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Time Out!: The gift or god of Youth Sports
Sport is one of the many evidences of a gracious God. It can unite people, sharing together in the enjoyment it brings. But it brings the challenge of proper stewardship under God, especially when working with young people. Are they being encouraged to use their gifts and time to God’s glory? Are you ensuring that they are living by God’s Word, rather than prioritising their sport? There is a lot to learn about how God wants us to live through sports – both on and off the field.
192 pages, Paperback
Published August 3, 2018
3 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
John Perritt
16 books9 followersJohn Perritt [M.Div. '09 at RTS, Jackson] is currently enrolled in doctoral studies at The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY. He has been working in youth ministry for over 10 years at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church in Ridgeland, MS. He blogs on film and theology at Reel Thinking. He and his wife, Ashleigh, have four children - Sarah, Samuel, Jillian, & Will.
[Portuguese]
John Perritt (M.Div., Reformed Theological Seminary) é pastor de jovens há mais de 10 anos na Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, em Ridgeland (Mississippi). Ele e sua esposa Ashleigh têm quatro filhos: Sarah, Samuel, Jillian e Will. John está atualmente fazendo doutorado no The Southern Baptist Seminary em Louisville (Kentucky).
[Portuguese]
John Perritt (M.Div., Reformed Theological Seminary) é pastor de jovens há mais de 10 anos na Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, em Ridgeland (Mississippi). Ele e sua esposa Ashleigh têm quatro filhos: Sarah, Samuel, Jillian e Will. John está atualmente fazendo doutorado no The Southern Baptist Seminary em Louisville (Kentucky).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 21, 2021
"Sports is an issue just like anything else on this earth. It is an issue that gets complex when sinners are involved. If it didn't cause disagreements, anger, guilt, idolatry, or frivolousness of time, money, and energy spent, then we wouldn't need Jesus...but we do."
There was a lot packed into this little book. Perritt digs in deep into our theology and understanding of the gospel and asks the tough questions about how we are discipling our children. Does the gospel or sports determine how we live our lives? How do we steward the gift of athletics?
Perritt is by no means against youth sports but encourages us to keep the main things the main things and do all for Christ's glory.
Some chapter headings are:
Stewardship of Identity
Stewardship of Time
Stewardship of the Body
Stewardship of Money
Stewardship of Service/Humiity
Stewarding the Souls of Children
2021 A book about sports or art
There was a lot packed into this little book. Perritt digs in deep into our theology and understanding of the gospel and asks the tough questions about how we are discipling our children. Does the gospel or sports determine how we live our lives? How do we steward the gift of athletics?
Perritt is by no means against youth sports but encourages us to keep the main things the main things and do all for Christ's glory.
Some chapter headings are:
Stewardship of Identity
Stewardship of Time
Stewardship of the Body
Stewardship of Money
Stewardship of Service/Humiity
Stewarding the Souls of Children
2021 A book about sports or art
March 30, 2020
As someone who loves Jesus and loves sports this book was a must read. John does an excellent job with addressing the issues regarding sports, in particular, youth sports, and the alter we put them on. This book was full of difficult truth delivered graciously. I coach both football and basketball at the middle school level and will be recommending this book to parents.
November 27, 2020
Solid and trustworthy perspective on the world of athletics. The author drives home a lot of needed points in the realm of youth sports. No doubt, some of the content will land like a shockwave to many parents, coaches, and athletes today, but these things must be said.
Perritt rightly criticizes the tendency to expect young people to devote hours of time, effort, and energy into athletic pursuits while Bible's remain unopened, private prayer a foreign concept, and time around other believers nonexistent. It's no wonder so many young people leave the faith. They've been trained in advance that life's pursuits are more important than spiritual ones. Furthermore, they are wrongly inculcated with the idea that worship only takes place on Sundays. Sadly, these are the realities today. Scholarships are more important than discipleship and glory takes precedence over godliness. Personal holiness, learning a biblical worldview, and developing discernment in young people is not on the radar of many parents and coaches. Perritt says it ought not be so. Young souls are eternal, and the time on earth should reflect eternal priorities, not earthly ones.
Before Perritt is ruled out though, be mindful that he doesn't rule out sports altogether. Instead of buying into a sacred/secular divide, Perritt labors to show what a right outlook and pursuit of athletics can look like. He builds the case on sports from the standpoint of stewardship.
He begins with a warning against idolatry and then defines stewardship in terms of identity, time, the body, money, and service. It is a very good and useful book for anyone thinking through these matters.
Perhaps the best section was on stewardship of identity. He makes the following points:
Christians must realize we too are stewards. We are not our own, but bought at a price (1 Cor. 6:20). In competition, this means laboring to be the best and greatest you can possibly be. But athletes must remember that identity or security is not found in the results. Those are taken care of. Because we are secure in Christ, there is great freedom to play and great peace about competing. With a secure identity, no athlete is out to prove anything about themselves. Players with this mindset don't live and die by the win/loss column. Someone else has given ultimate purpose for life. In this way, sports can be an early training ground to practice focusing one's identity as grounded in Christ and not the results of a competition. The athlete who disciplines himself to think this way won’t fall prey to this line of thinking later in life when engaged in a vocation. Sports are an advanced training ground for not conflating what we do with who we are in Christ.
Perritt rightly criticizes the tendency to expect young people to devote hours of time, effort, and energy into athletic pursuits while Bible's remain unopened, private prayer a foreign concept, and time around other believers nonexistent. It's no wonder so many young people leave the faith. They've been trained in advance that life's pursuits are more important than spiritual ones. Furthermore, they are wrongly inculcated with the idea that worship only takes place on Sundays. Sadly, these are the realities today. Scholarships are more important than discipleship and glory takes precedence over godliness. Personal holiness, learning a biblical worldview, and developing discernment in young people is not on the radar of many parents and coaches. Perritt says it ought not be so. Young souls are eternal, and the time on earth should reflect eternal priorities, not earthly ones.
Before Perritt is ruled out though, be mindful that he doesn't rule out sports altogether. Instead of buying into a sacred/secular divide, Perritt labors to show what a right outlook and pursuit of athletics can look like. He builds the case on sports from the standpoint of stewardship.
He begins with a warning against idolatry and then defines stewardship in terms of identity, time, the body, money, and service. It is a very good and useful book for anyone thinking through these matters.
Perhaps the best section was on stewardship of identity. He makes the following points:
Christians must realize we too are stewards. We are not our own, but bought at a price (1 Cor. 6:20). In competition, this means laboring to be the best and greatest you can possibly be. But athletes must remember that identity or security is not found in the results. Those are taken care of. Because we are secure in Christ, there is great freedom to play and great peace about competing. With a secure identity, no athlete is out to prove anything about themselves. Players with this mindset don't live and die by the win/loss column. Someone else has given ultimate purpose for life. In this way, sports can be an early training ground to practice focusing one's identity as grounded in Christ and not the results of a competition. The athlete who disciplines himself to think this way won’t fall prey to this line of thinking later in life when engaged in a vocation. Sports are an advanced training ground for not conflating what we do with who we are in Christ.
March 14, 2020
Fantastic read stemming from a critique of our increasingly idolatrous view of sports, both professional and developmental. It’s a huge problem, and Perritt isn’t afraid to say so. So important. Great parenting advice included as well. Thank you, John.
October 22, 2021
A great book that makes you think.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews