The Teaching of Physical Education from a Biblical Perspective

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of either The Christian Institute or the authors employer.

The Teaching of Physical Education
A Biblical Perspective

© The Christian Institute 2002

Based on a lecture given at St Stephen's Church Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 23 May 2002 by Mr Bryan Mason.

A graduate from Loughborough in Physical Education, Bryan Mason obtained a Master of Education from Leeds University. Now retired, Mr Mason was Deputy Head of Garforth Community College, Leeds, having 30 years experience of teaching in secondary education.

He has been appointed to the role of National Director for Church Sports Ministry with the organisation Christians in Sport. This involves encouraging churches in the UK and internationally to use sport and recreation as a means of outreach into their local communities.

Contents

Introduction

Physical & Spiritual Partnership

A Biblical View of Sport

Physical Education within the context of God's creation

       1. Growth and development

       2. Physical conditioning

       3. Rest and Relaxation

Play

Hermeneutics

       Values

       Competition

       Fitness

       Gamesmanship

       Motivation & Perspective

Introduction

Although my brief is to examine the Christian perspective on Physical Education I shall be subsuming this within the wider title of 'a Christian approach to Sport'.

The Bible makes no specific reference to the relevance or otherwise of sport and physical education but speaks volumes in its silence. 'Sport' itself is a neutral word, like 'money' and only takes on shape as people begin to deal with it and bring it into the compass of their lives. By its very nature it breeds in a social environment where mental, emotional, physical and spiritual tensions are in abundance. As such it is a great training ground for the Christian and the sharpest of places for him to work out his faith.

It seems to me as a member of the national 'Christians in Sport' team that sports ministry is a natural outworking of theology proper. Jesus made it clear to his disciples that their contact with the world was to be based on his teachings and his redeeming sacrifice at Calvary. They were to live out this heaven inspired lifestyle in the places where people were to be found. In other words, where folk pursued their everyday activities. It takes no rocket scientist to work out that sport figures as the number one favourite activity in the modern day world. Because of this the Biblical and Judeo-Christian perspective to sport and physical education becomes paramount. Sports ministry is a natural outworking of systematic theology and doesn't need to be denominationalised and made a creed in it's own right. The sports company 'NIKE' (Greek for 'victory') has a telling mission statement which is not out of place in this context - 'just do it!'

The biblical foundations reviewed and considered in this lecture will be those that can sit easily within a physical education curriculum and be adopted by any school that stands fast by these values. Let me lay some foundations before I begin to tease out the practicalities of Christian based physical education and sports coaching.

My colleague at 'Christians in Sport', Stuart Weir, in his book 'What the book says about sport' asks the question 'what is sport?' He says 'it is more easily understood than defined. Sport is a hobby, a recreation. It has psychological, physical and recreational value. It can socialise us and discipline us. It has even been suggested that the family that plays together stays together'.

The definition used by the Council of Europe is: 'Sport means all forms of physical activity, which, through casual or organised participation aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels'.

It's interesting to note that the Council of Europe's definition embraces three of the four main areas to consider when wishing to educate the 'whole child'. The physical, social and mental aspects are listed but no reference to the spiritual dimension. Hopefully, this presentation will restore the balance.

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Physical & Spiritual partnership

Dr Kenneth H Cooper is a former Air Force flight surgeon and the founder and President of The Cooper Clinic and The Aerobics Centre in Dallas. Since the early 70s he has been regarded as the 'father of aerobics'.

In one of his earliest books Cooper describes one of the most exhilarating times in his life. It was on October 6th 1974 in the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro when he addressed 240,000 people at a Billy Graham rally. He gave a brief testimony on the interrelationship between physical and spiritual fitness.

Cooper is a great believer in the connection between spiritual commitment and physical health and emotional wellbeing.

The prophet Isaiah put it another way:
'those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint'

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A Biblical View of Sport

Having made the link between physical education, the welfare of the body and the spiritual nurturing that needs to accompany it, there is a requirement to examine the biblical and theological foundations for such a partnership.

The book of Genesis reveals God as the only creator of all things, from the universe to the smallest creature on earth. He is majestically in charge of the whole world. The coming of sin into the world destroyed this heavenly balance and presented man with his own route to follow. The life, death and resurrection of Christ centuries later opened up the way of reconciliation and once again brought man back into an eternal relationship with his creator.

