Topic: Christains in sport

+ Christains in sport
From	Message
Jonny 29 Jan 04, 00:30	+ Christains in sport a question that i have thought about many a time- is it ever right for christians to compete on a sunday? for example Jon Edwards. (i fink he is a christian, maybe some of you do not!) but then there are such greats as eric liddel (duno how to spell surname!) wot are people's thoughts and views on it?
james 29 Jan 04, 08:24	+ they blatantly shouldnt compete on a sunday... i mean its easy for me to say because i will never be in the limelight and so never really pressured into it. JOhnathon Edwards at First didnt compete on a sunday but now he does because his friend was told in a dream by God that it was OK for him to do so. But who am I to judge...
Rich_Rocks 29 Jan 04, 16:03	+ Why not? Whatever Jonathon Edwards's motives were for competing on a sunday doesn't matter because he was a great evangilist. Everybody in athletics knows that Jonathon is a Christian and so his example is there to see. He's re-knowned for being a 'good' man (which of course doesn't mean anything) but when people ask him why he always talks about being a Christian. Look at Jason Robinson aswell, he became a Christian after the witnessing of a fellow play (Va'aiga Tuigamala) and he also plays on a Sunday.
james 29 Jan 04, 16:15	+ I guess so but you still cant ignore the fourth commandment. Well done to them they are great witnesses but if those are the motives for deciding to play on a Sunday then thats not really a good enough reason. God gave us six days to do our worldy affairs and recreations and set aside one day. That one day is Sunday. i certainly would not want to play on a Sunday. I mean yes they are great witnesses and who am I to judge but the keeping of the sabbath day is important.
Jonny 29 Jan 04, 17:30	+ yeh i herd bout jason robinson too!! its kewl he is a christian coz he's quality! i love watching a bit of rugger
Sweetmadness 29 Jan 04, 19:32	+ yeh they can well be amazing evangelists,but how much more so was Eric Liddel for NOT running on a Sunday. Also we can't just rule out commandments just because they are good in another area....However i totally sympathise with them, i think it is so harsh that so many major events are held on sundays. just at a low level i have to miss out on many things because they are held on sundays- at school a lot of sport fixtures/trips etc are on sundays.
Rich_Rocks 29 Jan 04, 21:48	+ firstly the forth commandment says "thou shalt keep the Sabbath day holy" (or words to that effect) if i was being really picky i would point out that we no longer observe the Sabbath. Obviously thats of no interest but just stating a fact that irritates me. "God gave us six days to do our worldy affairs and recreations and set aside one day" So you dont do any recreational activities on a Sunday James? Fair enough if you don't but i suspect that you do. I play rugby on Sunday's with my brother. I really enjoy it, Sunday afternoons are the only chance i get. When i play rugby i have a lot of fun and i'm not working. I think it would be very hard to devote a whole 14(?) hours to God in one day. I should but i am unfortunatly merely a human and am incapable. I meditate on God's word (sounding like a Pharisee now ) with my family after lunch (actually its more like a critique of the serman ) and i have no problem whatsoever with playing sport on Sunday's. Therfore i would be hypocritical to condemn proffesional sportsman who HAVE to play. Ok so Jonathon Edwards can choose when to compete but Jason Robinson can't because he is contracted to play rugby. Basically what i'm saying (coming to some sort of conclusion now ) is that its down to the individual and their belief in what God wants them to do. Therefore theres no need for comments such as "they blatantly shouldnt compete on a sunday..." Just my opinion thats all.
james 29 Jan 04, 22:05	+ well I think they blatantly shouldnt compete on a Sunday Just my opinion thats all.
Hannymac 30 Jan 04, 00:07	+ Rich...I think you might be getting your Jonathan Edwards mixed up...there is the sporty one alive today, and the really old one who was a sound evangelist and who Neil always used to mention...
