Sport and Faith Silos

My early days of growing up were in Orange County, California, which is known for theme parks, beaches, fashion, and traffic. I now live on a mini farm in Northern Indiana where a look out the window yields far more animals than people. So, excuse the metaphor if it is less familiar to you, but the silo is a perfect representation for a phenomenon I have seen in the world of “Christian sports.”

On a farm, a silo is a tower that is used to store grain. It is of course a useful and necessary aspect of a working farm. An alternative definition for the word silo, often used in business, is “a system or process that operates in isolation from others.” It is this understanding that I have so often seen in myself and others as we struggle to navigate our passion for sports with faith. Many times, without even realizing it, we put our faith in one silo and our sports life in another with the two operating completely independently.

The Danger

When a business team operates in silos, not communicating or working together, the big picture goals of the company are rarely met. In fact, it usually results in things like chaos, misinformed decisions, poor moral, impeded progress, and frustration. Over and over, I have seen the same for athletes and coaches who put their faith and athletic pursuits in silos.

When focusing solely on the athletic silo, we as athletes and coaches are so susceptible to being identified by our performance. We ride high when we have success and fall hard when we fail, often riding a wave that can feel out of control leading to feelings that our worth to God is reliant on how we perform. On the other hand, when we entirely neglect our passion and giftings in sports (or any other area for that matter), we are restricting God’s design for our lives. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s masterpiece, created to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” He created us uniquely with different passions and gifts and when we put those gifts (whatever they are) in a silo, we are limiting how God wants to use us and speak to us. This will undoubtedly lead to frustration, impede our spiritual development, and lead us to make poor decisions.

To be fair and honest, it can feel much easier to keep the two separate. In sports, there is a winner and a loser and we all want to be on the right side of that. In the Christian faith, Jesus says, “So the last will be first, and the first last (Matthew 20:16).” Many would say that the competitive spirit that drives athletes and coaches and the humble spirit that leads us to the saving grace of the Gospel are completely contradictory. So, is sports (or at least competition), inherently bad?

The Opportunity

There is not time or space in this post to present all the opportunities and good that can come from breaking down our silos that keep our athletic passions and faith from interacting with each other. Let me just share one overarching thought for now.

The word discipline is widely used in the athletic context. Having the discipline to train hard, stick to the game plan, and navigate difficult moments is vital to athletic success. In his article “Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry,” Dutch priest Henri Nouwen said this, “In the spiritual life, the word disciple means the effort to create some space in which God can act.”

How can we create space in which God can act in the context of sport? We have to break down the silos and allow our athletic pursuits and God’s pursuit of us to work together. We need to let our faith inform how we compete and understand that our athletic gifts and passions are part of God’s plan. I can’t promise that it will always be easy. I also would never promise that it will always lead to success as you might define your athletic goals. I can promise, though, that it will be worth it!

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

As for the how do we practically do this? Through future posts, I will share what the Bible says as well as how others are practically living this out. In the meantime, I would love to hear your story or your thoughts on how we can do this better? Leave us a comment below and thanks for reading.