I recently learned about a legal case in Oregon in which the Portland Seventh-day Adventist School has sued the Oregon School Activities Association so that Adventist players can participate in basketball tournaments normally scheduled for Saturday. The school has taken the position that accommodation should be made to allow Sabbath observers the opportunity to play. The case is currently before the Oregon Supreme Court.

I was very troubled on a number of levels when I read about this case. I realize that the sport of basketball is a part of the fabric of American society and that it is widely played on competitive levels throughout the United States in Adventist schools. In my home church and local church school, basketball is as much a part of our youth’s scheduled activities as any other service or activity we provide.

What troubles me is that sports were not originally expected to be so prominent in the lives of Adventists. Our uniqueness and our understanding of the need for character development as primary responsibilities put us at odds with the spirit of organized sports. The spirit of competition, which is a part of sports in general and basketball in particular, should be shunned.

To help us recognize dangers around us, we have been given inspired guidance through Ellen White that clearly points out the dangers of allowing our youth to take sports beyond a simple game to the level of competition with other churches and groups, thus giving winners bragging rights to trumpet their superiority.

I shrink always from the almost sure result which follows in the wake of these amusements. It leads to an outlay of means that should be expended in bringing the light of truth to souls that are perishing out of Christ. The amusements and expenditures of means for self-pleasing, which lead on step by step to self-glorifying, and the education in these games for pleasure produces a love and passion for such things that are not favorable to the perfection of Christian character.1

Many people will probably say that organized sports teach our youth valuable qualities that will serve them well as adults. They might justify it by pointing to the value of teamwork. Or they might point to organized sports in our schools and churches as factors that will keep our youth busy, safe, and out of trouble.

Under closer scrutiny, these points beg a question: Is this the best way to reach these goals and to teach and demonstrate the values we want to instill? Would other, humanitarian, endeavors yield the lessons of teamwork and perseverance, yet avoid the negative features that organized sports bring with them?

I grew up playing basketball and have been involved in organized basketball for a number of years, and I see many of the dangers we were warned about. Those who have never played the game may not realize that a large part of success involves domination and deceit. In basketball, players are often taught to dominate opponents physically and mentally as much as possible. Humiliation of opponents tends to be welcomed, and spectators often like nothing more than seeing their team dominate their opponents completely.

Deceit and trickery also play a prominent partl. Although these factors alone may seem harmless, we should not lose sight of the purpose of our schools and churches: To prepare youth for service on earth and fellowship with Christ throughout eternity.

When we look at the time and expense we invest in athletics, we must seriously consider whether we can provide better ways for the development of our youth. Acceptance of the world’s model of development without close scrutiny is dangerous at best, and reckless at worse.

Are our youth developing as Christians, or is the line of demarcation between those who believe and those who don’t hardly distinguishable? Are we in danger of losing sight of eternal values if we tenaciously participate in organized sports?

It seems that acceptance of basketball as a necessary part of our youth’s development is firmly entrenched in many of our schools and churches. I realize that some people may consider it heretical to question this acceptance. As Seventh-day Adventists, however, we need to be sensitive to doing things just because the majority of other people find it acceptable. Our prophetic future tells us that, one day, we will need to counter that very sentiment in defense of our core beliefs and practices.

It should be our goal to develop the noble characteristics outlined in the Beatitudes: meekness, humility, purity, mercy, forgiveness, and faithfulness. Anything that detracts from accomplishing this heaven-ordained responsibility should be shunned—in our schools as well as in our churches.

I find it alarming when we celebrate what the world celebrates, and even to press cases before local and state courts for the right to participate in such events. It is time for us to take the ball out of our court, put it back where it belongs, and walk away.

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Notes and References

1. Quoted in Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Australian Years 1891–1900 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1985), 4:446.

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