Olympic-Sized Christianity

You train for four years. You receive little attention in an oft-ignored sport. Maybe you have sponsorships and endorsements, but maybe you don't. One thing is for sure: you aren't mainstream because you aren't football. So, you train for hours a day and empty out all the energy from your body just for that gold medal? No, you seek a platform to share your faith. Playing sports for money is no mercenary lifestyle, but it is difficult to sustain one's personal faith in the midst of all these other temptations for glory and attention. And that reason is what makes hundreds of Olympic Christians worthy of our respect.

Winning a medal in any event is difficult. Being able to articulate a statement about one's faith in front of television or print media is even more difficult. I have seen several athletes in post-event interviews give "glory to God" or note that they "prayed to God and he answered." In that split second, in that moment of sound bite when many are paying attention, what better can be said? How else can they articulate their faith with the small platform they have?

I don't quite have an answer. I know I generally don't care much for the same old cliches, because not much differentiates a vain person that claims God's help from a sincere Christian. My favorite response has to be of Frank Reich though. As a last second backup quarterback, he led the greatest comeback in NFL history in the playoffs back in early 90's. In the post-game interview, he simply read Psalm 23.