"If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God's got to be at the center of it. Every time I hear a piece or read a story that doesn't have that, they're missing the whole lesson of who I am." - Kurt Warner1
For the second story in my Lenten series, I wanted to tell you about a Christian athlete. One challenge – I don’t really know much about any athletes. So, I Facebooked my good buddy Mike Peterson, who gave me a great suggestion – Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner is not only an outstanding football player, he is a man who truly lets his light shine – he lives a life of faith and isn’t afraid to show it. The next few paragraphs are quotes from two internet articles I read about Kurt.
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How does Warner express his faith? He always has the Bible in his hand when he does postgame interviews. He joins players in postgame group-prayer sessions on the field. He loves to engage in spiritual discussions with teammates but says he tries not to be in-your-face about it. He wants the words of the Bible to guide his everyday life.1
When he and his family dine on the road, they always buy dinner for another table in the restaurant but keep the purchase anonymous. The children choose the family. Brenda Warner said it's their way of teaching their kids one of the Bible's messages: It's not your circumstances that define you but what you do with those circumstances.1
While Kurt Warner is not ashamed of verbally sharing his faith that Jesus Christ is God's Son Who died on the cross and rose again for the sins of the world to give a home in heaven to believers, he also is not one to raise his arms to heaven after throwing a touchdown pass. Instead, he is one whose life shows his beliefs on a daily basis by the way he treats and serves others.2
Added Cardinals defensive tackle Bertrand Berry: "To limit Kurt as a Super Bowl champion would do a disservice to him. I think his legacy will be that he's just a great human being, and I think that's the highest compliment that you can give anybody."1
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Wow. When I read these articles, I kept thinking, “This is exactly what we mean when we encourage our young athletes to be Christian athletes – that an athletic career can’t last forever, but Christian faith will. And did you notice how Bertrand Berry described Kurt? As a ‘great human being.’ If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that people who don’t necessarily see your example as being that of a Christian life of faith (perhaps because they don’t share those beliefs or perhaps because they just think in different terms), they will see you as being a ‘good person’, which is wonderful. Kurt truly is ‘leaving behind reasons to be missed.’
Our congregation is blessed with many young Christian athletes. Some of you play for teams in your middle school or high school. Some of you will go on to play in college – some of you are even Olympic quality. God has given all of our athletes an amazing gift of physical grace, strength, and beauty. Use that gift! Use it to the best of your ability! And as you use it, participating in the sport you love, remember that what you can do with your body is a gift from God. Living a life of faith is your way of thanking God for that gift. How can you do that? My challenge to you is to think about how you, a Christian athlete, can live your life as a thank-you to God. And whether you, like Kurt, have a chance to publicly express your faith in interviews or on TV, or whether you only have a chance to show your faith in smaller arenas, please, always try to live your life so that you can say, with Kurt, “If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God's got to be at the center of it.”
Have a blessed week, my friends!
Lisa
1http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/2009/01/09/20090109boivin0109-CP.html
2http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/499915/nfl_quarterback_kurt_warner_demonstrates.html?cat=48
For the second story in my Lenten series, I wanted to tell you about a Christian athlete. One challenge – I don’t really know much about any athletes. So, I Facebooked my good buddy Mike Peterson, who gave me a great suggestion – Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner is not only an outstanding football player, he is a man who truly lets his light shine – he lives a life of faith and isn’t afraid to show it. The next few paragraphs are quotes from two internet articles I read about Kurt.
**************************************
How does Warner express his faith? He always has the Bible in his hand when he does postgame interviews. He joins players in postgame group-prayer sessions on the field. He loves to engage in spiritual discussions with teammates but says he tries not to be in-your-face about it. He wants the words of the Bible to guide his everyday life.1
When he and his family dine on the road, they always buy dinner for another table in the restaurant but keep the purchase anonymous. The children choose the family. Brenda Warner said it's their way of teaching their kids one of the Bible's messages: It's not your circumstances that define you but what you do with those circumstances.1
While Kurt Warner is not ashamed of verbally sharing his faith that Jesus Christ is God's Son Who died on the cross and rose again for the sins of the world to give a home in heaven to believers, he also is not one to raise his arms to heaven after throwing a touchdown pass. Instead, he is one whose life shows his beliefs on a daily basis by the way he treats and serves others.2
Added Cardinals defensive tackle Bertrand Berry: "To limit Kurt as a Super Bowl champion would do a disservice to him. I think his legacy will be that he's just a great human being, and I think that's the highest compliment that you can give anybody."1
*******************************************
Wow. When I read these articles, I kept thinking, “This is exactly what we mean when we encourage our young athletes to be Christian athletes – that an athletic career can’t last forever, but Christian faith will. And did you notice how Bertrand Berry described Kurt? As a ‘great human being.’ If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that people who don’t necessarily see your example as being that of a Christian life of faith (perhaps because they don’t share those beliefs or perhaps because they just think in different terms), they will see you as being a ‘good person’, which is wonderful. Kurt truly is ‘leaving behind reasons to be missed.’
Our congregation is blessed with many young Christian athletes. Some of you play for teams in your middle school or high school. Some of you will go on to play in college – some of you are even Olympic quality. God has given all of our athletes an amazing gift of physical grace, strength, and beauty. Use that gift! Use it to the best of your ability! And as you use it, participating in the sport you love, remember that what you can do with your body is a gift from God. Living a life of faith is your way of thanking God for that gift. How can you do that? My challenge to you is to think about how you, a Christian athlete, can live your life as a thank-you to God. And whether you, like Kurt, have a chance to publicly express your faith in interviews or on TV, or whether you only have a chance to show your faith in smaller arenas, please, always try to live your life so that you can say, with Kurt, “If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God's got to be at the center of it.”
Have a blessed week, my friends!
Lisa
1http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/2009/01/09/20090109boivin0109-CP.html
2http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/499915/nfl_quarterback_kurt_warner_demonstrates.html?cat=48
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