Grasping this truth about God as both creator and redeemer must inevitably change our attitude to him and the way we live our lives socially, mentally, spiritually and physically. Genesis 1:21 exclaims that 'God saw that it was good' i.e. his creation, and the thought is repeated in I Timothy 4:4 with the words 'for everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving'.

The material, spiritual and physical worlds all come under the word 'everything' and are to be enjoyed and brought within the remit of God's control over our lives as creator and redeemer. We must destroy the perception that sport and physical education are 'below the line' and fit into the unspiritual category. In God's economy there is no sacred-secular divide. In the words of the Westminster catechism we are 'to love God and enjoy him forever' and this can be fulfilled as effectively on the sports field as it can inside a church.

The Bible is not an instructional manual for sport, however, and we won't find it taking any view, unlike a strict Baptist church I heard of in Russia that banned one of its members for regular jogging. The problem in that country is that many Christians see sport as synonymous with sin due to the Communist government using it and abusing it for the purposes of ideology.

I was saddened on my last visit to the country when the 50 kilometre cycling champion of the USSR in the 80s told me that since he had become a Christian he had no desire to get back onto his bike. He felt that he had been a tool of the State and wanted to renounce all that together with his cycling. Fortunately, through an interpreter and the wonderful medium of email I have managed to persuade him that his remarkable gifting and experience in the sport of cycling can be used to role model the Christian life for up and coming cyclists and help them to deal with all the pressures and character issues that this throws up. Vladimir is now serving as a sports ministry representative for his Baptist church in Bryansk.

'At the end of the day', to use that wonderful cliché that has become the bread and butter of the footballer being interviewed by the media, it is the principles and patterns of scripture that enable us to more fully understand God's attitude and intentions toward sport and not the way certain people or organisations react to it.

God's creation of man was a complete work, a whole person in the grandest sense of the word whole. The psalmist (Psalm 139:13-16) draws on the intricacy of God knitting together 'body and soul' with words such as 'skilfully wrought' and 'wonderfully made'. The complete person is not just body, nor is he just spirit or intellect. He is all of these things and is given the opportunity to glorify God in all of these areas. Jonathan Edwards, the World record holder and Olympic champion in the triple jump expresses his deep faith in God when interviewed about his athletic prowess and so glorifies his Creator on all these counts.

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Physical Education within the context of God's creation

From a Christian viewpoint, to educate a child physically is to enable him to develop naturally in stature, to discover the potential of his giftings and make him aware of the need to keep his body in good shape. Three factors are uppermost as these areas are highlighted:

1. Growth and development

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 2 verse 52, we read the following words:
'and Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man'
Encompassed within this short verse is the intellectual growth that comes through 'wisdom', the physical development that comes through 'stature', the social and emotional growth through 'man's favour' and the spiritual maturity that develops as a result of 'God's favour'. As an educational mission statement this verse would take some beating!

2. Physical conditioning

The Apostle Paul was keen that his pupil, Timothy, followed the same guidelines as Luke 2:52 but wanted to make a distinction between the physical and the spiritual life. For those of us who are passionate about sport and will teach those who are equally passionate it is a salutary reminder of the difference between that which is temporal and that which is eternal. The Good News Bible's rendition of I Timothy 4:8 says ' physical exercise has some value in it, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way'.

The great news for the physical educationalist is that the Bible says 'some value' and not 'no value'. Dr Kenneth Cooper in his book 'Faith-Based Fitness' says that 'intrinsic belief has the capacity to spark major personal enrichment in every area of life and this particularly includes dramatic improvements in physical health, emotional well-being, and levels of fitness'. If the Christian is to be a 'good steward' of his body then he will want to hand it back to his creator at the end of its allotted spell in as good and pristine order as possible. If my body is the 'temple of the Holy Spirit '(I Corintians 6:19,20) then my task should always be to glorify God by how I use it and seek to become all that I am capable of being through the physical giftings I have been bestowed with.

3. Rest and relaxation

The body can only endure so much emotional, spiritual, mental and physical stress. There is a need to be free from the stress of work and responsibilities. The time to do this is called LEISURE and what we do in this time is called REST and/or RE-CREATION. The word used in Mark 6:31,32 and 7:24 is 'anapauo' which means 'to refresh'. Jesus did this by socialising at feasts, parties and weddings and by getting away on his own and with his disciples.
After the task of creating the world the Bible tells us that God rested. He went into a state of recreation and remains in that state even today. As his creation it is our privilege to follow this divine plan and be ever ready for the rebirth and recreation of the things of God in our own lives.

