Tim Gombis posts a series of blog entries on this topic. I have read the first one and plan on reading the rest. His first post is certainly well thought out and theologically robust although I’m sure many of you with disagree with his conclusions. I’m still in the process of forming my opinion on the topic but it is certainly thought-provoking. Here are some excerpts:
Should Christian athletes (or other well-known Christians) use their stature as a “platform” to speak about Christian faith?
I tend to think that they should not. I don’t have the final word on this, but I think this way for several reasons.
That’s why I said in the last few posts that a redeemed quarterback will be serious about having fun, being a good teammate, and eliciting from the other side the best possible performance. He receives the game as a gift and inhabits it as it was meant to be played according to God’s intentions.
Now, I don’t think that sports figures must remain silent about their Christian identity. But speech about Christian realities is, in an important sense, irrelevant to analyzing football games in post-game press conferences. In fact, to be a faithful Christian in such a situation is to really think through the game and talk through its dynamics faithfully.
Using those opportunities as platforms for something else diminishes the Sabbath-oriented character of the game. It is to mistreat a good gift from God, seeking to turn it into a non-Sabbath activity.
…
Read the whole blog here
