Should you let your child play sports on a Sunday?

A few years ago Christianity Today, a widely read magazine in America, published an article by Megan Hill, a mum who is going through this dilemma in real time. Her son was a good young baseball player with games on a Sunday. In her piece she wrestled with this problem and concluded:

“Sports are good. It’s good for children to use their bodies, to cooperate with others, to compete under authority, and to discipline themselves to perfect a skill. But the triumphs of the playing field are a dim shadow of the true blessings of Sunday.”

I wonder how you’ve thought about the question on sport on Sundays. How can Christian parents make good, faithful and wise decisions?

The first thing to say is this is a matter of conscience for us. In Romans 14, Paul looks at the question of areas that Christians disagree over that are not central to the gospel and calls them “disputable matters.” As he says:

“One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.”

Paul is not saying this question does not matter. He is calling us to think and consider it carefully, whilst not falling out over it. So, to be clear, I’m not going to give you a firm answer to the question of sport on Sundays. My aim though is to ……