Why Are There So Many Christian Athletes?

 In his post-game interview after the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs and most valuable player in the game, said, “I just want to give the glory to God.” Mahomes is known for his Christian witness but that isn’t unusual in the NFL. Many of its most celebrated players have been clear in their Christian testimony. After winning the 2000 Super Bowl and the MVP award, Kurt Warner said, “First things first, I want to give praise to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

In addition to players, many coaches have a strong Christian witness. Bill McCartney is the best coach in the history of the University of Colorado, leading his team to the school’s only national championship in 1990. An ardent Christian, after the 1994 season McCartney resigned from coaching to start the well-known Christian organization, Promise Keepers.

Athletes in other sports are also outspoken Christians. Many players in the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have a strong Christian witness. Most professional teams and most college teams in every sport have a chapel program for their players and coaches. I have spoken several times in them myself.

So, why are almost all Christian celebrities in sports? Because it is a meritocracy. By that I mean, you will not be discriminated against for being a Christian. If you are the best quarterback on the team you are going to play, no matter what your religious preference.

The same cannot be said for other arenas of celebrity. Take Hollywood. There are a few Christians in the movie industry, but very few. It’s not as much of a meritocracy. More people can act in movies then can play quarterback in the NFL. So Hollywood executives can discriminate against them or force them to hide their witness. And they do. Hollywood tilts overwhelmingly to the anti-Christian Left. Can you even imagine an actor, when receiving his academy award, saying, “I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” To the best of my knowledge nothing like that has ever happened in the history of the medium.

But the academic community is even worse. There are a number of academic superstars—celebrities if you will. Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins. Freeman Dyson. I do not know of one, single, academic celebrity who is a Christian. In fact, on most university faculties there is not a single Christian of any kind. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever given glory to God when receiving a Nobel prize. And many in the academic community are hostile toward Christianity. Not a single celebrated athlete I have ever heard of has come out against Christianity. But many celebrated academics spew hatred toward the Christian faith.

So let’s ask the question again: Why are there so many Christian athletes and coaches?  There aren’t. They just reflect the general population. If you walked down the street of an average American city and asked a hundred people if they were Christians, about two-thirds of them would say, “Yes.” About a third of them would have been in church the previous Sunday. And about ten of them would be open about their faith and seek to win others to it. Sports simply reflects this reality.   The more interesting question that deserves research is why are there so few Christians in Hollywood and fewer still in academia. But we don’t need research to tell us that. We know the reason. Overt, hostile, ongoing discrimination.

I remember telling my colleagues at the university: “When you looked around and saw very few black professors you said, “We are discriminating against people of color.”   When you looked around and saw few women you said, “We are sexists.” When you looked around and saw no Christians, you said, “That’s because Christians are stupid.” (I have actually seen academic research papers arguing this very thing and heard it with my own ears many times.)

Hostility toward Christians is an acceptable form of bigotry in Hollywood and the academic community. But not in sports. If you can play, you play. Even if you give the glory to Jesus Christ. And so, lots of sports celebrities are believers.

Thank you for listening. May the Lord bless you mightily.

More: Is Our Godless Era Dead? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2_rr8xy58Q

Why I Converted from Atheism to Christ: https://studio.youtube.com/video/039-0HjWzso/edit

The lack of Christian journalists and the stupidity it leads to:

https://thespectator.com/newsletter/the-medias-ignorant-attempt-to-cover-christians-culture-shock-02-21-2024/?utm_source=Spectator%20World%20Signup&utm_campaign=c31595e461-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_02_22_08_39&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c31595e461-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D