When I'm playing a sport, is it wrong to fool another player… like faking a pass? Is that lying?
Here's the answer:
No, as long as you are following the rules of the sport, it is not wrong to fake a pass or a shot when playing a sport. Changing directions quickly or trying to lose your opponent is not lying.
When playing team sports, one team is usually trying to move a ball in the opposite direction of the other team. Football players push each other around in order to make room to move the ball. Basketball players set screens and fake shots in order to get the ball into their own basket. Volleyball players will often fake hits in order to get the other teams blockers out of their way.
On the court or field, all of these strategies are acceptable because everyone knows the rules of the sport and has agreed to them. But off the field, pushing people down, faking a shot at your friends, or setting a screen to stop someone from going somewhere, is wrong. If someone has not agreed to play the team sport, and you trick them or push them down, that is a sin.
We are to treat others kindly. Jesus taught us to treat others the way we want to be treated. If everyone agrees to play a team sport and everyone agrees to obey the rules, it is okay to fake a pass or a shot. It is not lying. But you cannot do those same things to people who have not agreed to play the sport with you.
Bible Truth
“Do to others as you want them to do to you” (Luke 6:31).
