Evangelicals And Sports -- By: Michael D. Stallard

Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 15:1 (Spring 2011)
Article: Evangelicals And Sports
Author: Michael D. Stallard


Evangelicals And Sports

Dr. Mike Stallard

Dean of Baptist Bible Seminary

Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania

Raised in the state of Alabama as a fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team and having lived in northeast Pennsylvania almost seventeen years, I face a profound dilemma. I cannot decide who is crazier—Alabama fans or Philadelphia Eagles fans. In a recent article in Christianity Today, the author recounts two bizarre stories. One is of an Alabama couple who missed their own daughter’s wedding because it fell on the day of the Alabama-Tennessee game. The other story is about the man who ran onto the field during a 2005 Eagles-Packers game spreading the ashes of his mother (a life-long Eagles’ fan) onto the field. The man told police, “She’ll always be part of Lincoln Financial Field and of the Eagles.”1

Americans have always been a bit fanatical about their sports. Evangelicals have not been immune from such interest.2

In fact, evangelicals have consistently taken advantage of the popularity of sports to spread the gospel of eternal life through faith in Jesus. However, the success of evangelistic and other ministry efforts by evangelicals in this venue has caught the attention of critics who have begun to talk and write about perceived problems brought about by such success. In particular, this article will focus mostly on the book Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers by USA Today contributor Tom Krattenmaker.3

The Matter Of Tone And Theme

We will begin the analysis by making a few comments on the overall tone and the general direction or theme of Krattenmaker’s book. His work is well written for the most part

and extremely riveting for someone who has an interest in sports. Of course, the intensive criticism of evangelicalism that is part of his message would likely keep an evangelical engaged in continued reading (if one does not get too mad!). In short, Krattenmaker, an ecumenical nonevangelical,4 has produced an extremely readable book that has the added bonus of alerting evangelicals to how they are perceived in large swaths of the sports world and our culture.

Going beyond writing style, there comes out at times a spirit in Krattenmaker showing willingness on his part to understand the evangelical mindset more f...

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