by Stephanie Shin
“We may not win games, but we may win lives!”
It’s that time of year again! Cleats tossed in with a change of clothes sit in the trunk of cars. Conversations about the Chargers fall to the wayside as coaches and team members talk animatedly about their own practices and playing positions in the foyer. It’s mission bowl season and it’s on everyone’s minds! And thanks to a memorable High School Musical performance at family camp, so is the Lighthouse Bible Church Basketball Association (LBCBA).
The sports ministry is one that a good number of LBC’ers have had the opportunity to appreciate. When asked about the greater motivation behind the sports ministry, Kevin Tse replied: “The purpose of the sports ministry is to foster Christian fellowship in the realm of competitive athletics. A model for the building up of Christ’s body is the weaving of many various parts and members under a single focus to achieve their goals. In a world that seems to reward selfishness and large egos in amateur and professional sports, LBC sports ministry preaches selflessness and teamwork as a means of glorifying Christ among one another. In sports, believers have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with one another through camaraderie and trust, while also having an avenue with which to welcome new comers to the church. Finally, through sports, LBC hopes to fulfill its mission to be a beacon of Christ’s love and truth to the world by hosting various church sponsored, city wide competitions such as Mission Bowl and LBC basketball.”
With ongoing investments in interchurch tournaments, softball city leagues (and talks of participating in a basketball city league), email lists for tennis, volleyball and other sports actively circulating the Lighthouse pulse, the sports ministry has created a unique opportunity for proclaiming Christ. In an arena easily motivated by and given to pride, anger, and blowing past the next man, LBC’s sports ministry is more committed to opening up more avenues for shining the light. A long-term goal for the sports ministry is focused on fulfilling exactly that purpose. Kevin Tse replied that what the sports ministry hopes to see happen in the next year is: “A greater city-wide scope to spread the message of the Gospel.” Randy Tsuchiyama comments on the involvement of LBC members in the city softball league: “For the most part, the other teams in the league know that we are from a church. The attitudes that we have on the field are a testimony to the other teams. We are representing Christ to the other teams there.”
And encouragement reaches inward towards the body of believers as well. Of his participation in the softball league, Randy Tsuchiyama says: “I really enjoy being able to get to know the guys on the team better. I think especially with the married guys. You are able to bond pretty well with your fellow teammates. Like winning and losing together just builds the relationships with the other guys on the team.”
What can LBC look forward to in the upcoming year? Continuing Mission Bowl and LBCBA as well as pickup games of ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and other sports. And to throw in a token cheesy analogy: we all play for the same team! Let’s play the game knowing that it’s already been won. Applicable especially to the realm of sports, the Word exhorts us: “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).