Haven’t the Olympics been absolutely brilliant! In terms of a consistent daily dosage of action-packed drama, of anticipation, nerves and joyful jubilation to bring our nation together, then surely London 2012 has been completely unprecedented?

But what difference does a Christian worldview make to how we view the Games? If you’ve been to a church at all over the last two weeks then you’ve probably already seen the Olympic imagery milked dry for its spiritual allusions. But as we cheer and scream at our TV sets (or in the flesh if you struck gold in the ticket ballot!), Christians are called to view all of life through our renewed minds, including the Olympics.

Here are three great links worth a read and a watch.

1. ‘Inspire a Generation?’ – The prolific Dave Bish offers some edifying thoughts musing on London 2012’s motto. He helpfully points out there’s actually a great difference between simply being inspired yourself and being united in another’s victory on our behalf:

Is the real power here in seeing a hero, a champion who does what we ourselves cannot do? We instinctively own their victory, but we played no active part in the Heptathlon…

Having Jesus as our Head forever is good news. Jess and Greg and Mo were for an exhilarating hour on Saturday night echoes of Jesus’ victory, latching onto the longing we have for The One who can win for us, whose legacy will never fade.

2. ‘How to Watch the Olympic Games’ – A great little article from David Mathis, picking up on a John Piper sermon from 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul takes the reality of the original Greek Olympics and points beyond it to the gospel and the Christian life. So too we should use London 2012 to see past it and through to another reality. As Piper says:

Now I want you to see all that at another level. I want you to transpose the temporary struggles and triumphs of the Olympic Games onto a different level of reality — the level of spiritual life and eternity and God. When you see the athletes run, see another kind of running. When you see them boxing, see another kind of boxing. When you see them training and denying themselves, see another kind of training and self-denial. When you see them smiling with a gold medal around their neck, see another kind of prize.

Read the full article here.

3. ‘One Giant Leap: Helping you share the gospel during the Olympics’ – Lastly Christians In Sport have put together a nine-minute video, featuring Graham Daniels, aiming to get sportspeople thinking about the gospel. As Danno says, ‘you know what it’s like to achieve in sport – to be faster, fitter, and stronger. But there’s one target none of us will ever reach; a distance too far for even the best to leap…’. Take a look.