392 hemelios 40.3 (2015): 392–404 More than a Game: A heology of Sport — Jeremy R. Treat — Jeremy Treat is pastor for preaching and vision at Reality LA in Los Angeles and adjunct professor of theology at Biola University. ******* Abstract: Sports have captured the minds and hearts of people across the globe but have largely evaded the attention of Christian theologians. What is the meaning of sports? here seem to be two polar responses: some dismiss sports as merely a game, while others worship sports as nearly a god. his essay argues that when viewed through the lens of Scripture, sports are more than a game, less than a god, and when transformed by the gospel can be received as a gift to be enjoyed forever. ******* W hether in the pub or in the pew, there is one question you can always count on hearing: “Did you see that game?” Sports are prominent in culture and relevant to life, which is why the average sports show often spends as much time talking about ethics, racism, crime, and sexuality, as it does athletics. In many ways, sports are a microcosm of life. And yet, while sports have captured the minds and hearts of people across the globe, they have evaded the attention of theologians. 1 Finding a scholar who has thought deeply and critically about sports from a distinctly Christian perspective is as likely in the church as a triple play on the diamond. his is a surprising phenomenon considering not only the prevalence of sports globally but also that historically many sports began and developed in overtly religious settings. 2 hankfully, there is a budding field of scholarship on religion and sports emerging today, and Christian theologians are finally getting into the game. 3 1 According to Nick J. Watson and Andrew Parker, there is a “general agreement that academics outside the traditional social-science sports studies disciplines, such as theologians and philosophers of religion, have been slow to recognize the cultural significance of modern sports” (“Sports and Christianity: Mapping the Field,” in Sports and Christianity: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, ed. Nick J. Watson and Andrew Parker, Rout- ledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society 19 [New York: Routledge, 2013], 9). 2 For example, the Mayans and Minoans played ball near their temples sites, tennis began in a French monas- tery, and a Presbyterian minister in the Young Men’s Christian Association invented basketball. For an insightful and concise summary of the history of sports, see David G. McComb, Sports in World History (New York: Rout- ledge, 2004). 3 Michael Novak’s seminal work, first published in 1967, was the first systematic study of the sport-faith inter- face (Joy of Sports: End Zones, Bases, Baskets, Balls, and the Consecration of the American Spirit, rev. ed. [Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1994]); For an excellent introduction to the field of sports and faith, and an overview of the recent scholarship, see Watson and Parker, “Sports and Christianity.”