Prayer on the 50-yard line

June 29th, 2022

This last week there was a supreme court decision regarding a coach who prayed on the 50-yard line after a football game. I watched as people posted their statements on Social media outlets, paying close attention to those people who were not Christians. This brought me some interesting insights that I want to explore here today.

The first is this. If Christians are allowed to pray then so will all other religious beliefs. Maybe this is scary to some, but not to me. The United States has always been a place where different cultures have been encouraged to express their beliefs. Sometimes that can be difficult, but there is a very palpable silver lining, and I want to briefly express that here. Instead of being upset that the World is full of people who do not have the same Christian values as us, let’s begin to ask what those values are, and how we as followers of Christ and love the people who have them and share what we know to be better in a very loving way.

The second is this. Why does it bother us so much that someone expresses their religious beliefs? One thing I know about religion is that it is heart felt and very important to the ones who believe it. Is it our job as a church to knock down other religions? No. Jesus made our job very clear. “Love the Lord your God with all your and love your neighbor as yourself.” I paraphrased that, but you can see where I’m headed. Christianity is based solely on the idea that we would love God and love people. The way we do that is through the great commandment, “Go and make disciples.” This is the one thing we must do, which doesn’t say anything about praying publicly or fighting religious battles in the supreme court. However, the decision to allow people to express their religious beliefs publicly without fear of job loss or ridicule is a big one.

The third and final is this. This coach expressed himself in a Godly way and has had a voice to share Jesus across many outlets. I think what I like most about this is his witness to his local community. Sure, he received a lot of support, but, there were thousands of people paying attention to this man and what he did for his community. My question for you is this. What if the spotlight was placed on you and your life, would it show love for Jesus? Would it stand the test? Expressing your religious freedom is not the important thing, it is expressing your love for others and sharing Jesus with them.