God and Sports
According to Tom Krattenmaker, the author of “Onward Christian Athletes”, which is a critical look at mixing sports and religion, the majority of the athletes who credit their victories to God fail to mention any other mitigating factors in the sport that may have led to their victory and usually don’t discuss any negative issues surrounding their sport such as steroid use or racial discrimination. Krattenmaker also contends that the athletes are often pressured by evangelical Christians to make public statements on their faith by religious leaders.
The FCA, which stands for Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a Kansas-based religious organization, seems to support the views of Krattenmaker. The FCA’s Mission Statement in part is to:
to use the powerful medium of athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ.
The FCA’s unabashed goal is to accomplish this through all levels of sports, from little league, to Jr. High and High School sports, all the way up to the pros.
There is, however, a broad range in the opinions of Christian athletes, just as there are many differences in opinions between specific faiths. For example, Rich Franklin, who is a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) title holder, always credits Jesus with his victories and views Jesus as a kind of ultimate role model.
Jesus was fearless, not someone you provoked," Franklin says. "He's a man's man. He was a carpenter who worked with his hands. He wasn't a metrosexual who did his nails."
Granted, this is about the kind of opinion I would expect from a UFC fighter because the fighters aren’t necessarily known for their political correctness or liberal viewpoints.
Fortunately, not all of the Christian athletes view God and sports in the same way. Mike Sweeney, a Catholic who plays for the Seattle Mariners, doesn’t always attribute his successes on the field to God and doesn’t point to the sky when he has a good hit. Instead, he believes that faith is more helpful when his batting average is low than high.
