Most Hypocritical Christian Athletes

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PFB reader Zeke Smith pointed us to a recent blog entry at Holytaco.com listing the 8 Most Hypocritical Christian Athletes. They put their own spin on the piece by listing the athlete’s christian resume as “How Much He Loves Jesus” and by listing the athlete’s transgressions and/or poor decisions as “Why Jesus Hates Him”.

A bit over the top? Yeah, probably. But that’s how you stand out here on the interwebs these days, so it’s no surprise. Clearly their goal was just to have some fun slamming some outspoken athletes who’ve said or done some stupid things.

Here’s their list:

8. Ryan Church, 7. Charlie Ward, 6. Carl Everett, 5. Evander Holyfield, 4. Andy Pettitte, 3. Jeff Gordon, 2. Curt Schilling, and 1. Deion Sanders.

A few thoughts:

1. It seems to me that the reason folks love to make these lists is because for too long Christians have put such an emphasis on behavior. “You smoke, drink,and cuss and I don’t“. I’m not saying what we do isn’t important…of course it is. But if you think what sets you apart as a Christian from folks who aren’t Christians is how well you behave, you’re missing the point. Besides, Jesus said that all the laws and behavior codes that were in the Old Testament hang on “loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself”, so if you’re looking at your behavior, why don’t you start there and let me know when you’ve got those two down pat.

2. My first thought was that it would suck to be on this list. But then I thought, you know what, any of us could be on a list like this. “Top 10 Hypocritical Christians at Your Church” or “Top 25 Hypocritical Christians at my Work” or “Top 4 Hypocritical Christians in my immediate family”. Instead of being thankful we’re not on this list, let’s realize that we could be. Why? Because, like I said, we all have screwed up before. Folks who have a bone to pick with Christians are going to view our bad decisions as acts of hypocrisy. They just will. I guess on a personal level we need to humbly communicate to those folks “Look, I make bad decisions like everyone else. I try not to, but I do.” And from that place of true humility, where we are not judging or casting a condescending eye on anyone, we can share more about why faith in Jesus is important to us.

3. I think this is a good reminder for us that we don’t live in a vacuum. Our lives are connected to everyone else’s in a myriad of ways. But instead of acknowledging that and saying, “I better be very careful what I do because there’s lots of folks waiting for me to slip up,” let’s turn it around and think “There are so many ways that I can positively impact the lives of the people around me. God help me to be involved in other people’s lives at the risk of screwing up. Help me to spread your love through the relationships and friendships that I have.”

What about y’all? Anything you’re taking from this (positive or negative)?

Tags: hypocrites