Book Recommendation: The Reason for Sports

At the moment, I think my list of books-to-read is nearing about 200. To be honest, I'll never be able to read all of these books in my lifetime. But I keep the list so that I don't forget what I would like to eventually read some day if I have the time. Well, about two weeks ago, I added this book to the list, The Reason For Sports: A Christian Fanifesto by Ted Kluck.

I was first introduced to Mr. Kluck when I read two books he coauthored along with Kevin DeYoung entitled Why We're Not Emergent and Why We Love the Church. His writing style is captivating and easy to follow, leaving you chuckling to yourself and wanting to read more. Having played football in college and written extensively for ESPN, Ted knows sports like the back of his hand. In addition, he is also a rock solid Christian who loves attending and serving his local church in Michigan. Therefore, there are few authors who are better suited to write about the place of sports in our Christian lives.

Since I have yet to read The Reason For Sports, I will point you to two book reviews done by Christian men I admire. First, Tim Challies. Here is an excerpt from his review.

"The Reason for Sports is "A Christian Fanifesto," according to the subtitle, a series of essays on the subject. So it is not a cohesive A-Z kind of look at the topic and neither is it an apologetic for professional sports. Instead, it is a book that moves from one topic to the next, often based around articles that have been expanded from ones first printed at ESPN or elsewhere. Thus the strength of the book is not so much in the book as a whole, but in the scope of the topics it covers. Those topics include apologies (something athletes seem to have endless opportunities to practice, though few get it right), steroids and performance enhancing drugs, honest and dishonesty, pride and humility, the emptiness that the most popular athletes may feel even when at the top of their game, sports in popular film and the often perilous link between sports and sexuality. Like I said, this is a book with a broad scope!

And second, Kevin DeYoung. Kevin DeYoung is actually Ted's pastor. He couldn't recommend this book any higher. I can't wait to read it.

Buy it here.