A few years ago, in a Northjersey.com post by Kara Yorio, several respected people weighed in on this question.
“It’s one of those tricky questions,” said former quarterback and current NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner, a devout Christian. “I believe God has your best interest in mind. How that correlates to winning and losing football games, I’m not fully sure.”
“Do I believe that as a son of God that my life is important to him? No question about it,” said Warner who was named Most Valuable Player when he led the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl title in 2000. “Where do we draw that line between what’s important to him and what’s not? I believe it’s all important to him. But I don’t know how exactly that fits into winning and losing per se.”
The Rev. George McGovern of Oradell, an interdenominational Christian minister who is team chaplain for the Giants and Yankees, agrees.
“I don’t think so,” he said when posed the same question. “I hate to be his spokesman because he might care. I don’t know. He hasn’t revealed that to me. He might be a secret fan of one of the teams. …
“My thought is God is not nearly as concerned with the performance or the play on the field, as he is the hearts of the guys who are performing or playing on the field. What are their motives, effort, character, are they men of integrity? That kind of stuff is much more important to God than the scoreboard.”
Both of these experts agree on at least one thing – They aren’t sure about an answer to this question!!
Here are two men who are in significant positions of influence regarding the intersection of Christianity and sports who are foggy about a very significant question.
When I participated in my first PGA Tour Qualifying School (a long time ago!!!), I shot the low round of the day on the last day. I ended up tied with 4 other guys for the final two spots. We went to a playoff for those spots where I was the first player eliminated.
I was a relatively new Christian at the time, asking hard questions about the intersection of my Christianity and my golf, one of which “Does God care that I lost in this playoff?”
Now I want to imagine me coming off that first green and running into Kurt Warner or George McGovern. I want you to imagine where I am at this moment – disappointed, maybe even tearful, mixed with elation for performing in such a way under pressure that even got me into the playoff. In that place, I open up to these guys and ask the question, “Does God care who wins or loses?”
Now think about them sharing the above answers with me. How would those answers impact me? How would these answers glorify God and move my heart to worship and praise?
Since those days long ago, I have sought out such answers. God is not stumped by our questions. His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts and his ways so much higher than mine. In my search, I wanted to find such answers. Not human explanations that “just made sense” and glorified man, but godly wisdom that impacted my heart and glorified God.
The answers I have found are written in the blogs linked below. These ideas are not the definitive word on the question. These thoughts are my understanding of God’s revelation in the Scriptures and the intersection of those thoughts on the question, “Does God care who wins the Super Bowl?”
As I have competed since that qualifying long ago and gone over these ideas in my own heart, as I have shared them with others in light of their competitive efforts, the result has been to praise a great and glorious God who is worthy of praise for his greatness. Enjoy.
Does God Care Who Wins? Part 2
