Who Can I Root For?

by Austin Flanagan

I love sports, and I always have. I enjoy playing them, and I also enjoy watching them. My wife often makes fun of me, saying that I skipped my childhood because I woke up on Saturday mornings to watch SportsCenter and not cartoons.

Whether it’s college or the pros (or even your local high school), we sports fans have our favorite teams. As a native of north Texas, I grew up rooting for the Dallas Mavericks and the Texas Rangers. As the grandson of an Okie, I am a huge Oklahoma Sooners fan (Boomer!).

But besides having “my” teams, I admit to having several favorite players over the years as well.

Kobe and Shaq

Tiger Woods

McGwire and Sosa

Blake Griffin

Adrian Peterson

Stephen Curry

Jordan Spieth

My best friend and I would pretend to be Kobe and Shaq when we played basketball on the goal that hung on my bedroom door. Inside that room I had framed posters of McGwire, Sosa, and Woods on the wall. I used to wear a shirt with Blake Griffin on it. Currently I find myself rooting for Steph and the Warriors to repeat as NBA champs. To be honest, I was a little torn up when Spieth made a 7 on #12 at Augusta during the final round of the Masters.

Have I made it clear that I have always been a fan of sports?

I don’t know that I would ever stop watching sports or stop rooting for my favorite teams/athletes, but for a long while I have been pondering a question in the back of my mind: As a believer, and especially as someone in ministry, should I root an athlete who doesn’t believe and behave as I do?

I’m not sure when this thought first crossed my mind. Maybe it was when the scandalous lifestyle of my childhood hero Tiger Woods was exposed. Can I honestly root for someone who tore his family apart and cheated on his wife multiple times?

Let me give you some other examples…

McGwire and Sosa had a magical season back in 1998. I followed their chase to break the home run record very closely. But then Sammy Sosa had a corked bat and McGwire was accused of using steroids. They were cheaters. Should I be proud that I rooted for them?

A more recent example that bothered me is that of Peyton Manning. Going into Super Bowl 50 there was some talk about the legendary quarterback’s faith and spirituality. He wound up playing an okay game and leading the Broncos to victory, which provided him with a huge platform to speak. So what does he do? He thanks God and then talks about how he’s going to go drink a bunch of Budweiser, all in the same sixty seconds! I can’t tell you how much that bothered me.

Is it absolutely wrong to have a few beers? No. Is it wrong to get drunk and lose self-control? Yes. Now, which Peyton did, I have no clue. But either way, how can you mention God and drinking alcohol in the same minute?

And then there is the curious case of one Josh Hamilton. After recovering from a serious drug addiction and making his way back to the MLB, he had multiple All-Star and MVP caliber seasons with the Texas Rangers. He used this platform to share his testimony and make his faith well known. He wrote an autobiography and spoke at FBC Dallas, among other places.

But then he had a few relapses and eventually wound up divorced from his wife. After a short stint with the Angels, he is now back on the Rangers, but you never hear anything about his faith anymore.

Other athletes currently in the spotlight, such as two-time major winner Jordan Spieth, try to keep as low a profile as possible, making it hard to know much about their personal lives. I know that Spieth attended a Catholic high school in Dallas, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is a devout Catholic. So when it comes to athletes like this, it’s hard to know.

Then there are the Tim Tebows of the sports world who make their faith as obvious as possible. When it comes to athletes like this, fans have no choice but to know they profess faith in Christ and attempt to live a life that pleases him.

So who can I root for? Who do I root for? To be honest, I root for pretty much all of the athletes mentioned above. I still hope to see Tiger win another PGA Tour Event. I rooted for Peyton and the Broncos in Super Bowl 50. Even though his on-field impact has been slim to nothing lately (mainly due to health reason), I still pull for Josh Hamilton.

Does this mean that I condone the off-field/court/course behavior of these individuals? Absolutely not. In fact, I disapprove of much of it. But there are always a couple things I keep in mind:

First of all, I am a sinner just like them. Their sin might be more open and blatant and even unrepentant, but before God we are all sinners.

Secondly, whoever they are and however they behave, the feats these men accomplish in their respective games are incredible. Even if I can’t root for them as individuals, I can root for their God-given abilities to succeed.

In the end, who I root for really makes no difference. Me rooting for them is not going to have an impact on their success. I don’t pray for Spieth to win the Masters or Curry to repeat as an NBA champ. I just root for them and love to see them do well. And if they don’t, oh well. There will always be someone else to root for, and who knows, maybe he or she will be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Austin T. Flanagan has been following Christ since he was 8 years old and has been married to his wife Tess since 2013. He has received a BA and an MA in Biblical Studies from Criswell College (both Summa Cum Laude). He is currently pursuing a ThM and a PhD in Biblical Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has pastored two churches and is currently serving as a pastoral research assistant for high-profile pastors around the country. Austin is passionate about studying and interpreting the Bible. He blogs weekly at bechallengedandchanged.blogspot.com.