Steven KozaK

More than 60 million kids participate in youth sports each year—a 40-billion-dollar industry—not to mention the countless hours and money soccer moms, racing moms, and dance dads spend on their kids’ athletics. 

When I was elbow-deep in youth ministry, teaching students every day, living in the trenches with them day in and day out, I was absolutely convinced that youth sports were robbing kids and parents of their life inside the church, a life of kingdom service, missions, and the kind of discipleship guaranteed to make disciples who make disciples. My answer to any parent that would dare live with the skewed properties of travel soccer over Jesus was nothing short of disdain and judgment. 

I judged parents for living vicariously through their kids. I assumed that more sports meant less church, less Jesus, and more sin. 

Was I wrong? What on earth could be better than a church youth group filled with students committed to worshipping Jesus above all else? I may have just heard every youth pastor scream, “Amen,” even as I write this. 

But here I sit, 20 years into ministry experience. I am typing this on a Monday evening as my daughter participates in a soccer camp on the heels of a weekend at the racetrack, where my son raced all day on Saturday. We missed Sunday morning, and based on this week’s soccer schedule, we will miss Wednesday too. 

Am I wrong? Is There a Pathway to Stronger Faith Through Sports?

Perhaps I am. But the more I thought about it and my wife, and I talked about it, the more we began to see this as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for our kids to live on a mission and be a light. But they are kids; how can they be prepared? Shouldn’t the church be teaching them? What happens when the world corrupts them? 

I would never devalue time spent in the community around other followers of Jesus. It is essential, critical, and entirely necessary to grow in faith. But allow me to offer three reasons I choose to race, play soccer, enroll in dance, etc. 

And to be clear, my kids, not me. 

Finding Stronger Faith By Finding Balance

Like my grandma always said, “Everything in moderation.” As parents, we must draw a line in the sand and provide our kids with an appropriate balance between sports, school, church, friends, and even family. Too much of one thing means we sacrifice something else. So, of course, too much time spent in sports and other activities can mean far less time in church, youth group, and Sunday School. These are vital to helping our kids grow spiritually and engage them in a healthy church community. 

But if that is true and balance is the goal, then we can conclude there is a moment when too much church can throw our kids off balance. At first glance, that sounds wrong. It took me a second too. But think for a moment. What did Jesus command us to do? Go and make disciples. Go. He didn’t say stay and hang out at church. He said go. The activities we put our kids in—and dare I say it, the money we spend too—can be missional. Putting our kids and ourselves on the front lines of ministry. 

So do you see the balance? On the one hand, our kids need guidance and direction, training and reassurance of truth—at home and church. But they also need the time and opportunity to take those skills into the world and make the kind of impact Jesus expects us to. 

Youth Sports Creating Gospel Opportunities

One Saturday afternoon, my son and I waited in line at the racetrack to check in for his race. Like everyone, you eavesdrop on other people’s conversations. The family in front of us thoroughly described an on-track incident with all the colorful language one might expect from the racing community. My son smiled at me and kindly ignored them. But later told me how stupid they were. 

Right there. God gave me a golden opportunity to show my son what being like Jesus is like now. I am absolutely sure that he learned how to treat others in a Sunday School lesson along the way, but that lesson was made clear and very real on that afternoon. He was given an opportunity to practice. 

Whether it’s the football field, racetrack, or basketball court—these are places filled with people who desperately need Jesus. And we might just be the only Jesus they ever meet and the only Bible they ever read. 

Remember, Jesus spent countless hours teaching the twelve about what it means to live as a citizen of the kingdom. But he also sent them out, allowing them to experience what that means. Sports for our entire family can be that opportunity. If we are willing to look for it. 

Is Your Family Living in Faith or Living with Faith?

There is a subtle difference between living a life believing in Jesus, going to church, being a generally good person, attending Bible studies—you know, doing all those “Christian” things we do. It’s all of those things that we do together to support one another by praying and worshipping. All of which are reflective of the New Testament church. So what’s the problem. If this is where we stop, we are missing a critical piece, and we are just living with faith. It compartmentalizes our faith. In other words, we go about our daily routines with a marginal faith, not really allowing what we believe to penetrate into every part of us and those we encounter daily. 

Conversely, living in faith puts the shebang together. We take the truth of Jesus and live it to the fullest. However, living this way requires intentionally putting ourselves in the company of non-believers. To be fair, I have met countless people who practice living in faith every day, and you might too. But are you modeling it for your kids? Are you helping your kids do the same thing in their sphere of influence? This is where the magic happens, and you guessed it, youth sports is the perfect training ground. 

How Do We Move Forward 

To the church: Especially my youth pastor friends. I feel your pain. I know firsthand the frustration of endless hours preparing for a fun night of games, community, and a message for a group of students you know could be bigger. The kids that fail to show up consistently are usually the ones who need Jesus the most. 

But there may be an opportunity here instead. Resist the urge to judge and instead help parents fully take advantage of their time with their kids to prepare them for those all-important interactions. Help parents see and take hold of the gospel opportunities right in front of them. And give them the tools they need to create balance in their family. 

This is what community is all about. Play the hand you’ve been dealt and find a way to win. Because the win isn’t about attendance (I know you know that). The win is disciples who are making disciples. It is kids and families who are working hard to live on a mission. 

To Families: I promise that what I said above is not permission to ditch Wednesday nights for anything else, all in the name of Jesus. As parents, we have to be painfully honest with ourselves. Are we putting our kids in sports because they genuinely enjoy it, and because they do, we want to honor that. Therefore, we will assume full responsibility for their faith development while participating. Or are we pushing our kids into sports because we have somehow wrapped our own identity and worth into the athletic success of our kids? I know that’s a hard question. But you need to honestly consider the options and everything in between. 

So, take a step back and consider the motivation and then, as a family, make a plan for how you will use this time to be Jesus in the lost world he put you in.