We were made in the image of God...to work

Think for a minute about all the hard work that goes into your sport.

Sport is not just about the match or the race; it involves all that goes into those 90 minutes or 10 seconds. Every training session, every meal prepared, and every piece of recovery. For others, you may not be putting in lots of time and effort but no doubt those organising your leagues and tournaments are.

All of sport is sport, just as all of life is life. As Christians, we can easily separate our faith from the rest of our lives. We think God is only the God of Sunday morning and not Monday. Instead, as we look at the first instructions given to man in Genesis, we see how God made us in his image to be people who work.

In Genesis 2:15, we see Adam given a task, a job:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

The world God created was perfect, but it was not complete. God’s original act of creation was not just to make the world. He also sustains it. He sustains it, though, through the actions of mankind. As Paul says in the New Testament: we are God’s co-workers. This is a challenging thought. Most of us think of ourselves as if we work for God, not with him. Of course, there is truth in that, we are God’s servants, yet here we see we are to work with God.

The word “work” here in Hebrew, ‘abad,’ can also be translated as “service” – service to God but also people made in his image. ‘Abad’ is also used throughout the Hebrew Bible to mean worship. Work and worship are not separate things.

Worship is not just what we do at church, singing songs on a Sunday. All of our life, including our work and our sport, can be worship.

God then tells Adam to “take care of” the garden. He is to cultivate it and develop it.

Tim Keller defines work like this:

“[work is] rearranging the raw material of God’s creation in such a way that it helps the world in general, and people in particular, thrive and flourish.”

We see this in his command to Adam to work the land and name the animals. We see this in how God provides food for us through the work of farmers. He provides new human life through the procreation of men and women. He also uses artists and musicians to create works of beauty, doctors to keep us healthy, and teachers to help us learn.

Sport is another act of co-creation. Sport is ordered play. We see this in the physio who takes their knowledge and expertise to care for fellow humans. We see this in the coach who seeks to bring out the potential in the athlete. We see this in the player who can take something as simple as a ball and do something mesmerizing with it.

All of this is the work of cultivation, of bringing out the potential from God’s good gifts given in creation.

So what?

“You are a modern day Adam or Eve. This world is what’s left of the Garden. And your job is to take all the raw materials that are spread out in front of you, to work it, to take care of it, to rule, to subdue, to wrestle, to fight, to explore, and to take the creation project forward as an act of service and worship to the God who made you.”

John Mark Comer in Garden City

So, firstly, recognise that every task you do, and others do for you can be done in worship to God and service to others as we cultivate this world he has given us. God is not just honoured in the playing of the game but in all that goes on around it. He is honoured in our work, and he delights in co-creating with us.

Secondly, recognise and be thankful for the fellow humans who God uses to bless you in numerous ways. The physio putting in long hours at your club, or the administrator making sure everything runs smoothly. Thank God for the different gifts and abilities he has given to those around you.

Finally, remember your identity is not found in your success at work – whatever it might be – whether you are a professional athlete, working in the sporting industry, or another vocation. Our identity as God’s children is only given to us in Christ by grace. Work, and sporting performance, can so easily become something we end up worshipping or use to justify ourselves before God.

God is the God of Saturday afternoon as much as Sunday morning. All we do, we do with God present, and so as we go to our sports clubs, let’s delight in giving him worship in all we do.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you that you made and care about all our lives, including our work – both paid and not paid. Thank you for all those people who work to make our sport function. Thank You that we can live all of life as worship for You and in service to others.

Help us to delight in being co-creators with you. Help us to serve others in all we do in our sports.

We praise you, Lord,

Amen.