Thursday, December 13th, 2007
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I found this interview with Kurt and Brenda Warner on the CBN website.
It’s about 5 years old, but I thought his comments on post-game Jesus talk were very interesting:
When you stand up and say, ‘Thank You, Jesus,’ they think you are saying, ‘Thank You for being here. Thank You for moving my arm forward and making the ball go into that guy’s hands so that we could score a touchdown and win the game.’ But, in essence, it is a matter of thanking Him for the opportunity, thanking Him for being there in my life, for being the stronghold, for being the focus and the strength to accomplish all things, to accomplish anything, and to be where I am at, to have gone through everything I have gone through. It is a constant thing in my life. It is not just for something specific He did on the football field to help us win; it is for everything that He has done in my life up to that point and for everything He will continue to do in my life from here until eternity.
I like what Kurt is saying here, I like it a lot. I’m glad that when he thanks Jesus after a game, it’s not because he feels like Jesus helped him win. I like that there’s more to it than that. The problem is, since his lengthy explanation doesn’t accompany his comments in the post-game interview, in most cases people don’t realize what is behind his gratitude. Like he says himself, they think he is thanking God for helping him win the game.
I guess that’s the problem that i usually have with athletes thanking their creator after games. The sound bites about God that athletes stick into these interviews almost always feel forced and a little bit contrived. Not contrived in that they are being insincere, but contrived in that it seems like they were going to get in their sound bite regardless of what the question posed to them was.
Again, I’m not questioning the sincerity of the athlete’s spirituality at all, just the motive behind their unprompted confessions of faith. It’s as if they are doing it out of a sense of duty more than anything else. If the only reason you’re namedropping Jesus is because you’re on national television and you feel like you’re supposed to, then maybe you shouldn’t.
These spiritual sound bites leave a bad taste in so many people’s mouths because there’s usually no context for them when they are spoken. If the reporter specifically asks the athlete what role his or her faith played in the game, then I can understand a response about God. But in most cases the athletes will ignore the question that was asked of them so that they can get in their statement of faith while the cameras are still rolling. At best, it comes across as unrelated and unnecessary. At worse, it feels sneaky and deceptive.
Imagine doing this in other areas of your life? Your boss calls you in to her office to ask how you managed to save the firm’s biggest account and you respond, “First of all, I just want to give all the glory to God and my savior Jesus Christ,” before eventually answering her question. Or what if you responded to a neighbor looking for lawn care tips with, “I’d just like to thank my personal savior Jesus for being there with me as I applied that weed and feed.” If you spent a month doing this I can guarantee you that thirty days later you’d find yourself living like Jose Canseco: lonely and unemployed.
Most of us are careful to only introduce our faith into situations where our beliefs are being solicited or where there is proper context for the discussion to take place. I personally never look to throw random spiritual truths into conversations just because I can. Ambushing people with statements about my faith when they’re not expecting it has never really worked out well for me. If it has for you, then may I suggest you look into missions work? (No seriously, you should.) I’m not saying that God can’t use anything we say to change someone’s life, but I just don’t see a lot of fruit coming from this particular form of evangelizing. Other than the handful of Christians who get excited because someone famous just made a positive comment about God on national television, the post-game interview “Jesus Namedropping” usually does nothing more than aggravate those who are watching.
Like i said earlier, I appreciated hearing what is behind Kurt Warner’s post game spiritual thank you’s, but in my opinion they don’t come across that well on TV.
What do you all think? Should we encourage others to give Jesus praise as much as possible, no matter the context? Should athletes only mention their faith when asked about it? Would you like to see more or less positive mentions of Jesus’ name coming from athletes and celebrities? I would love to get a little discussion going on this.
One other thing…I thought it was interesting that Brenda Warner doesn’t just look like a marine with her short haircut, she actually was a marine corporal. Am i the only one who didn’t know that?
Tags: , Jesus, Kurt Warner
Posted in Christianity, sports | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
This past Sunday two of your favorite Christian quarterbacks, Kurt Warner and Jon Kitna, faced off in the middle of the desert to determine once and for all whose side God was on.
Let’s review what went down:
Touchdowns: Kitna threw for 2 touchdowns, but Warner threw for 3. Advantage: Warner.
Interceptions: Kitna threw 2 picks, Warner threw only 1. Advantage: Warner.
Fumbles: Kurt Warner fumbled the ball once (it was the 22nd time in his career). Kitna fumbed 3 times in the game, losing 2 of them. Advantage: Warner.
Halloween Costumes: Jon Kitna dressed up as a naked assistant coach to poke fun at the Joe Cullen, the Lions coach who was arrested for driving naked through a Wendy’s Drive-Thru last year. Though he later apologized for it, we here at Prayers for Blowouts thought it was pretty funny. Coach Cullen thought so as well. (and incidentally, one of Kitna’s teammates dressed up as a Bible-thumping John Kitna.) Kurt Warner dressed up like Kurt Warner, which was also pretty funny. Advantage: Kitna.
