The people of sport have tremendous influence. Many are called to be Christ’s ambassadors to the sporting community and are given a unique opportunity to publicly display the parallel between biblical principles and athletic fundamentals. But too often, the people of sport are the most misunderstood and spiritually neglected. They are also some of the most exploited and overexposed within the Christian community.  

I was thinking overnight about some of the qualities that enable sports chaplains and sports mentors to be most effective in their work with coaches and competitors. One of those is empathy. Empathy is the ability to see situations from another’s point of view, to even feel what the other is feeling.  Empathy shapes our attitudes and aligns our hearts and emotions to be most effective at communicating God’s heart in any given situation.

Let’s think for a moment about the various ways we have traveled to and from competitions across our lives in sport. Low rent or first class, those who play their hearts out find joy in the journey.

I remember traveling to high school wrestling meets in school buses. I remember teammates spitting in paper cups to lose the last fractions of a pound to make weight. I remember the smell of oranges being peeled and snacks from mothers being shared among teammates. I remember the raucous rides home after victories and the deathly quiet following painful losses.

Walking through the halls of the Auburn football office, you can almost feel it. there’s something different about this athletic complex — something bigger than just sports.

Make no mistake about it, these Tigers have the same on-the-field mission as every other football team in the country. They want to win. But unlike most other teams, their definition of a “win” isn’t restricted to a scoreboard.

Steve “Chappy” Hudson has been committed to full-time ministry since he was 23. After attending seminary, he joined the ministry team of a church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Six years later, he felt the tugging of the Holy Spirit to step out of the church setting to reach the “unequipped.” And what better place than at Charlotte Motor Speedway?

“Expectations from last season ... coaching and playing in the NBA are so demanding ... the worst performance ... flashy clothes, the expensive cars and piles of money ... worst player in the game ... obviously fallen on hard times ... very inconsistent in their shooting...”

You don’t have to search to find remarks like these on the web or in the sports section of the newspaper the morning after any NBA game. They’re easy to find.