Faith Doesn't Wear a Jersey
Beliefnet publishes a list of seven Christian NFL players to cheer for this season.
In an article on Beliefnet, titled "7 Christian NFL Players to Cheer For This Season" (Sígueme translation), the aim is to cheer for seven Christian NFL players. I get it. And yet I insist: faith doesn't wear a jersey.
A list is not an endorsement
I'm glad there are believers in a locker room as exposed as the NFL's. I'm also glad someone wants to talk about it. But a list doesn't verify anyone's faith: it gathers what is said in public, not what God sees in private.
Scripture places the criterion elsewhere: "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7, ESV).
«I'm more interested in Monday than Sunday.»
A headline can repeat "Christian" a thousand times and still not show fruit. Fruit appears over years of patience, in how someone treats the equipment manager, in what they do with money and fame when no one is recording.
That's why I'm more interested in Monday than Sunday. An athlete's faith isn't proven in a season list; it's proven in the ordinary life that almost no one shares.
The idol has a friendly face
The idol doesn't always arrive with scandal. Often it arrives with a good story, a sincere interview, and a verse in the social media bio. There's the risk: asking a person for what only God sustains. Identity. Hope. A model to copy.
Think about your Sunday feed. Are you cheering for someone because of their faith, or are you making them the center of yours? The difference shows when they lose. If a loss leaves you without arguments, the problem wasn't the team.
Fandom has a religious version that's embarrassing: turning the game into a holy war and the rival into an enemy. If your faith makes you unbearable in the stands, it's worth reviewing what you're worshiping. And if the idol falls, don't let it drag you down: your identity is in Christ, not in a jersey number.
Paul said it plainly: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV). Glory to God, not to the jersey. And beware of the other extreme: victory is not a reward for good behavior. That shortcut turns the gospel into a scoreboard, and the scoreboard lies.
Some will say that cheering for a famous Christian helps young people feel represented. Maybe. I'd rather they learn to also look at those who serve without a camera: the leader of their small group, the sister who prays for them, the friend who confesses their faith in the office and not on a podcast.
What changes your Monday
Here's a concrete step. Choose a name this week and encourage them for their faithfulness, not their result: write to them, pray for them, help them with something. If you admire believing players, pray that their life off the field is consistent, and don't repeat as true what you can't verify.
And when you return to the stands or the couch, remember that faith is played out in how you treat the one who loses. That does change Monday. Who are you cheering for today because of their faith and not their score? Tell me in the comments.
