When major U.S. sports returned to competition during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, it didn’t feel real to many fans. With so much misunderstanding about the COVID-19 virus, the information gap has turned sports into a different experience for fans who could attend. Some watched at home and paid to have cardboard cutout likenesses of themselves in the stands during home games!

It was bad enough for the fans, but can you imagine what it felt like for the players and coaches? Though piping in fake crowd noise helps for some, it’s really not the same. One former NBA player said it looked and felt more like a pick-up basketball game than the real thing. Even the tradition of shaking hands after competing had changed. One NHL player suggested, “Maybe we could shake hands if there was a hand sanitizer nearby, right as they came off the ice,” laughing but not joking.

The search for something real has been ongoing throughout history. It didn’t begin with athletes or coaches looking for reality in wealth, power, and fame. Winning games or earning large NBA contracts is not wrong, but they are empty substitutes for the reality that John teaches in his first epistle, written centuries ago.

1 John 1 – God Openly Reveals Himself

John knew satisfying reality is not found in the things you can buy or the thrills from winning a championship but in the Person—Jesus Christ. He taught this reality in 1 John 1. This life is not hidden but was revealed openly by God (1 John 1:2). While God revealed Himself in creation (Romans 1:20), He also revealed Himself in the Bible through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:9). Jesus Christ is the complete revelation or reality of God to men.

 The Kingdom Coach and Athlete believe Jesus was real—not a dream or vision. They place their trust and faith in God, who came to earth in human form so they could experience eternal life by trusting in Him!