My colleague, Graham Daniels, gets rather carried away on this concept and reads a little between the lines of scripture when he believes that amongst God's instructions to man is the one 'go out and play'.

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Play

Two points are worthy of inclusion here;

1. There is a need to remind ourselves of what the Bible is not. As we look for evidence that would help us in determining the biblical perspectives of play and sports we have to remember that the Bible is not a definitive exhaustive text on every subject. While the Bible comments or makes reference to scientific things it is not a science book. While it deals with the social interaction of people it is not a sociology text. Likewise the Bible is not a text that addresses the issue of play as a socially prescribed act.

2. I believe the Bible does, however, give us clear understanding to accept play as a part of the life of biblical characters and clear latitude for that same play to be part of our life.

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Hermeneutics

This is the name given to the study of the interpretation of scripture and of determining cultural relevancy, i.e. what does it mean to me? Hermeneutics enables you to determine what the Bible says to you and how accordingly you can govern your life according to its precepts.

There is always the danger, however, of interpreting a text in such a way that justification is given to the present action. When I speak to churches about the relevance of sports ministry for reaching their community I would be unwise to use the following verses as justification for adoption:-
Tennis - 'Joseph served in Pharaoh's court' - Genesis 41
Cricket (wicketkeeper) - 'Elijah made loud appeals to the Lord and knocked over all the baals' - I Kings 18
Football - Jesus was left-back in Jerusalem - Luke 2
If one is to defend the place of sport and physical education in the Christian approach to life then one must be sure to use solid hermeneutic foundations.

It is with this in mind that for the final part of this presentation we look at key elements of physical education teaching and games coaching.

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Values

Given that the giftings and talents available for sports involvement are divinely administered and that the body is 'the temple of the Holy Spirit' then it is the spiritual dimension that gives sport its true setting. As a forum is created for discipline, co-operation, confidence breeding, encouragement, leadership, loyalty, and integrity, everything is in place for the Christian character to respond to its divine calling and continue to strive towards its goal (Philippians 3:13)

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Competition

The Greek root of the word 'compete' means 'to strive together'. It is a pity that the movement in the 1960s and 1970s to eliminate competition from primary schools hadn't given more credence to this derivation. In believing that competition was having a negative effect on the education process the headteachers in these schools were only delaying their charges coming to grips with the competitive world that existed all around them. One of the roles of the physical education teacher, and here I can speak from some experience, is to help a young person deal as well with defeat and disappointment as with victory and success. To have no guidance whatsoever during these formative years is to invite, at best, a rude awakening or, at worst, a shattering experience.

Competition is seen differently if we see the person on the other side of the net as a co-competitor rather than an opponent. In sport we need each other to maximise our potential and we need competition in order to maximise our gifts and perform to the best of our ability.

The Christian is arguably better equipped than most to 'meet with triumph and disaster and treat the two impostors just the same'. God cares about what we do and I believe he cares about who wins the game but he is undoubtedly more interested in how we play the game, how we treat our opponents and how we react to the outcome. The result on the scoreboard is often too simplistic an indicator of the real result.

Most of us have to work hard at this and have all at some time identified with a caption I once saw of Snoopy with a smashed tennis racquet over his shoulder accompanied by the words 'it doesn't matter if you win or you lose…until you lose!'

Better is the quotation from H G Wells:
'success is to be measured not by wealth, power or fame, but by the ratio between what a man is and what he might be'

There is no harm in wanting to accomplish: the harm is in having to accomplish.

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Fitness

Dr Kenneth Cooper would argue that his Christian faith demands that he keeps his body in good shape. He believes that a conviction about your body and health should be an outgrowth of a basic spiritual worldview. Better health and fitness are essential to a full and effective life. Physical educators can present their students with the keys for a productive and active lifestyle that will be kicking in long after qualifications have determined the route their journey has taken. Not only that but the most appropriate home for a vibrant spirit is a healthy and fit body. Three areas that profit from the faith/fitness link are aerobic exercise, strength work and flexibility.

a. Aerobic exercise
This has often been called 'nature's greatest tranquilliser'. A large part of this beneficial effect probably comes through the release of the neurotransmitters known as endorphins - morphine-like chemicals produced during the endurance exercise. These leave the athlete with a great sense of wellbeing and achievement. Endurance exercise by itself can be a great stress reducer and source of relaxation. In a frenzied world where the art of walking and playing has disappeared and arteries are beginning to fur up as early as seven years of age it is left to the teacher and coach to plant the seed of aerobic exercise as lifestyle at the earliest possible stage.

