The Christian Athlete

View Original

A (Dude) Perfect Theology of Play

This is every kid’s dream.

I’m sitting with thousands of other parents and their screaming kids watching Dude Perfect compete in silly challenges during their live tour in Grand Rapids. They’re shooting arrows at moving targets close to the rafters, launching footballs across the stage, and shooting basketballs from the upper deck into hoops several stories below them.  There are no refs, no rules, and nothing on the line that really matters—beyond the hype they masterfully create. Sometimes they succeed and make the shot or hit the target. Most of the time they miss. But the kids are loving every minute of it.

We (gladly) paid for these tickets to watch some grown-ups play. Simply understood, Dude Perfect is five guys who record themselves doing trick shots and fun competitions against each other. And millions of people tune in to watch them do it. 

My kids are part of this growing fanbase. They spend “significant” time each week watching Dude Perfect's YouTube videos. It’s easy to see why when you lean over their shoulders and witness the fun. What started in their backyard as a bet has exploded into a global phenomenon.  

Friends playing together and continuing to push the limits on what they can compete in and where they can do it…This is every grown-up’s dream.

They’ve even turned it into a ministry. At the end of the night, they thank us for coming, promise to upload some new videos for their fans over the next week, and then invite the audience to stick around, if they want, to hear more about why they do this. 

A few people trickle out, but most of the sold-out crowd stay in their seats. When the Dudes return, they share their testimony of coming to faith in Jesus and beautifully articulate the gospel in a way that young and old fans can understand. 

As they explain on their website “There’s more to Dude Perfect than just having fun. We’re about giving back, spreading joy, and glorifying Jesus Christ.” This is more than friends getting together, having fun, and sharing that experience with the world. But it’s definitely not less than that. As I continue to watch the rise of Dude Perfect—and even explore the potential of play existing in its purest form—I can’t help but wonder if they present a model of play that the rest of us will take part in someday.

Said differently, I believe that we will play sports on the New Earth. And I also wonder if that “play” could look more like Dude Perfect’s version than the one we experience through modern organized sports. 

Play on the New Earth

Randy Alcorn, author of the best-selling book Heaven, is viewed by many as an expert on the biblical view of Heaven and the New Earth. He’s often asked whether he thinks sports will exist in the next life. He says, “We know we are speculating on this, but I believe there is every reason to expect there would be.” He goes on to say, “Where did sports come from? Who gave us the ingenuity to even create them as human beings? Clearly it is from God. We are made in his image. Satan did not come up with the idea of sports.”

While the Bible does not plainly state that we will play organized sports in the next life, it does show the existence of play. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet paints a future where wolves live peacefully with lambs, leopards sleep next to goats, cows eat side by side with bears, and since there’s no more death or eating of other animals, lions eat straw. Then in Isaiah 11:8, we read, “The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.” God is giving Isaiah a vision of life on the New Earth—and it’s one where safety and play have replaced violence and death.

In Zechariah 8:5, we see the same Hebrew word for play in Job 40 and Psalm 104. Here God speaks through Zechariah to the people of Israel who have come out of captivity in Babylon and are trying to establish their new life back in Jerusalem. The city looks nothing like its former glory. And the people are understandably frustrated. But God promises the people that He has a plan. 

Zechariah 8:2-5 says: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Zion…I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain….Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”

The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.

It sure seems like there will be play in our future! And if it does exist on the New Earth, what will it look like?

A (Dude) Perfect Version of Play

In a future, sinless and perfected world, how can we imagine perfected play? This isn’t the first time I have asked myself this question and I am embarrassed to admit that the limited creativity of my own mind continues to imagine some version of play and sport that resembles Harry Potter’s game of Quidditch, where kids fly around on broomsticks hitting and chasing floating balls at incredible speed. In other words, it involves adding supernatural abilities (like flying and…ok, it’s mostly flying) to existing sports or some combination of sports. And maybe that will be part of it. Playing basketball on top of the water would certainly be amazing. But I wonder if Dude Perfect presents a better version of perfected play than any of the supernatural sports substitutes we witness in movies? Why? Because Dude Perfect has four of what I believe are essential ingredients informing how we will play beyond this life.

Friendship

I am under no illusion that what the Dudes represent on the screen is replicated in their relationships 24/7. They undoubtedly get frustrated and annoyed with one another. This is also a business, which adds another layer of complexity. But there is little doubt that there is a genuine friendship between them. They like each other. They enjoy competing with each other. Our English word for “compete” comes from the Latin “competere.” It’s less about fighting against and more about striving together. And “striving with” instead of against is easier when the person you’re trying to beat is your friend. 

