“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9
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As a youngster growing up, I knew two things: the Lord Jesus Christ was my personal Savior, and sports. I received Christ as my Savior in sixth grade after I was presented the Campus Crusade Bill Bright tract, “The Four Spiritual Laws.” I started playing sports in junior high and continued through high school and college, and still play today as a senior adult. Baseball, basketball, football and hockey … I just couldn’t get enough of them. My biggest concern back then was which one I’d play professionally. But by the end of high school, it became clear that a professional career was not what the Lord had in mind for me.
Instead, I traveled down a non-team sport path: natural, drug-tested bodybuilding and powerlifting. I learned early on that I wasn’t the biggest or fastest, and work ethic, discipline and drive didn’t always translate to success in team sports. With my newfound individual sports, however, I could channel my God-given energies individually.
No one outworked me in eighth-grade football, and no one does today. Now in my 46th year of competing in natural, drug-tested bodybuilding and powerlifting at the age of 62 years young, I have 66 state, 24 national and one masters world record in powerlifting, while simultaneously winning bodybuilding contests in various competitions (all after working through some 13 different surgeries). I really relate to Isaiah 40:31: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
I believe that sports, like most things in life, are a God-given privilege to participate in. We cannot take this for granted and should be thankful for this gift from the Lord. Furthermore, Jesus teaches that it’s about attitude or how our heart is bent, not about an overall personal performance that the world focuses on. The Lord is more concerned about our witness and how we conduct ourselves as the secular world is always watching. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
Competing is a way of representing the Lord in sports, and it’s not only a privilege but an opportunity from the Lord to plant spiritual seeds in the hearts and minds of our competitors. Our actions and reactions during the heat of competition define us as God’s athletes, not only to our competitors but also to the prospective spectator audience which may not yet know the Lord.
As Jesus’ words and parables commonly shocked or challenged the hearts and minds of people, I think our words to fellow competitors should do the same. Even though the world seems to think that competitors should be treated as enemies, Jesus teaches us to love our enemies. So why not shock or challenge them with encouragement and a true, heartfelt desire for them to perform optimally in the heat of battle, even if it means at our own performance expense? In this way we plant spiritual seeds in their hearts and minds.
In bodybuilding, each competitor gets to choose the music to which they perform their routine. I’ve used this platform as an opportunity to plant seeds. Amongst the vast variety of secular music, I choose to use contemporary Christian music with a strong message to hopefully trigger people’s hearts and minds. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Are you taking advantage of the opportunity God is giving you to plant seeds for Christ in the hearts and minds of those around you, wherever that may be?
— Jeff Mumaw
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