"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat? Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God."
(Matt 6:5-6 The Message)
October is in air and that means among other things: the major league baseball pennant race. I have been watching the MLB playoffs the past couple weeks and once again have been reminded of how big of a sports fan God apparently is. Interview after interview, amidst showers of champaign and victory cigars (which are not my concern, by the way), I've heard players giving credit to God for their postseason success. Now, theologically speaking, it is very possible for the omnipresent God to have season tickets to every game of every sport in every city every single night. (I was imagining Him taking the best seat behind home plate until I remembered Luke 14:7-11.) But I have to ask the question every time He is credited with one team's victory over another: How interested is God in professional sports? Should we assume this is where God is placing his interest and time on any given night? (I know, God isn't limited to one Friday night option, but you get my point.)
Now, I really don't want to be a party-pooper here. I absolutely encourage Christian athletes to give God the glory for their talent and to be grateful for all his blessings -- blessings that include the rare opportunity to play professional sports and enjoy success at it. I have said many times to the students I minister to: "If I could relive my high school basketball days, I'd begin every game in silent prayer asking to let my talent glorify Him and end every game in quiet thanksgiving by my locker."
But this is something quite different than assuming Jesus was pulling for my team over the loser, tipping my hat to Him on camera for spiritual kudos in heaven or to appear more pious and devout than I might otherwise be when not in the spot light. I can't read their hearts or judge their motives, but something just makes me cringe inside when I witness this.
What do you make of this phenomenon? Does it bother you? What is the appropriate way for athletes to acknowledge God in situations like this? What are the dangers and abuses to look out for? Do Jesus' words above from Matthew 6 speak to this issue at all?
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I like it when, like after a touchdown or after a runner wins, they point to the sky or get down on one knee and bow head, or do that cross thing on the chest, to me that's just a short acknowledgment that God has given them the ability. They just trained their butt off in order to win. There's the ability but without the training they wouldn't be winning. The child of a couple we are friends with, we watched this kid grow up, is in pro ball now. After making a dunk, he points up as he's running down the court.
Interesting comments about the need for mentors for these athletes. Has anyone here ever worked in sports ministry? I know some folks who are chaplains for professional sports teams. These chaplains are generally good folks and I think they do try to counsel the players about humility and such. I do wonder sometimes whether there's a bit too much of the American evangelical male rah-rah thing going on. But it's just such a bizarre media-saturated world pro athletes inhabit.
I whole-heartedly agree about not compartmentalizing the secular and sacred. In my view, just like with public displays of affection, there are certainly norms, both cultural and ecclesial, for public displays of piety and for witnessing. I haven't given much thought to what those norms are or ought to be but I suspect there's a fairly wide range of what's generally acceptable and mostly helpful. Even then, not all of us are going to be comfortable with everything lying in that range, where it becomes more a matter of individual preference. I personally like the huddle prayer when it is done after the game and includes those players from both teams who want to voluntarily participate. I am personally uncomfortable with any words or gestures that reinforce an unnuanced prosperity theology, which is an unhelpful, misleading, simplistic interpretation of the Good News that (potentially & eventually)scandalizes believers and unbelievers. At the same time, we do not judge the dispositions of any individual's heart, especially knowing they have been thus formed.
i have more of problem with christians assuming that excellence on the field means that the player is someone we should listen to/weigh in on theology/spirituality.
that's the clear implication/claim when we elevate these people off the field...their spiritual journey is no more important/significant than mine or that of the homeless person on the street.
furthermore, these people are not pastors, theologians, etc. There is a critical role for equipping/training/teaching.
(please spare me the "priesthood of all believers" thing too, because that's not what's being talked about here.)
it all reminds me of a conversation I had the privilege of having with Rich Mullins a few years before he died.
He basically expressed incredulity at people asking his opinion about how to handle divorce biblically, or women in ministry. In effect he said, "I'm a song writer. Asking me about women in ministry is like asking your car mechanic for psychological counseling because he's good at fixing cars."
ESPN ran a great piece on Kurt Warner's faith last year. He used to annoy me until I read the article. Search for it on ESPN.com--it's called "Good Deeds are Warner's Focus," by Wayne Drehs from January 29,2009. Among other things, it talks about Warner beginning his Super Bowl MVP interview, "First things first, I've got to thank my Lord and Savior above."
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