When I was eight years old, my father started a new football team. It was the first time that the rec center had had a football team for my age group in about eight years. We were awful—we scored once that year. Every other team blew us up by at least thirty points in every game we played. But we pressed on. Four or five years later, as our team grew and began to gel, we became the team to beat. In our 5th season as a team we were undefeated, soundly beating all the teams that had previously destroyed us.

We knew what it meant to be the underdogs, but soon we learned what it meant to be a powerhouse. Not only that, the organization went from one team, which my dad started, to having five teams in our age group.

I watched as my dad made a great impact in our community through football. People looked forward to our games each week; those Saturday mornings were the highlights of each week! It was awesome to see how sports can really impact not just the kids that played, but the greater community as well. I can still remember the chants that we loved to shout together.

Sports may be needed now more than ever. If you look at our country today, there’s so much turmoil—violence, political unrest, and racism. One thing sports is able to do is unite people toward a common goal. In football, you’re able to bring people of diverse backgrounds into one team, looking beyond whatever differences there may be. That is powerful.

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” —Psalm 133:1

It’s evident how much people enjoy sports and draw inspiration from them. You can see it in the praise that’s given to athletes. Sometimes that can be really detrimental for the athlete (because it feeds the ego in an unhealthy way), but if that athlete loves the Lord and uses it as a platform for the Gospel, it can impact thousands of people for Christ. God calls us each of us to use what gifts He has given us to glorify Him. For athletes who are in the spotlight, they can shine the light brightly on Jesus Christ, who deserves all the praise, all the time.

But even in small communities, people can make a huge difference through sports. With the amount of time and energy that my dad poured into our rec center during my childhood, I was able to see how many younger kids and families he served. Still today there are kids and adults Dad used to coach that come to our house just to let him know the influence that he had in their lives. They saw something different in my dad, something that they never forgot. Especially in an African-American community, where many fathers weren’t around and many families were broken, my father was able to be the role model that many children needed. And he always would give all the glory and recognition to Jesus Christ.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” —1 Peter 3:15

Sports can do great things both for individuals and for society. There are countless barriers that can be broken when people unite in pursuit of a common goal.

—Joshua Vaughan

Joshua Vaughan is a regular contributor of The Increase, providing monthly articles and opinions.

Check out Joshua’s Increase profile here: http://theincrease.com/author/josh-vaughan/

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