The Spiritual Challenge of Secular Sports in Glory Road
by Dr. Marc T. Newman
January 13, 2006
(AgapePress) - - After sitting for a few minutes in a Disney screening room to see Glory Road, in walked my collaborator on a Bible study guide for the film -- A.C. Green, NBA superstar. Green is a model of discipline both on and off the court. He holds the NBA Ironman record for the most consecutive games played. As a testimony to his Christian commitment, he held on to his virginity until his wedding day, in the face of what must have been overwhelming opportunity to engage in sexual sin during his years on the active roster. A fierce competitor, Green knows what it means to "play to win" -- both in the high-stakes world of professional sports and also in the higher-stakes world of spiritual warfare. Lessons learned in competitive basketball in his youth helped him to better maintain consistency in his Christian walk later. The Apostle Paul used the sports of boxing and running as metaphors for the Christian life. It should be no surprise that many Christians find, in competitive sports, a microcosm of the struggle of life played out in halves, quarters, sets, and innings. Sports aren't just about running around a dirt track trying to put your foot on a raised pad, or holding onto a piece of inflated pig leather while others try to pull you down, or racing to the end of a wood floor to put a rubber ball through an elevated wire hoop. Sports are about being a team, learning to work together, persevering in the face of hardship, and trying to execute your game plan so that you can win.
Glory Road is the story of Dan Haskins, who led a no-account college, Texas Western, to a Division 1 national basketball championship in his first year as coach in 1966. It is the story of the players whose dedication and performance made it possible. But it is primarily about how a group of young men, led by an idealistic coach, determined not only to win a championship, but to change the world. Once again, sports becomes a potent metaphor for life as a secular sporting event challenges our commitment to do what it takes to change the world for Christ. [Note: A free downloadable group Bible study guide [PDF] for Glory Road is available at www.movieministry.com.]
Nothing Changes Until Somebody Goes
At the film's opening, Dan Haskins is a coach of a national championship girl's high school basketball program. When the call comes from Texas Western, it isn't very attractive. The school is ranked at the bottom of the heap. The gym is in terrible shape. The accommodations for his family are, at best, odd -- he has to move them all into the men's dormitory. The pay isn't great. Anyone pragmatically looking at the offer would say "no." But Haskins was not looking at the school as it was -- he was seeing the school as it could be. He had a message to deliver -- a message of victory -- he just needed a place to go and a group of young men to listen to it, and respond.
In a striking Christian parallel to this sports story, nothing changes until we go -- that is the Great Commission. God does not promise His people that their destinations will be luxurious, or exotic. We are not told that we will be handed a team of "winners" (quite the opposite, as we will see below). God simply says, "Go," and then promises that He will be with us on the road. We are to seek people willing to listen and respond; and then we are to share God's message with them. God does the rest.
Using God's Recruiting Methods
At first, Haskins tries to recruit the way all the other Division 1 colleges do it. He scouts the high school talent and makes his pitch. But young, powerful, and promising basketball players have no interest in playing for a no-name coach from a losing school. What the naïve would-be recruits don't know is that this coach is in disguise. He may look, by the rest of the world's standards, like a loser -- but the outsides of coaches don't win basketball games. It's the wisdom, knowledge, and heart of a coach that motivate players to become champions. You cannot discover those qualities by looking at first-year stats and resumes. You have to join the team.
When "normal" recruiting fails to pay off, Haskins goes out to the figurative "hedgerows" to seek out the athletes that none of the other colleges wanted -- African-American athletes. Haskins sees past skin color and college rejection, instead looking for rough, coachable talent. He sells his program and his methods and they come (some despite their better judgment). By the end of the film we discover that the "winners" who would not come are the losers. And the "losers" who came and responded to coaching emerge the champions.
Jesus tells a parable about a man who was giving a dinner and invited many people, but when everything was ready they all made excuses for why they could not come. The man was angry and sent his servant out to invite people thought to be "less desirable" and they came. Then he sent his servant to call in strangers, and those who lived among the hedges, and they came also. None of the people first invited ever tasted that great meal; it was the others -- the cultural outcasts -- who responded. The Apostle Paul reminds the Christians at Corinth to "consider your calling ... that there were not many wise, according to the flesh, nor many mighty, nor many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen ... "(1 Cor. 1:25-28). God's recruiting plan often (but not always) selects the neglected people of the world and then, through the power of His might, turns them into something else -- His children. He selects some wise, some strong, and some noble -- but not many, because most would rather rely on their own perceived strengths rather than on God's actual power. We need to see the world the way God sees it and be willing to change our recruiting methods.
This Is Not Simply a Game
What Coach Haskins' team discovers early in their season is that many people dislike the idea of black starting players on a college basketball team. Even the Texas Western community initially withholds support. Outside the college, traveling teams are subjected to racial slurs, garbage thrown from the stands at them as they emerge from the locker room, and outright assault. Eventually every team member recognizes that this is not just a game, and that their goal is higher than simply winning a championship. Their goal is to change the world.
Many people view life as merely a game with winners, losers, referees, and opponents. Bumper stickers abound with a "He who dies with the most toys wins" mentality. But eventually, especially as people grow older, they tend to see something more. Hence the response, "He who dies with the most toys still dies." If life is a game, everyone ultimately loses it.
But Christians claim more than the rest of the world. Life and death are not games, but conditions. We argue that we have the answer to death -- life in Christ. Christians are not here to win an earthly game, but to faithfully execute a heavenly mission -- to change the world.
Play to Win
In order for Texas Western to be taken seriously as contenders, they had to win. Doing so required coaching, obedience, perseverance, belief, and execution on the court -- remarkably the same things that are required to pursue the spiritual life. Texas Western's opponents, Kentucky, were playing for a trophy, a "perishable wreath." Texas Western was looking for something more permanent -- something that would transcend a national championship in 1966.
Even though life is not a game, the Apostle Paul used sports as metaphors for the faith because they provided a clear mental image of what it takes to cross the finish line well. He wrote of self-denial -- meaning he was to say "no" to himself and "yes" to God, the One who tells him how to live. He wrote of obedience and perseverance in the face of opposition and enemies. He wrote of firm belief in the rightness of his doctrine. He wrote of the importance of faith and the need to live it out consistently in front of others, lest he be disqualified at the end of the race. Christians seek an imperishable wreath. We should go after it with more intensity and purpose than any earthly trophy.
Glory Road is an exciting, and thought-provoking, film. Stay till the end to see what happened to the players after their golden season ended. It will remind you that the time to get in the game is now -- it will end soon enough. If athletes are willing to engage in such dedication for a fleeting reward, shouldn't Christians be willing to do at least as much for the hope of eternity? If we find sports exciting but spiritual life comparably dull, then we have lost sight of what is at stake. We need to act as if what we do in this world truly matters in the next -- because it does. We need to "play to win."
Glory Road is rated PG by the MPAA for "racial issues, including epithets, and mild language."
Marc T. Newman, PhD (marc@movieministry.com) is the president of MovieMinistry.com -- an organization that provides sermon and teaching illustrations from popular film, and helps the Church use movies to reach out to others and connect with people.
