Sports have become a well-used vehicle for promotion of the Christian faith. The vast majority of individuals who are involved in the spread of Christianity through athletics are evangelicals, who see it as their mission to spread the word of Jesus Christ and convert others to Christianity. This includes displays on the field, Christian help for athletes, and good works through charity. The documentary Wrestling for Jesus displayed this current trend of playing a sport and winning in the name of Jesus Christ.
There was one point of the documentary that I found most interesting. This was when Matt, a good guy to Timothy’s villain in the wrestling ring, attempted to explain why he won the award of ‘Most Christ-Like’. When asked why he thought he received
this award, he said because he was friendly. This was literally the only point he could think to compare himself to Jesus. For one who is supposed to live his life for Jesus, he barely knew anything about the man.
Krattenmaker makes his clear in his article that while Christianity in sports started as an innocent show of faith on the field by people like Herbert Lusk, it has exploded into an event. He also maintains that there is no room for any other religions in sport today, despite the fact that sports should belong to everyone regardless of religion (26). We now have the likes of Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin to contend with, and through events like Justice Sunday sports are beginning to mix with politics. While athletes are free to express their personal opinion during a game, I think it is wrong and completely inappropriate for their influence to extend any further than that. We as a nation must at least attempt to maintain our separation of church and state, and
due to sports the line between the two is becoming almost nonexistent.
There was one point of the documentary that I found most interesting. This was when Matt, a good guy to Timothy’s villain in the wrestling ring, attempted to explain why he won the award of ‘Most Christ-Like’. When asked why he thought he received
this award, he said because he was friendly. This was literally the only point he could think to compare himself to Jesus. For one who is supposed to live his life for Jesus, he barely knew anything about the man.
Krattenmaker makes his clear in his article that while Christianity in sports started as an innocent show of faith on the field by people like Herbert Lusk, it has exploded into an event. He also maintains that there is no room for any other religions in sport today, despite the fact that sports should belong to everyone regardless of religion (26). We now have the likes of Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin to contend with, and through events like Justice Sunday sports are beginning to mix with politics. While athletes are free to express their personal opinion during a game, I think it is wrong and completely inappropriate for their influence to extend any further than that. We as a nation must at least attempt to maintain our separation of church and state, and
due to sports the line between the two is becoming almost nonexistent.
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