Body Armor: Kurt Warner wore a heavy arm brace to protect a torn ligament in his left shoulder. The injury kept him off the field in goal-line situations, where Tim Rattay was called upon because Warner’s brace made it hard to hand the ball off. John Kitna wasn’t wearing any armor, but he does have a shaved head, which counts for something. Advantage: Warner.
Final Score: The Cardinals won the game, 31-21. Advantage: Warner.
Concussions: Kitna miraculously came back from his third career concussion to rally the Lions over the Vikings in overtime earlier this year. Warner owes most of his success to concussion-prone Trent Green’s knee injury for the Rams back in 1999 that allowed Warner to lead St. Louis to a Super Bowl. Advantage: Kitna.
Pre-Game Prayers: We tried to hire some spies to go inside the teams’ locker rooms, but apparently they are all on staff with the New England Patriots at this time. We’ll call this one a push.
Conclusion: Warner had the better game, but Kitna and the Lions are having the better season. So, who’s side was God on this past Sunday?
The answer is clearly Carson Palmer, who led his team to a big division win over prayin’ Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens, with the achilles tendon of a 44-yr old mother who was killed by a drunk driver. (Hooray for organ donors.)
Tags: Carson Palemr, Jon Kitna, Kurt Warner
Posted in Christianity, NFL | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 15th, 2007
According to Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports, Kurt Warner has torn ligaments in his non-throwing elbow. Silver also said that Warner informed friends and family of the injury via email, reporting that:
Warner, scheduled for an MRI Monday, wrote in the email he believed that through the power of prayer he would be miraculously healed before undergoing the exam.
Michael Florio, editor of the always informative ProFootballTalk.com, seemed awfully perturbed at Warner’s request, saying in his Rumor Mill post this morning:
Frankly, I’ve got no remaining patience for these athletes who think that their God-given talents automatically qualify them for miracles that the rest of us don’t get. God’s will is just that, and His will isn’t going to be changed simply because Brenda Warner says “pretty please.”
The most common prayer in Christianity is the ultimate proof of this. It’s “thy will be done,” not “my will be done.” And the use of prayer as a vehicle for asking God to do anything other than provide us with the bare necessities of life and the strength to adapt to the changes in our lives that His will brings about is, in my own personal opinion and not the opinion of Football Talk, LLC or its sponsors, a direct contradiction of the way that we were taught to pray by the guy that God sent to teach us stuff like that.
I’m not saying that it’s useless to try to persuade God to exercise His will in a manner that meets our own perceived needs and wishes. But should a football player who has already seen more than his own fair share of blessings be asking for God to heal an injury that presents no threat to his life?
A few thoughts on Florio’s beef.
1. When did Kurt Warner say that he was qualified for “for miracles that the rest of us don’t get”? Answer: he didn’t (unless he did and I missed it). I bet Kurt Warner would tell Florio that prayer would be just as effective for him as well.
2. Florio argues that prayers “for asking God to do anything other than provide us with the bare necessities of life and the strength to adapt to the changes in our lives that His will brings about” is a direct contradiction of how Jesus taught us to pray. It’s an interesting point, though i know that elsewhere in the Bible it says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6). I think bodily injuries would fall under the umbrella of “everything”, but again, this is just my take on it.
3. Florio says “[God's] will isn’t going to be changed simply because Brenda Warner says ‘pretty please’.” Again, not to get all biblical on you, but James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” I’m guessing that Kurt is going to go with the Bible’s advice over Florio’s on this one.
4. Florio also asks, “But should a football player who has already seen more than his own fair share of blessings be asking for God to heal an injury that presents no threat to his life?” Answer: Why not? Is there some sort of limit on blessings I’m not aware of? Is Kurt hogging all the blessings that God doles out? Does God have a quota? What exactly is a “fair share” of blessings? And since when is “life-threatening injury” the line where it’s okay for a blessed athlete to ask for prayer?
My Take:
I appreciate Florio’s passion and honesty about the subject, but I think he jumped a little offsides on this one. Nothing Warner apparently said in his email struck me as arrogant, pious, or overly wacky (though admittedly I haven’t seen the whole thing). Seems like he’s a guy with a lot of faith and a strong belief in prayer reaching out to those around him for support. Would you or I send out an email like that? Maybe. Maybe not. But I don’t think it was wrong of him to do. (Though again, I give kudos to Florio for being honest and for airing his issues with the email.)
Speaking of which, this was an email sent to friends and family, not to the press. If Kurt would have used his post-game press conference to solicit prayer from fans across the country, I would have had an issue with that. But asking those you love to pray for you and showing faith that it will help your situation? I don’t think that’s anything to throw a penalty flag for. Your thoughts?
Of course, we’ll keep tabs on the MRI and see if the prayers actually changed the situation.
(h/t: Profootballtalk.com, Yahoo! Sports)
Tags: healing, Kurt Warner, prayer
Posted in Christianity, NFL | 7 Comments »
