Stories about athletes and coaches usually focus on their championships or their scandals. All the Good in Sports features 20 contemporary sports personalities who go beyond the headlines to candidly share how their relationship with Christ has helped them cope with a variety of difficulties, both professional and personal, and how in Christ they found victory in their personal lives.
Many professing Christians in the sports world have achieved wealth and notoriety, but life’s luxuries do not exempt them from life’s difficulties. Name recognition and personal fortune cannot rescue one whose marriage is on the rocks, one facing substance abuse, or one facing disease or even death. The sports heroes featured in All the Good in Sports are not super human. They go through the same pendulum of emotions you. However, what they discover—or rediscover—is a God who is faithful and responsive in their time of need.
All the Good in Sports is a compilation of life stories and accounts that provides a refreshing contradiction to this unfortunate reality. It is a pleasant surprise of a book, particularly for the non-American reader, who would likely not be at all aware of the number of highly successful professional sports players, actively bearing and promoting a Christian testimony.
The book gives snapshot accounts of the lives of 25 sportsmen and sportswomen, drawn from football, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, gymnastics, baseball, and other sports. Each account begins with a summary of the sports persons career and achievements, followed by an extracted article from the Sports Spectrum magazine, which focuses in a particular way on the Christian aspect of the sports-person’s life and how it fits in with their success.
It is certainly fascinating to discover just how many of these undoubtedly exceptional individuals lead totally ordinary lives behind the scenes, and are faced with the pressures, troubles and fears common to all. A common theme of the book is just how many have been through personal tragedy of some shape or form. Often it is in such times that their Christian testimony begins or is strengthened.
One aspect that is not really touched on is the thorny issue of whether or not professional sport is fundamentally compatible with a Christian lifestyle. To many Christians, the obligation to ply ones trade on the Lord’s Day can be a bridge too far. Unfortunately, this appears to be assumed a non-issue.
Related Books:
- Messy Spirituality : Mike Yaconelli
- Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God : Francis Chan
- ESPN: The Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge – Steve Wulf
- The Greatest Moments in Sports : Len Berman
- The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy : Bill Simmons
- True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart – Thich Nhat Hanh
- Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend : Bill Russell
