On Sunday, as I watched my Philadelphia Eagles defeat our rival the Dallas Cowboys, I saw something. Just before the game the cameras caught several of the Eagle players praying together. Now this is not uncommon for athletes, and people know especially of the faith of Philadelphia Eagles players. Often, however, people do not give these and other Christian athletes the recognition they deserve for living out their faith. As I talked about in my first post, Christians need to continually share the light of Christ. Many athletes are, and this should be an encouragement.
How God Uses Christian Athletes
Although there is little that I agree with political commentator David French on, his commentary about faith and sports is spot on. I do not just say that because he was talking about my beloved Philadelphia Eagles. Two days after the Eagles won their first Superbowl, French published an article addressing the issue of whether God cares about football or not. Explaining how the notion that God cares about sports games could be offensive, he said:
“It’s a question worth answering in large part because it goes to the heart of our conception of God’s nature, his character, and his relationship with man. There are those who look at Christian athletes and say that their expressions of faith diminish God. They take the God of the universe and relegate him to the status of a divine football commissioner, dispensing gridiron glory for the sake of rewarding the ‘hard work’ or ‘grit’ of his favorite children. When the world groans under the weight of the Fall — divided by war, battered by hurricanes, afflicted with disease — the notion that God cares in the slightest about which millionaire athlete wins which sporting contest can strike a person as slightly obscene.”
David French, “Yes, God Cares about Football“
Continuing, he explained that people forget that God is infinite, and therefore worrying about sports is not a big deal for him. He also talked about how God tells us that all good things come from above (James 1:17) and that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), both of which would include football. However, this is his main point of how God uses Christian athletes and football:
“When Nick Foles and Doug Pederson gave glory to God after the Super Bowl, they were doing exactly what God’s people should do: Praise him as the source of their immense blessing. And for players on the other side? Their adversity serves its own purpose. In the face of triumph, humility dictates that we credit the source of our strength. In the face of loss, faith encourages us that adversity will work together for good. There is much worth seeing that reality play out on the larger public stage — even if that stage is ‘only’ a football game.”
David French, “Yes, God Cares about Football”
Intersection of Faith & Sports
One of the defining moments of the 2022-2023 NFL season was when Buffalo Bills Player Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. For a time it was not clear whether Damar would live, having gone into cardiac arrest. (Thankfully by the effort of the first responders on the scene and the grace of God, he came through it and now is playing again.) The next day ESPN personality and former NFL Quarterback Dan Orlovsky prayed live on air for Damar. This was an amazing and impactful moment that quickly went viral.
After this, my church, which is about 20 minutes from ESPN, hosted an event with the Christian media company Sports Spectrum. They interviewed Dan about that experience for their podcast. In the interview, Dan talked about how he expected backlash for praying. Yet, he had this to say about that, “I think when you’re rooted in Jesus, backlash really doesn’t matter to you anymore.” He also talked about how he received emails from ESPN employees thanking him for what he did. This is the effect that Christians living out their faith openly can have, and having a platform multiplies this effect.
ESPN College GameDay star Rece Davis was also part of the event. Rece spoke more broadly about the need of Christians to speak up explicitly about their faith:
When you’re given a platform like you or I have, a lot of times you fall short of living up to that, of what you should do in terms of being able to share your faith, express your faith, because you sorta hide sometimes behind, ‘well I’ll be nice to everybody’. If I’m nice to people, if I don’t snap at them, yell at them, if I deal with them honestly and fairly then they’ll see that,’ and that is important, we should do all those things, because if you don’t live that way then they’re certainly aren’t going to be open to any seed that you might plant. But I think the challenge is trying to consistently live in such a way that provides a good example to people, but also be able and ready and willing to give an account for why it is you have this hope, and why you’re different, and why you behave the way you do, and when you do make a mistake and stumble that you’re able to own it.
Rece Davis
I wholeheartedly agree with this message. After all, scripture tells us that one cannot call on Jesus and believe if they have not heard the gospel, and they cannot hear the gospel unless someone tells it to them (Romans 10:14-14). I would guess that when Dan gets to heaven he will learn that his on-air prayer had a powerful impact, and that his living out his faith publicly had an impact witnessing to unbelievers that following Jesus makes a difference in people’s lives. I have embedded the full interviews at the bottom of this post.
Push Back Against Outspoken Christian Athletes
However, not everyone thinks athlete’s speaking out about or writing about their faith is so wonderful. I have seen comments online questioning why American Christians are “obsessed” with football players talking about their faith. They question how being a football player qualifies someone like a Tim Tebow to speak on matters of faith. I would flip that around and ask what about being a football player, or other sports figure, disqualifies someone from speaking about matters of faith? For that matter, shouldn’t all Christians be speaking out? Think of Sunday school class or Bible study – many are not lead by an ordained minister with a seminary degree but by everyday people who love and know the Lord.
Let’s look at what most of these examples of faith-sharing that gain attention are actually doing. Are they trying to teach some comprehensive theology, or just sharing their testimony? It seems most are just the latter. Additionally, people such as Tim Tebow who write Christian living books do so after their career are over, and thus again, are no different than any other layman writing such books. That is not to say we should not test everything they say against scripture (Acts 17:11). Still, assuming that they are speaking the word accurately it should be an encouragement. God should be praised that he has given us such good gifts like sports and uses them to give people a platform to expand the Kingdom.
