Jesus was a “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3) who told his followers to deny themselves and follow him to Golgotha with crosses on their backs.  He said those who try to save their lives will lose them, but “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). The apostle Paul said, “I die every day!” (1 Corinthians 15:31). The Christian life is a life of death. So for the sake of those who want to lose their lives for Christ, here are 12 ways to die while playing volleyball.

1. Rejoice in loss.

Loss teaches us about death. When your flesh rises up pridefully to anger or embarrassment, loss can be, for you, a parable of death as you use it to put the flesh to death. When you lose, glorify God by killing your pride and rejoicing with your opponents in a shared love for God’s goodness through the game.

2. Win with grace.

Winning, likewise, is a chance to die. The flesh desires to boast in its accomplishments. When you win gracefully, you die, and God is shown to be your joy, not bragging rights.

3. Boast in weaknesses.

When you make mistakes, you die by taking it as an opportunity to boast in your weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). Only God is capable of executing anything perfectly.  Your mistakes bear witness to the full range of God’s perfections.

4. Be amazed at God’s goodness.

God said, “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). We’re sinners, so what does God do? He gives us volleyball. Be amazed at God’s goodness! We deserve the sun to fall on us and boil the oceans, but he puts it in the sky and sets paradise in front of us. When you realize the only reason the sun rose to warm the sand is due to God’s goodness and his steadfast love, you die to your old self which would have you think God owes you his sun.  People who receive volleyball with thankfulness magnify God’s goodness (1 Timothy 4:4) which is designed to bring the world to repentance (Romans 2:4).

5. Use valuable opportunities to mortify sin.

Games present opportunities to mortify sin that we aren’t always given so plainly in our everyday lives. You can mortify temper, which causes you to get frustrated when the game doesn’t go your way, gloating, which can rise in the flesh when you do well, a belittling attitude, which makes you want to speak harshly to a stumbling teammate, and pride, which wants to take credit for the athletic ability God has given you.  Don’t waste your opportunity to put these sins to death.

6. Recognize your smallness.

If you think the world is going to fall apart because you take a break to play volleyball, you don’t really realize who is in control.  At this moment, the sun is hurtling through the galaxy at nearly 500,000 miles per hour around a black hole at the center of the Milky Way.  Is it your strength that holds it in orbit?  You don’t even have the power to turn one hair white or black (Matthew 5:36). God serves us and doesn’t need us to carry out his purpose in the world (Acts 17:24-25; Luke 10:41-42). One way he serves us is by giving us volleyball to enjoy, for the sake of his glory.

7. Remember God’s purpose.

God’s purpose in the world is not primarily to convert everyone to Christianity. If that was his primary purpose, he could accomplish it. Nor is his purpose primarily to purify and disciple his church. These are both secondary purposes, which God works mightily in, but they both serve his primary purpose of glorifying himself. And one way God glorifies himself is by giving us volleyball to receive with thanks as a gift bought with the blood of the Lamb.

8. Stand in awe of others’ talents.

God is glorified when we turn away from ourselves and take notice of our opponents’ talents. Praise your opponents and teammates for their talent, and God, who gave them their talents, will shine brightly. Moreover, God has given professionals and Olympic players far superior talent for us to behold – small glories in which we can see glimmers of the glory of God.

9. Stay in shape.

Volleyball can be used as a means of exercise, and exercise keeps our bodies in the condition God designed for them. It enables us to do more in our pursuit to glorify him. When you are more mobile, you can more easily perform the tasks God has for you.  In addition, exercise helps stay off depression and mental illness. Finally, when we sweat with thankful hearts, we sweat to the glory of God.

10. Keep your body under submission.

When your body wants to give up in the middle of a game, you die by overcoming fatigue. When you deny yourself an unnecessary rest, you join Jesus who denied himself the comfort of heaven for you. This denial is not a stoic denial for its own sake, but it teaches us of our frailty, it trains us to bear difficulties, and it prepares us for war.

11. Make a ministry out of it.

Volleyball is a great way to form relationships, which can give you witnessing and discipleship opportunities.  If you die while playing volleyball, you display the glory of Christ to others, who see your actions and give glory to God (Matthew 5:16).

12. Look to the greater joy Jesus offers.

Recreation is good because the God who created it is good.  He doesn’t give bad gifts; everything he created is good (1 Timothy 4:4).  So Volleyball teaches us about the good God who created it.   He gives us joys here on earth to bear witness to the greater joy that is to come when we at last see his beautiful face.   When we realize this we die, and just as mightily we live.   The joy of volleyball is a parable – a small taste – of the joy Jesus offers.

Further Reading

Mahaney, C. J. “Don’t Waste Your Sports.” 31 Aug 2008. http://www.covlife.org/resources/2671709-Dont_Waste_Your_Sports

Piper, John. “How do you glorify God through exercise?” 31 March 2008. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/AskPastorJohn/ByTopic/13/2695/

—. “How to Drink Orange Juice to the Glory of God.” 15 September 1986. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/1986/1489/

—. “Softball, Sex and Augustus Strong.” 4 May 1982. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/1982/3299/