Below are some notes I took during a talk by my friend and colleague, Ashley Null, at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Sports Chaplain Conference in Kansas City, Missouri in February of this year.

• “Success is just like drugs and sex in that it medicates our psychic pain and disappointment.”

• “Most champions don’t compete to win, because the rewards are so fleeting. They compete not to lose, because the pain is long lasting.”

• The world’s values for sport are clear:

o You are what you do.

o Your worth is based on your latest performance.

o The purpose of pain is to produce enough self-loathing to motivate one to further training, so as to win next time.

• Our ministry as sport chaplains shapes how our players and coaches handle defeat and success. It shapes how they perceive God in either case.

• We are called to communicate to the world of sport that our value is not based on our performance, but on the performance of Jesus Christ on the cross.