by Joshua R. Colson & Brandon K. Presley
Over the course of three previous articles (here, here, and here), we have covered the shifting nature of how Christians wrestled with sports throughout the first 1700 years of church history. Prior to the 16th century, the primary concerns with which Christians grappled were how closely sporting events were tied to idolatry (particularly for the early church) and how many sporting events endangered participants’ lives. By the time of the Reformation, sporting events had become more-or-less decoupled from explicitly idolatrous practices while also becoming more humane. Thus, the theological conversation evolved into a debate over the propriety of spending one’s time playing sports, particularly on the Sabbath. A polar tension developed between those who felt that non-violent sports could promote human flourishing and those who felt that non-violent sports could become idolatrous in themselves and actually inhibit human flourishing by leading to idleness in daily lives.
Since the Reformation, this tension has continued. However, the Puritanical impulse to discourage Christian involvement in sports has become the minority report in the church at large and American evangelicalism in particular. In this article, we will trace the way that organized sports and evangelicalism became strange bedfellows given the historic wrestling match between Christians and sports. Then, we will offer some concluding observations about the present and suggestions for the future.
Muscular Christianity and American Sport
Our story begins, strangely enough, in Victorian England where a group of moderate-to-liberal Anglicans launched a movement that came to be known as Muscular Christianity. This movement aimed at cultivating the virtues of traditional masculinity through organized sports. Rhys S. Bezzant cogently argues that it was largely a reaction to the rapid industrialization of England in the mid-19th century.[1] Indeed, the Industrial Revolution brought about many changes to traditional male life. Greg Morse explains, “Men left their homesteads and the untilled fields of agrarian society for the hustle and bustle of the city,” leading to a breakdown of traditional family values and a decrease in certain types of labor.[2] Consequently, Christians sought to restore traditional, masculine values such as strength, perseverance, discipline, and leadership for many through organized sport. Formal organizations such as the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) helped to facilitate a restoration of such values.
Among the chief instigators of this movement was the novelist and Anglican cleric Charles Kingsley. Concerned that Christianity was feminizing with the decline of traditional masculinity in industrializing England, Kingsley sought to reverse course by publishing novels that extolled the virtues of traditional masculinity.[3] One of Kingsley’s mentors was the American Episcopal Priest Endicott Peabody. Peabody would go on to bring masculine Christianity to the United States through his founding of the Groton School (at which he would educate future president Franklin D. Roosevelt) and his using it in his ministry in the Southwest United States. Peabody believed that sports were not only useful for the cultivation of young men but also a powerful evangelistic tool for various ends. “Instead of exerting effort to recruit women for his congregation, as was often the case for churches of that day,” Hunter M. Hampton explains that Peabody “focused on the men. Baseball games, armed excursions into the countryside, and playing cowboy filled his time. These activities brought him into contact with the men he hoped to convert. An active faith, he argued, would save Tombstonians’ bodies and souls.”[4]
The Muscular Christianity movement extended beyond the confines of mainline Anglicanism and Episcopalianism through the labors of the evangelical preacher Dwight L. Moody. Though most famous as an evangelist, Moody had earlier presided over the YMCA in the United States hoping to cultivate men of virtue through sport. His later preaching, Bezzant notes, would inspire the formation of similar organizations for young men.[5]
Perhaps the most readily recognizable figure in the American movement of Muscular Christianity, however, was Billy Sunday. The professional-baseball-player-turned-evangelist drew crowds partly from his fame as a former ballplayer, and he “particularly enjoyed appealing to men by using ‘a body of athletic metaphors.’”[6] In fact, Sunday saw sports mainly as an avenue to evangelize the lost. “He was not against the value of care for the body,” writes Bezzant, “but this was nothing if not attached to the preaching of Christ and an address to the will to be born again.”[7] In this way, Sunday echoes the Apostle Paul, who wrote that, “while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:18).[8]
Sports as a Means of Evangelism
Following Billy Sunday, American evangelicals developed a particular skill for utilizing sports and popular sports figures as a means to propagate the Christian message. Their efforts were aided by radio and television broadcasts of sporting events that led to “the rise of sports spectatorship on a grand scale”[9] The rise of spectator sports meant the rise of sporting “heroes” with a national platform, and, almost immediately, these heroes were viewed by marketers as fit spokesmen for consumer products. Soon thereafter, explains Annie Blazer, “Evangelicals recognized Christian athletes as men with the power to communicate widely and recruited these individuals to demonstrate their faith publicly.” Indeed, she cites Don McClanen as saying the following in 1954: “If athletes can endorse shaving cream, razor blades, and cigarettes, surely they can endorse the Lord, too.” Evangelicals like McClanen—who went on to found the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)—“saw the gospel as a consumable product that would benefit from advertising strategies.”[10] Thus, some saw sports as a tool for evangelism.