Jon 30 Jan 04, 10:00	+ Rich... I could be an evangelist to prostitutes and be breaking the 7th commandment. I'm sure God would rather I didn't. You can't go watering down the 10 Commandments. There is an example in the Bible of a guy who was stoned for collecting wood on the Sunday in Judges. Plus to start being gay and saying that the Sabbath was a sturday makes no sense. No where did God say, "Thou shalt keep Saturday holy". Rather he said, "Six days shall you work but on the seventh day you rest." The issue isn't shall WE play sport on a Sunday but should THEY WORK on a Sunday. Playing Rugby is Jason's job. Therefore, he works on a Sunday. To be honest I think disobediance of a commandment is not a good witness. He could just as easily refuse to play on a Sunday. Maybe if he did and got removed from the team he'd be a better witness and become more blessed by his commitment? Incidentally I'm sure both Jonathan Edwards and Jason Robinson are probably Armineans. Jason for example believes that the organised Church is the modern-day representation of Babylon mentioned in Revaltion.
james 30 Jan 04, 16:03	+ Yeah, I totally agree with Jon... God gave us six days to do all our work and designated the seventh to his worship. That one day is Sunday which means that on that day we must forget our worldy affairs and recreations. This isnt to say i completely am against playing with siblings on a Sunday thats building up relationships. But earning money when we could be worshipping God isnt really the correct way to look at things. Did i say could? I meant to say should...
Jonny 30 Jan 04, 17:04	+ i am not toally sure on this issue- i do not agree that you can just say it is wrong to earn money or work on a sunday- for instance that is a pastors job! (just to be perdantic). what i really mean is that some HAVE to work on a sunday- eg, paramedics and doctors, or those in a job that have to provide for a family, and therefore may have to work on a sunday, when they do not want to. but then i suppose you could say that the person shud quit, maybe risk not getting a job for a while, and put his family in trouble financially, but then he shud rest on God? but isnt that testing God (like Jesus throwing himself off the top of the temple!?) so shud sportsmen quit, or if it is their job to support a family shud they stay?! you will notice that i make lots of points and qus, but i rarely give my point of view! saves me being had a go at!
Sweetmadness 30 Jan 04, 19:35	+ right i do think thatdeciding what you will do on a sunday is going to vary between people and can all be just as 'holy' It all depends on what you do the rest of the week.Obviously at the heart of the sabath shoudl be God and that should be inn every Christians Sunday.Like you say Rich you don't play rugby any other time...well then i don't see it being a problem at all to play on a sunday... but in professionals cases they play as their job...even if they enjoy it the fact is they do it every day and don't set aside sunday to be special. I don't think many sports men /women would have problems with money and so could spare that one day on the Sunday....also any1 could say that they would be beteter off if they worked Sundays too. Doctors etc are excluded from the rule of not working as Jesus demonstrated by healing on the Sabath. Perdsonally i wouldn't play rugby on a Sunday...but thats just because i don't know how to play and i'm very lazy. I think we need to remeber that this is just one day out of 7 and its really not asking much for us to dedicate it to God ( although i totally admit that i often greatly mis-use my time on Sundays)
Sweetmadness 30 Jan 04, 19:35	+ woah sorry that was long
Rich_Rocks 30 Jan 04, 21:32	+ HannyMac: "Rich...I think you might be getting your Jonathan Edwards mixed up...there is the sporty one alive today, and the really old one who was a sound evangelist and who Neil always used to mention..."---- What?!?!?!? I don't think they should compete on a Sunday but unfortunatly thats the way society is. Having thought about it I withdraw my defense of Jonathon Edwards, he could quite easily not compete on a Sunday and if he (for example) withdrew from the Olympics because the final was on a Sunday then that would send a very strong message. Team sportsmen such as Jason Robinson are different though. If Jason refused to play for Sale on a Sunday they would drop him and kick him out or at the very least fine him. AS jonny says he has a responsibility to look after his family by earning money. I know that in his case he isn't the best qualified person and wouldnt be able to get a job.
Jon 01 Feb 04, 13:11	+ Yeah but so do protitutes. Maybe he shouldn't be playing rugby. It strikes me that you are assuming that it is right for him to be playing rugby and therefore saying that its ok for him to do it. He should perhaps stop playing rugby BECAUSE its on a Sunday and do something else.
james 29 Apr 04, 20:41	+ exactly