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Unfortunately for many, sports has become their religion. Sports rules their heart and life. All their time, money, energy, conversation, and dedication are wrapped up in their sports god. So what happens when sports and religion collide, as on a football or baseball field? Tim Tebow’s “tebowing” after a touch-down has caught the sports world flat-footed. For them it’s OK for a football player to do all kinds of ungodly gyrations in the end zone, but they are offended when a player prays to God on the sideline. Is it not commendable for a person on the job to give God credit for his success?
That’s the view of another left-hander in a different sport. The 2011 Cy Young award winner for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw, said, “All he’s trying to say is that it’s not him. … Tim Tebow is adamant in his faith. I respect that.” Kershaw decided before the 2011 season to donate $100 for every strikeout to the children of Zambia. He and his wife have established “Hope’s Home,” a home for orphans of impoverished Zambia. His wife said, “I found it not at all accidental that for the first time, Clayton led the league in strikeouts.” The couple has summed up their view in their new book entitled, “Arise: Live Out Your Faith and Dream on Whatever Field You Find Yourself From the Major Leagues to Africa.”
For Tebow, his field is the football field. What is your field? How can you and I give God credit for our success that will shine a light in which people will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16)? Christianity is not a sport, but a life – a lifestyle that influences everything we do, in our homes, on the job, at school, and yes, even in our sports.
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