Since Billy Sunday, evangelical athletes have continued to utilize their fame as a platform for evangelism. Perhaps the most notable figure of the past twenty years has been former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. As Jeff Pearlman once said, “He [Tebow] plays football because he wants to spread the word of Jesus Christ.”[11] To spread the word of Jesus, Tebow publicly postured himself in praying positions, wrote Bible verses on his body/uniform, and spoke openly of his faith in postgame interviews.[12] Tebow has also been highly sought after as a speaker at evangelical conferences and crusades.
Evangelicals, alongside supporting sporting heroes like Tebow who are using their platforms to spread the gospel, also support Christian youth sporting leagues like Upward Soccer and Basketball, church league baseball and softball, and golf leagues. The primary goals of the evangelical organized sports subculture are evangelism and discipleship. Moreover, organizations like the FCA serve to help student athletes, even on teams of secular institutions, grow in their faith and influence their teammates for Christ.
Current Issues
Evangelicals have basically embraced organized sports as not only a way of life but also a wonderful opportunity for evangelism.[13] What then of the objections raised by Christians of yesteryear? Should evangelicals still think about issues like idolatry, time management, violence, and human flourishing with regards to sport? We think so.
Idolatry has historically been raised as a concern, and it is still a concern today. However, sports idolatry today looks quite different now than it did in the first three centuries of the church. Today, sports idolatry often takes the form of worshipping the sport itself (rather than the emperor as a god). Part of this shift in what is worshipped has to do with how easily accessible the sports space is. Not until the 1920s could families listen to every baseball game of the season, which would take up a substantial amount of time. Later in the 20th century, when it became common for homes to have televisions, families and individuals could then watch just about every game. Into the 21st century, this issue has grown and now sports consume a great deal of time for the average American. Furthermore, major professional sports often have games on Sunday, often during church hour, which vies for our attention. Due to this fact, many have raised the concern about sports taking over the Sabbath. Perhaps we should look back to our Puritan forebears to gain some perspective on this issue in our own day.
In terms of violence, we no longer have gladiatorial fights to the death or jousting tournaments. However, one wonders if the American obsession with sports like boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and football is so different from that of our ancient Roman counterparts. Numerous studies reveal the debilitating, physical injuries that result from these sports, and evangelicals would do well to consider a proper view of them.[14]
Another major issue that confronts evangelicals today when they consider sports is the widespread legalization of sports gambling. During the 20th century, sports gambling was the purview of organized crime. In an infamous example, the 1919 World Series, often referred to as the “Black Sox Scandal,” demonstrated the amount of power gambling had over spectators and players.[15] Even more recently, Pete Rose was banned from Major League Baseball Hall of Fame due to his involvement in sports gambling as a manager in the 1980s (this ban was recently lifted after his death).[16] Today, however, sports gambling is legal and accessible to almost every adult in the United States at the touch of a button. How should evangelicals react to sports being propped up by what has historically been viewed as a vice?
Concluding Thoughts
Even while the modern era witnessed the evangelical embrace of sports primarily as a means of evangelism, this series of essays demonstrate that we have a great deal more wrestling to do. We have tried not to do too much of that wrestling ourselves in these articles, but we hope that by tracing the history of the ever-evolving relationship between Christians and sports, we will have spurred readers to research more and think deeper about these matters themselves.
