Onward Christian Athletes - part 2

This is the second in a series of five articles related to the recently released book, “Onward Christian Athletes – Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers.” It is written by Tom Krattenmaker and published by Rowman and Littlefield. I have read and re-read the book in order to learn what I can from its pages. I would recommend that you buy a copy and read it yourself. This week’s notes will deal with chapters 1 and 2.

Chapter 1 – “On Any Justice Sunday: Evangelicals, Pro Sports, and the (Conservative) Campaign for Jesus”
Chapter 2 – “A Cross on the Logo: Representing for God in the High-Profile World of Major League Sports”

In these two chapters the author takes issue with the link he sees between Evangelical Sports ministries and the “Christian Right” of the Republican Party in the USA. He spends all of chapter 1 in making his point and the theme continues throughout the rest of the book. He has done his homework and draws clear lines of connection between ministry personnel (several mentioned by name), conservative political organizations and those whose wealth funds both.

In chapter 2, he makes many comments about the ways in which high-profile Christian athletes express their faith in public. He takes issue with such proclamations being made in public and with a number of these statements and their lack of depth or understanding of Biblical values. In many cases, he’s right. Too often we in sports ministry shove immature Christian athletes into the public spotlight only to be embarrassed by their immature statements. That is our fault. He mentions language like, “God just took control of my body.” “The Lord took over the game tonight.” Philippians 4:13 written on players’ eye black, a poor application of this scripture, and other immature expressions are placed under the author’s microscope.

In another section, religion is likened to superstition. In many cases I would say he is right again. Too often the chaplain’s prayer, the recitation of “the Lord’s Prayer,” writing scripture on one’s shoes, getting scripture reference tattoos, etc. is little more than a superstitious appeal for God’s favor and a guarantee of success. Many immature Christian athletes treat their faith like a good luck charm. This is to our shame.

Lastly and maybe most sadly, the author seems to find fault with an integrated approach to faith and sport. He sees it as a weakness in the Evangelical mind that our faith would permeate every facet of our lives. He rather seems to recommend compartmentalization. He would prefer that the Christian athlete leave his faith in the locker room or better yet, leave it at church. Be an athlete on the field of competition and a Christian at church. I would contend that this dualistic, compartmentalized approach is exactly what leads to much of our inconsistency and the sad lack of integrity in the lives of Christian sportspeople.

I pray that we will have the courage to look these criticisms directly in the eye, prayerfully consider them and then either affirm the methods and values which stand the test or modify our approach so as to be most faithful to the enduring wisdom of biblical truth.