I believe play on the New Earth will be perfected by competing with friends. In God’s Kingdom, there will be no sin, jealousy, or strife (Romans 8:21, Isaiah 11:6-9). A redeemed world with redeemed relationships creates a perfect environment for play. The Dudes embody this potential future reality. They compete as hard as any athlete you will see. But as friends, they naturally drift toward laughter and fun amidst their desire to win whatever challenge they’re attempting. Dude Perfect models a beautiful integration of intense competition, light-hearted “smack talk”, and the freedom to show extreme emotion (win or lose) when it’s over. 

If anything is missing from envisioning a future of play involving friends, it’s that our friends will most assuredly not all look exactly like us. A beautiful future awaits us where we will play with brothers and sisters from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9). 

Secured Identity

This leads to a second important observation about Dude Perfect’s unspoken theology of play: As friends and Christians, their identity is secured. While they want to win (again, just as intensely as most athletes you will ever witness), whether they achieve that end or fail miserably, the result of the competition does not seem to impact who they are as people and friends. The competition is just…a competition. 

Contrast that with our modern-day example in sport. A win positions you above your opponents in value and worth. And it’s not just the win athletes are after, it’s legacy. How they play today impacts how they are remembered in the days, months, and years to come. A win is no longer just a win. It’s a ticket to something bigger that we’re chasing—an identity as a winner and everything that allegedly comes with it (lasting joy and contentment). And it’s why losses in sports can be so devastating. We invest not just our time and energy, but the entirety of our lives into it. When we come up short, it feels like more than just a loss.

But the Dudes offer us a picture of what I believe awaits us in our playful future: The ability to play freely without anything attached to the competition beyond the competition itself. I think in the New Earth we will still desire to win, but the desire will be stripped of ego, pride, and even insecurity. Win or loss, our identities as children of the King will not be on the line, allowing us to just…play.  

Unlimited Creativity

Throwing a basketball into a hoop from a tower in Las Vegas. Playing one-on-one with Luka Doncic. Even traveling to space. Dude Perfect continually invents new ways to play and compete with one another. 

I think creative play will be both encouraged and celebrated in the next life.

What were our bodies created to do? Yes, to work, serve, “be fruitful” and a host of other things. But our bodies were also created to play—and the creativity afforded by sport is an outlet for us to express bodily creativity. The things we get to do and show on the field or court are emblematic of who we are in our hearts and minds. It’s the working out of the Imago Dei inside all of us.

Another part of being created in God’s image means that we create (Genesis 1:26). We’re wired to see beyond what’s in front of us and reimagine what it could be. The origin of any sport started with the founder’s creative mind. When we take our place on the New Earth, this desire will not turn off. If anything, I think you can argue that it will be turned up. In a redeemed world, even our ability to think, dream, design, and create will be renewed. What does this mean for our future in play and sport? Two things come to mind.

One, I wonder if our play will constantly evolve (can we use that word when talking about the New Earth?) as we have new ideas and access to resources to make them happen. Said differently, I am guessing there is not a Heavenly Quidditch League that we all get drafted into and we play that for the rest of eternity. I think, like Dude Perfect’s model, we’ll try new things.

Two, assuming we retain our unique personalities, I think we will have plenty of options to create and participate in things that we enjoy. As a former track athlete, I relish the opportunity to create a track meet that doesn’t last four hours. Even with eternity in front of us, I can’t imagine a future where we sit through 23 heats of the 200m dash!

Abundant Resources

Part of what makes Dude Perfect so compelling to watch is their ability to try just about anything because of the plethora of resources available. Case in point: They just finished building a $5 million headquarters in Frisco, TX with 50,000 square feet of “play” space and an additional 30,000 square feet of space set aside for bigger events. They travel around the world and partner with the biggest names in sport. If they have an idea, they seemingly have (or can access) the resources to make it happen. Trying to make a basket from the highest possible elevation is only possible if you have the resources to make it happen. 

How could this translate to play in eternity?

What if, like Dude Perfect, we’re able to dream up new ideas for play and have access to the required resources to do it? I don’t think we’ll live with a scarcity mindset on the New Earth (Ezekiel 47:12, Amos 9:13, Isaiah 35:1-2). I don’t know how it will all work, but it’s hard for me to imagine a redeemed world where we don’t have access to an abundant level of resources. 

Dude Perfect’s version of play is by no means perfect. But if what they present is anything like what we’ll experience on the New Earth, then sign me up. 

Right now it’s every kid’s dream. One day, it could be all of our reality.