Extreme sports offer chance to reach next generation

To say the least, it was extreme what Christ did in dying for the sins of the world, and sometimes, it takes extreme sports to jolt teenagers’ attention to the message of Christ.  
   
“The church can’t do business as usual to reach this generation,” said John Garner, LifeWay Christian Resources’ sports and recreation director.
   
Grasping peg after peg to strain up the side of a fake mountain face; struggling to hold the front wheel of a mountain bike steady over impossible terrain; balancing on the narrow surface of a skateboard as it flies in midair, often turning vertical up a 50- or 60-foot-high ramp — these and more are extreme sports that attract the attention of today’s youth in the secular world.
   
The sports themselves are neither religious nor nonreligious, but left alone by the church, the sports and the young people who do them are left to whatever the world chooses to do with them. But harnessed by the church, extreme sports can be used to take teens up fake mountains to real summits in Christ. God’s Holy Spirit can fly them to spiritual highs in Christ that dwarf the tallest and most awesome skateboard ramps ever built.
   
“It’s another tool to attract this generation that’s growing up as an unseeded generation,” Garner continued. “Nobody has taken the time to sow the word of God into their lives. In fact, they’re afraid of religion because of the way most secular media portrays it. When they come to find the love of Christ portrayed, they get a whole other picture that Christ loves them for who they are, they hear a message that they’ve not heard before.”
   
Some churches are taking an intentional turn to these sports as tools of evangelism and discipleship. He said that at a Baptist church in Flower Mound, Texas, instead of running teens off for illegally skateboarding on their property, they built skateboarding ramps and used refreshments and Bible study to capture an opportunity to bring teens to Christ. So far, they’ve seen 50 of these teens come to Christ.
   
Extreme sports — defined by Garner as “extreme adventure sports that demand a higher degree of expertise and involve higher degrees of risk” —  are part and parcel of the risk-taking generation. Whether skateboarding, rock climbing, mountain biking, in-line skating or various marathons, they can all be tools for ministry.
   
Without it overtly looking like there are constraints, there should be plenty to ensure safety in establishing and maintaining these sports.  Helmets and proper pads should be required.
   
Experts agree that a church should not just jump into this endeavor without advising and careful planning, and though the whole idea of extreme sports is high risk taking, common sense and the welfare of the young people should be of the utmost concern. Insurance policies should also be reviewed and evaluated as to how to include any extreme sports activity.