SoulWork
Christian Athletes Are Not Role Models
Signs of grace
This gives us a clue about what we should be looking for in our Christian athletes—nothing more, nor less, than we look for in ourselves: signs of God's grace.
The Christian athlete, like any athlete in top condition and training, is a picture of athletic grace, to be sure. We can glorify our Creator for giving some men and women such extraordinary abilities for us to behold. But beyond that, we're looking at typically weak, selfish, prideful people, subject to the same temptations that we succumb to. They carry about with them a body, however glorious for the moment, that is subject to decay, with a heart desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). Scoundrels is another word to describe us. Sinners is the biblical word.
And yet. These scoundrels—like us—are the very objects of God's mercy. It is for such that Christ died. As he put it, he didn't come for the role models, but for those who have failed to be role models (Luke 5:32). The most wondrous things we're seeing on the field are not glorious athletes but graced sinners.
Any athlete who begins to imagine that he is, in fact, a role model, would be wise to remember Jesus' parable of the Role Model and the Scoundrel in Luke 18:
Two men went up into the megachurch to pray, one a Role Model, and the other a Scoundrel. The Role Model, standing by himself and yet in clear view of the ESPN cameras, prayed thus: "God, I thank you that I am not like other athletes—self-centered, adulterers, and drug addicts, or even like that Scoundrel. I work out twice a day, I give my all, on and off the field, to be an example to others." But the Scoundrel, standing far off away from the microphones, would not even lift up his eyes, but wept, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a scoundrel!"
Jesus seemed to think the latter was the real role model.
Might I suggest a line for our favorite Christian athletes to use when people want to make them into something they are not?
"Hey, I ain't no role model; I'm just a scoundrel. …"
Mark Galli is editor of Christianity Today.
SoulWork
In "SoulWork," Mark Galli brings news, Christian theology, and spiritual direction together to explore what it means to be formed spiritually in the image of Jesus Christ.
Mark Galli
Galli is editor of Christianity Today and author of God Wins, Chaos and Grace, A Great and Terrible Love, Jesus Mean and Wild, Francis of Assisi and His World, and other books.
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Bill Canaday
The athlete is on the field to compete ... not to preach. There is nothing about professional sports - football and hockey in particular - that is intended to convey Christian values. That simply isn't what they are about. Due to its violence, I don't watch football. From my perspective, it isn't part of a Christian life. I try to imagine Jesus in the stands ... and I just can't. If I can't see him there, there is no reason for me to be there, either. I like the quote about the guys in prison ... I may use that someday.
Lillian Logan
Our only role model should be Jesus Christ. Our only soul will have to stand before God in the end. Some athletes are followers of Jesus. Jesus has followers all over the world which are involved in all types of occupations.
Curt Russell
As a Baltimoron, I have followed Ray Lewis since his arrival here in 1996. As a Christian, I agree and disagree with your observation. Ray Lewis was basically a thug when he joined the Ravens. Watching what God has done with his life during the ensuing 16 years is truly a miracle. Like all of us, Ray is not perfect, but he is a redeemed man. In this sense, I believe he is a role model... evidence of the power of God in the life of a sinner... and I believe that is how Ray would characterize it. He wants young kids (and adults, for that matter) to experience what he has experienced. I would perhaps agree that we should not idolize pro sports stars, but they can be examples of God's grace and power. In this, we can and should rejoice.