The Christian Athlete: Glorifying God in Sports

by Brian Smith

• ISBN13: 9780830783250
• ISBN10: 0830783253
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2022-04-05
• Publisher: David C Cook

Summary

The Christian Athlete is a gospel-centered guide that assists athletes who identify as Christians and are seeking to understand how to practically apply their faith to their sport.
 
Athletes desire—and deserve—a more substantive expression of the Christian faith in the context of sport, but they don’t know what it looks like or where to turn to learn more.

Author Brian Smith shares his story as an athlete and coach, and his experience working with high-level athletes in the last decade to help readers better understand how to integrate faith and sport by:

• Assisting those who want a wide-angled understanding of how to live the Christian faith in the context of sports
• Walking through the many questions Christian athletes ask about winning, losing, injuries, practice, and everything in between
• Moving Christian athletes from simply having clichéd spiritual sayings decorating their bodies or t-shirts to actually living out their faith through all the opportunities their sport offers them

The Christian Athlete will show readers how to live out a biblical perspective on athletics and urge them to engage in the gifts they are given to glorify God whether they are the team MVP or riding the bench.
 

Author Biography

Brian Smith ran track and cross-country at Wake Forest University, where he graduated with a Communications and Journalism degree. After two years of coaching track at the college level, he turned to working with Athletes in Action. For the past 10 years he has been helping athletes and coaches live biblically at the intersection of faith and sport through his website, thechristianathlete.com.
 

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction 9
Chapter 1: On Glory and God 13
Chapter 2: On Motivation 33
Chapter 3: On Pressure 43
Chapter 4: On Winning 60
Chapter 5: On Losing 76
Chapter 6: On Injuries 91
Chapter 7: On Practice 105
Chapter 8: On Teammates 115
Chapter 9: On Riding the Bench 129
Chapter 10: On Gray Areas 144
Chapter 11: On Coaches 155
Chapter 12: On Mission 170
Chapter 13: On Platform 181
Chapter 14: On Retirement 199
Conclusion 214
Appendix: How to Craft Your Sports Testimony 225
Acknowledgments 233
Notes 234