Spiritual development and endurance exercise are such good companions and it was the words of the prophet Isaiah that suggested inner staying power could enhance physical staying power - 'those who wait on the Lord shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint'. I must admit that my running still carries the weary tag in its final few miles but the sense of exhilaration in the shower is still hard to beat.

b. Strength work
It is incumbent upon us to take care of our bodies, including our muscles. Psalm 90:10 says that 80 years of living is achieved by 'reason of strength'. Indeed as folk get into their middle years they start losing one or two percent of muscle mass annually if they don't keep up a strength programme of some kind.

A school physical education curriculum that ignores strength work is doing no favours for its pupils. Callisthenics and light weights should be introduced early into a pupil's programme so that it has as long a chance as possible to become lifestyle material.

c. Flexibility exercises
Good flexibility helps minimise injuries and maximise athletic performance. The wider a person's range of motion and the more efficiency, speed and power he can achieve. Light flexibility exercises are often placed at the beginning of a workout to give the body a chance to warm up and along with the increased circulation and muscle readiness comes a sense that you have, quite literally, stretched your body's potential to a new plane of suppleness and range of motion. Because such exercises are performed in a slow, quiet and deliberate fashion they can be combined quite effectively with spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, Bible memory work or simply the often overlooked discipline of silence.

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Gamesmanship

It has been noted that sportsmanship and gamesmanship should, by literal derivation, mean the same. Yet in practice they are opposites with sportsmanship meaning an attitude of fair play, even beyond the call of duty, and gamesmanship a kind of doing whatever is necessary to win.

Sporting competition is one of those areas which tests the human species more severely than most other activities. In 1914 James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball 23 years earlier, addressed the National Collegiate Athletic Association and said - 'few college men would take money or valuables from another. Yet they are taught in the practices of our sports that it is not dishonourable to take illegal advantage of another if there is little prospect of being caught'.

The Apostle Paul recognised something of the dilemma when he wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 2:5) - 'if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules'. A coach bending the rules leaves a reputation whilst a coach teaching the rules leaves a character. Reputation is what you are supposed to be; character is what you are.

Greg Linville in his booklet 'A contemporary Christian ethic of competition' argues for replacing 'sportsmanship' and 'gamesmanship' with 'Christmanship'. He elaborates:
'Christmanship embodies the best of sportsmanship (fun, fairness and being a good loser) with the best of gamesmanship (giving one's best effort to win) but it transcends and surpasses them both. It challenges the Christian athlete to compete as Christ would compete.'

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Motivation & Perspective

A question infrequently asked in the arena of sport is 'when you compete at the highest level how do you keep everything in perspective?'

Jonathan Webb is a surgeon who played rugby for England just prior to the introduction of professionalism. He played in the 1991 World Cup final. He describes his preparation for the big game:
'During the long hours leading up to the big game I always had this feeling that my false superficial layers were gradually stripped away until it was much more my true self that ran out on to the pitch. Whilst this was threatening and uncomfortable, it could also be exhilarating if you could let go of your fears. Trusting myself was no use as I was only too aware of my previous failures. In the end the only certainty I was left with was God. I never asked him to make me perform well but that he would give me the serenity to accept whatever happened'.

Jonty Rhodes, the South African cricketer, is another who has clear views on priorities and perspectives. Jonty has said that people often comment on how relaxed he looks on the field. He replies that cricket is not his number one priority in life. 'God gives my life and my sporting career a sense of purpose'.

Time doesn't permit a look at the powerful Christian elements in many more values that the physical educator has the opportunity to instruct in:-
They are those such as responding to challenge, commitment, courage, finishing the race, patience, competing against the odds, training, endurance and many more.

Dr Rainer Martens has the last word - 'sport is not inherently bad, nor is it inherently good. It is what we make it!'

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