By Charles Hackney, PhD
I am a fan of mixed martial arts. My own journey in the martial arts began in 1995, and has included hapikido, judo, jujitsu, bujinkan, bartitsu, and medieval European martial arts. The first psychological study I ever designed involved personality and martial arts training. I watched with enthusiasm the gonzo spectacles of the first UFC tournaments, when nobody knew what they were doing. My first book was about the psychology of the martial arts. I have opinions about the recent match between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. Now that I’m middle-aged and my body is, let’s say, not what it used to be, my efforts are focused on helping my children in their training (kuk sool won and judo).
But I also have a great deal of uncertainty about mixed martial arts. I see fighters displaying admirable character, but I also see trash-talking and rampant narcissism. Fans are drawn into the destructive world of sports betting, and athletes are drawn into the self-destruction of steroid use. Both as a Christian and as a psychologist, I am troubled by what I see.
I am not alone, and my concerns are reflected by others when they look at all kinds of sports. Whether we are talking about football, gymnastics, or elite rowing, the moral, spiritual, physical, and psychological effects of sports call out for wisdom among those of us who are in (or adjacent to) that world. In this post, I will very briefly touch on the tensions among Christians when it comes to this topic, and relate them to psychologists’ positions on sport participation.
Christians have a long and complicated relationship with the world of sports, extending back to the early Church. On the one hand, recreation and exercise are unquestionably good for us, but on the other hand, sports are often associated with the more sinful aspects of the surrounding culture. The two sides of the debate have traditionally been either that Christians should get exercise but avoid sports, or that we should figure out how to do sports in a Christian way (Harvey, 2014).
Early Christians had to come to grips with the ritual displays of pagan worship, and the brutal treatment of athletes’ bodies, in Roman games. In the Fourth Century, excommunication was proclaimed against Christian gladiators and charioteers at the Council of Arles. In the Fifth Century, Emperor Theodoris took a different approach and tried to Christianize the games, including making different chariot-racing teams represent different positions on doctrinal issues. I can only imagine what something like that would look like now: “Be sure to purchase your tickets for tonight’s basketball game, folks! The Cleveland Calvinists are facing off against the New York Arminians, in match-up you won’t want to miss!”
In the medieval era, many clergy condemned tournaments, arguing that competing in them promoted all seven of the deadly sins, while others said that tournaments were ways to cultivating the knightly, and Christian, virtues. In the Reformation, Luther and Zwingli both claimed that Christian education should include physical education classes (including combat sports such as wrestling and sword-fighting). Puritans approved of sports, as long as they did not take place on Sundays, involve violence, or come with an associated culture of gambling and vice (Hoffman, 2010).
Much of our current discussions about sports are shaped by the “muscular Christianity” movement of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries (Mathiesen, 2008). Christians within that movement emphasized the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, the importance of physical strength for carrying out Gospel work, and the role of sports in developing good character. Opposing them were those Christians who saw the sporting world as a domain thoroughly infested with organized crime, cheating, egocentrism, drunkenness, and gambling.
Psychological research on sports participation seems to support the idea that physical activity is good for us, at multiple levels, but only if we do it right. In general, exercise has been shown to confer psychological benefits at the same level as cognitive therapy (Lawlor and Hopker, 2001) and antidepressant medication (Blumenthal et al., 1999). However, exercise either confers no benefit, or makes things worse, when athletes are pushed too hard, or when the motivation for engagement is tied up with physical appearance (Szabo, 2000).
The idea that sports build character also shows this pattern. When coaches, for example, reward and model morally-upright behavior, athletes show improvements in character (Bolter & Weiss, 2013; Wandzilak et al., 1988), but when coaches show disrespect and rule-breaking, so do the athletes under their authority.
I am sympathetic to the concerns of my brothers and sisters in Christ who believe that Christians cannot be a part of the world of sports (especially at an elite level) without immersing themselves in the destructive and self-destructive aspects of that world. But as a Christian and a psychologist, guided by scholarship in both domains, I find myself siding with the “muscular Christians.” When done properly, with regard for the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of athletes, Christian psychologists can endorse sports participation as useful in facilitating the growth and flourishing of clients, and of ourselves.
Charles Hackney completed his PhD in Social and Personality Psychology at the University at Albany, SUNY. He currently serves as Chair of the Psychology Department at Briercrest College, where his scholarly interests include the positive psychology movement, terror management theory, and the relationship between psychology and Christianity. He is the author of Positive Psychology in Christian Perspective (2021, IVP Academic). Learn more about Charles at his faculty website and his Substack.