About the Authors:
Joshua R. Colson is a native of Southern Illinois where he currently resides with his wife, Hannah. Joshua serves as the pastor of Angelville Community Church and as an adjunct instructor at Welch College. He holds two degrees from Welch College (B.S., Biblical Studies and General Christian Ministry; M.A., Theology and Ministry) and one from Vanderbilt University (M.T.S.). His academic interests include systematic theology, church history, and politics. In his spare time, Joshua can be found on a golf course, in a tree stand, or taking in a St. Louis Cardinals ballgame.
Brandon K. Presley and his wife, Dakota, serve as the resident directors for the men’s dorm at Welch College. They are members at Good Springs Free Will Baptist Church in Pleasant View, TN. He holds an M.A. in Theology and Ministry from Welch College and an M.A. in History from Arizona State University. He and his wife are the proud parents to their one-year-old daughter, Mary Kathryn. Brandon enjoys teaching history, reading literature, and engaging with American politics.
[1] Rhys S. Bezzant, “Muscular Christianity: Celebrating and Constructing Manhood at the End of the Nineteenth Century,” Fides de Historia 53, no. 2 (Summer/Fall 2021): 6.
[2] Greg Morse, “The Search for Manly Men of God,” Desiring God (September 27, 2006), accessed June 16, 2025, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-search-for-manly-men-of-god#fn2.
[3] Bezzant, “Muscular Christianity,” 3–4.
[4] Hunter M. Hampton, “‘Religion is Truly Manly’: Endicott Peabody, Muscular Christianity, and Reform in Tombstone, Arizona,” The Journal of Arizona History 57, no. 2 (2016): 198, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43865465.
[5] Bezzant, “Muscular Christianity,” 1.
[6] Bezzant, “Muscular Christianity,” 13.
[7] Bezzant, “Muscular Christianity,” 13.
[8] All Scripture References will be from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
[9] Annie Blazer, “Football and Christianity in the News,” in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the American News Media, ed. Diane Winston (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 4.
[10] Blazer, “Football and Christianity,” 4.
[11] Jeff Pearlman as quoted in Michael L. Butterworth, “The Passion of the Tebow: Sports Media and Heroic Language in the Tragic Frame,” Critical Studies in Media Communication 30, no. 1 (March 2013): 28.
[12] Matthew Hawzen and Joshua I. Newman have observed that, when Tebow was criticized by those on the left for these sorts of gestures, evangelicals largely viewed these criticism “as a persecution against Tebow and Christianity” (“The Gospel According to Tim Tebow: Sporting Celebrity, Whiteness, and the Cultural Politics of Christian Fundamentalism in America,” Sociology of Sport Journal 34, no. 1 [2017]: 15).
[13] While sports have an evangelistic function, that function is not the “end all” of what they are. Sports are an extension of God’s creation mandate, teaching us, for example, about the art of society and the pursuit of excellence. Even so, sin has impacted sports so that they are not what God intended for them. However, God is renewing sports as He is renewing culture. Thus, sports are not merely a means to the end of evangelism but also a gift to be enjoyed within the created order.
[14] See, for example, the following: “Researchers find CTE in 345 of 376 Former NFL Players Studied,” Boston University, accessed June 16, 2025, https://www.bumc.bu.edu/camed/2023/02/06/researchers-find-cte-in-345-of-376-former-nfl-players-studied/; and Tomislav Zivanovic, “Why is Boxing a Dangerous Sport?” Medium, May 9, 2022, accessed June 16, 2025, https://medium.com/martial-arts-unleashed/why-is-boxing-a-dangerous-sport-c66164128624.
[15] Bill Lamb, “The Black Sox Scandal,” Society for American Baseball Research, accessed June 16, 2025. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-black-sox-scandal/.
[16] Sheldon H. Jacobson, “Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame Controversy,” The Hill, May 22, 2024, accessed June 16, 2025: https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/5310290-pete-rose-hall-of-fame-controversy/.
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