A Brief Theology of Sport
Several years ago I was a speaker at a youth camp. When it was time for the first group to play, a leader began telling a parable based on Genesis 1-3. He describes the joy of play in the Garden of Eden where the emphasis is on the joy of play. But one day the serpent entered the garden and tempted the inhabitants of Eden with the idea of numbers. They fall into temptation and start keeping score in their own games, and this leads to all kinds of evil—competition, lust for victory, deceit, anger, and fighting. He lost the simple joy of playing.
