Bishop Barron says famous ‘Chariots of Fire’ Olympian’s skills were ‘something beautiful’, gave ‘glory to God'
Bishop Robert Barron offered the example of Scottish Olympian Eric Liddell as proof that achieving athletic excellence should be about ultimately giving glory to God.
In light of the ongoing Paris Summer Olympics, Barron spoke to Fox News Digital about Liddell, the Scottish gold medalist whose choice to forego a surefire gold medal win in honor of the Sabbath – and his subsequent gold medal win in the 400-meter race in the 1924 games – was immortalized in the movie "Chariots of Fire."
The bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota emphasized that Liddell believed his running ability was something God reveled in, and agreed, saying that athletic excellence is beautiful and something God delights in.
"So, something like running fast. You say, ‘Well, OK, it's not going to cure cancer. It's not going to, you know, feed the starving millions, but it's excellence. It's something beautiful. It means he's fully alive and that gives pleasure to God," the bishop told Fox last week.
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Bishop Robert Barron talked about how famous Scottish Olympian Eric Liddell used his running ability to give glory to God. (Fox News Digital | Warner Brothers, Contributor)
Liddell’s powerful story in the 1924 Olympic Games, also held in Paris that year, is memorable not only because of his supreme running ability, but because of how he displayed his deep Christian faith. Thanks to his talent, Liddell was considered a shoo-in for the gold medal in the 100-meter dash but declined to race because it fell on a Sunday, the Sabbath.
Instead, Liddell opted for a race on a later date that he was supposedly less adept at, the 400-meter, though he won the gold, reaching the finish line a full meter ahead of the silver-medalist and beating the previous 400-meter world record, a moment powerfully depicted in the 1981 film.
Barron spoke about why such a man of faith pursued athletic excellence when, clearly, he felt a life committed to God was most important.
Liddell would go on to be a Christian missionary in China, and ultimately die in a Japanese internment camp before the end of WWII.
Barron pointed to a moment in "Chariots of Fire" that he believes truly captured Liddell’s real-life perspective.
"There’s a great scene in it where Eric Liddell is talking to his sister, who, like him, is a very devout person," he began. "And they're missionaries and they feel their calling is to be missionaries in China. Right? And she's impatient with him, like, ‘Why are you messing around with this running? It seems so superficial and silly. And why would you bother with the Olympics? Go to China and be a great missionary.’"
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Barron continued, "So he talks to her, and he says, ‘I believe God has made me for a purpose, and that purpose is to go to China. But he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.’"
The bishop contextualized this lesson with some early Christian teaching, stating, "What gives pleasure to God? We'll go way back to this fellow from the second century called Irenaeus of Lyosn. He said, ‘The glory of God is a human being fully alive.’"
Barron gave the lesson a more modern context, explaining the same principle with Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who is also a Catholic.
"Think of Simone Biles, you know, like tumbling through the air. She's not curing cancer. You know, she's not Mother Teresa, but she's doing this beautiful thing, and it gives pleasure to God, because the glory of God is a human being fully alive."
He also told Fox that the attitude people should have about sports, like any other earthly pursuit, is that it should be done for God’s glory.
"So whatever you are, whatever you do, you give it to God and you say, ‘It's for your glory.' So Eric Liddell saying, ‘When I run fast, I feel his pleasure. So, I'm going to turn that over to God for his glory. Not for money, not for fame, not for power. But I'm going to give it to God.'"
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Baron added, "Whatever you have, give it to God and you will find it coming back to you elevated."
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