of getting approval to share parts of other’s stories with our support team. Just because a story was shared with me, does not give me permission to use it.
We minister FOR identity when we refuse to listen to our bodies and press forward in fear of missing out or looking lazy. We minister FROM identity when we take care of our bodies and trust that the greater Body will step in to fill any gaps.
Rest needs to be a rhythm, just just a reward for a hard week of work. If we are consistently sprinting in service of the Lord without eating right, sleeping, or resting, we could be believing the lie that without our presence, the ministry would crumble or fall apart. God took a break. We can too.
We minister FOR identity when our desire to please others or perform for others dictates our actions and words. We minister FROM identity when our “self” can get out of the way and we disciple using biblical truth through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
There is a fine line here between being strategic in how we interact with people and just wanting to be liked by them. Because sports ministry involves interacting with athletes, some of whom are high-profile, there is absolutely wisdom in building trust and becoming a safe person for them. But when it comes time to share hard truth individually or give a chapel talk that may challenge and convict, we must lean on the Holy Spirit’s guidance and resist being liked as an ultimate value.
We minister FOR identity when we are unwilling to learn from other sports ministers and chaplains. We minister FROM identity when we take on the posture of a learner and seek to sharpen ourselves from other sports ministers and chaplains.
Full honesty here. When I joined staff with Athletes in Action in 2008, I thought other sports ministries (yes, like FCA) were a tier below “us.” I was young and dumb. FCA and other sports ministries like PAO are amazing and doing God-glorifying work around the US and the world. Their presence is needed. Even in the last couple of years I have learned so much from FCA staff about how to think about the theology of God and sport—and what it means to integrate faith in sport in a Biblical way. I believe in what we do. But I also know that God can use whatever He wants, whoever He wants, whenever He wants to draw people to Him and grow them in the faith. We would all benefit from seeing other sports ministries and chaplains as teammates—not competitors.
We minister FOR identity when we embellish, round up, or overemphasize ministry stats or perceived impact. We minister FROM identity when we accurately and appropriately share ministry stats and perceived impact.
If 18 people show up at the team Bible study, don’t say “About 20 people showed up.” It’s so easy in ministry to find validation through stats. This past week we talked about the life of Joseph in one of the Bible studies we lead at the high school (I’m not seeking validation, just setting the context, I promise). When people ask me how it went, what I usually say is: “It went great, about X amount of people showed up!” But why don’t I share with others about the content? Why can’t I say: “It went great. We talked about the life of Joseph and what it looks like for them as athletes to trust God’s plan even when things in life are difficult.” Because people like tangible numbers—and because we think that numbers validate both the Bible study and me.
Ministering FROM identity brings freedom
That’s what this is about. When ministry becomes just another vehicle for my own validation, I end up turning God into a commodity that I am selling. And my identity (how others see me) is how I profit. But everything we ever want in terms of external validation, God has already given us fully in and through Christ. When I embrace that perspective and minister out of leaning toward that direction, I can bring my full self in service to God and others.
The athletes get the best of us because we are not using them for validation.
We get a secured identity through Christ.
And God gets the glory.
