About the Sport Principle<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social inhibition in sport is a huge area of academic study in PE and Sports Science. Put simply, the term means that some people\u2019s performance is improved by the presence of an audience (social facilitation), but some people feel the pressure and the presence of the audience makes their performance worse (social inhibition). Like it or not, elite sportspeople have to work hard at making the crowd their \u2018friend\u2019 and not their enemy, because they come with the territory of elite sport. They are not going to go away. There is an audience too for your life, and in the same way, you can \u2018befriend\u2019 them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former American President Ronald Reagan\u2019s success at winning a second term in office is traced back by many to one brilliant line directed at his opponent in a widely televised pre-election debate. We can call this \u2018verbal judo\u2019! Already America\u2019s oldest president, there was a feeling among his opponents, and even some of his supporters, that he was simply too old to run for office again. When his much younger opponent raised this issue directly during the debate, the nation held its breath. Reagan calmly responded that he would refuse to let his opponent\u2019s \u2018youth and inexperience\u2019 be a part of his campaign as it would be unfair! With that one sentence, many experts feel, Reagan got the crowd on his side and won the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Application to life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember years ago, as a teenager, at the end of a particularly tough day at a big judo competition where I\u2019d lost all my fights, a stranger in the crowd put his arm round me and said something to the effect of: \u201cI always enjoy watching you, there\u2019s something different about the way you fight, even when you lose.\u201d<\/em> In those days I didn\u2019t have the courage to say what even then I believed to be the truth: \u201cIt\u2019s the Holy Spirit inside me living out the life of Jesus through me.\u201d <\/em>But I was encouraged by his comment nevertheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a great story about a concert pianist who played her heart out at a world class venue and was given a standing ovation by the crowd. Behind the closed curtain, when asked by her manager why she looked so miserable, \u2018did she not know everyone was on their feet?\u2019 her reply was \u2018not everyone\u2019. And as her manager, on the pianist\u2019s instruction peered again through the gap in the curtain, he saw one man still seated: the pianist\u2019s father. Nobody else\u2019s opinion mattered to her if she hadn\u2019t pleased him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For us as men of God, life is like that, only in reverse: The concert pianist had a disapproving father whose opinion overrode the opinions of others, we have a father in heaven who is always on His feet cheering us on (and all of heaven with Him) no matter what anyone else is doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You need to be selective about whose opinion matters to you. Like Ronald Reagan, win people\u2019s hearts with your humility and gentleness, not arrogance, which, though it might be tempting if you have a certain personality type, is very short term in its impact. Honestly, one year from now, a lot of the people whom you are trying to impress now won\u2019t even remember your name! May we live attractive lives that \u2018get the crowd on our side.\u2019 Through this, may we draw others to our Saviour and theirs. But even when the crowds turn on us, as they will, may we continue to live for an \u2018audience of one\u2019 and seek His approval alone, irrespective of what anyone else thinks! <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor your ways are in full view\u00a0of the\u00a0Lord, and he examines\u00a0all your paths.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Proverbs 5:21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Image credit: Jon Candy via Flickr<\/p>\n