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After one vault on Tuesday, Simone Biles took herself out of the US gymnastics women\u2019s team competition. A day later, she withdrew from the all-around, \u201cin order to focus on her mental health,\u201d read a statement on the USA Gymnastics' Twitter account.\nSimone also blamed the twisties, where, as the Washington Post describes, athletes \u201close control of their bodies as they spin through the air. Sometimes they twist when they hadn\u2019t planned to. Other times they stop midway through, as Biles did. And after experiencing the twisties once, it\u2019s very difficult to forget. Instinct gets replaced by thought. Thought quickly leads to worry. Worry is difficult to escape.\u201d\nWhile the majority of fans have reacted to Biles\u2019 departure from these marquee competitions with support, it did draw scorn from some, who see her decision not to compete as quitting or a cop out. As with everything else these days, Biles\u2019 decision became part of the culture wars. And no doubt her decision will make its way into countless sermon illustrations this weekend.\nThis week on the show, we wanted to talk about how our discussion of elite athletics shapes the way we think about Christian discipleship. And when we hear words like sacrifice and redemption in our culture, it\u2019s most often in a sports context. How is that shaping the way the church is talking about those words?\nBrian Gamel is a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor University\u2019s Faith and Sports Institute, where he is writing a book on athletic imagery in the New Testament. He also wrote a piece for Christian Scholar\u2019s Review earlier this year called \u201c\u2018Whoever Wishes to Become Great\u2019 \u2013 Sports, Glory, and the Gospel.\u201d\nTim Dalrymple is the CEO and editor in chief of Christianity Today. He is also a former elite gymnast: When he was a sophomore at Stanford, he was the NCAA\u2019s top-ranked gymnast and a likely Olympics contender, until an accident on the high bar broke his neck and ended his athletic career.\nGamel and Dalrymple joined global media manager Morgan Lee and executive editor Ted Olsen to discuss Paul\u2019s athletic metaphors, a biblical theology of the body and sport, and what it means to actually support athletes in your church.What is Quick to Listen? Read more\nRate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts\nFollow the podcast on Twitter\nFollow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen\nFollow Tim Dalrymple on Twitter\nEmail our guest: Brian_Gamel@baylor.edu\nMusic by Sweeps\nQuick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder\nThe transcript is edited by Faith Ndlovu\xa0\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices