GOD SPORTS: Let me tell you about Jesus ...

... of the Rockies!


The USA Today reporter wrote a wonderful article on the influence of Christianity upon the Colorado Rockies major league baseball team ... only it wasn't really accurate, at least it missed the real story. Many have since missed the follow-up story.

In "Onward Christian Shortstops" (Christianity Today Magazine), Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd is quoted as saying to the USAT writer,

"We're nervous, to be honest with you," he said. "It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs."

Why? We're supposed to know that the Good News is offensive to most of the world, and that we are not to fear them. So why?

In the work place there is a fine line between being offensive with the Good News and being a good witness for the Gospel.

O'Dowd can expect some backlash. Some will charge that no matter what he claims, the team discriminates against non-Christians. They will resent clubhouse pressure to conform with Christian values and attend Christian gatherings. ...

This story plays into fears of undue Christian influence on American institutions - including the national pastime.

On that note, Kelly Boggs, who writes in Baptist Press in "We're Christians ... well, sort of" ...

The article described the Rockies' clubhouse as being virtually free of pornography, obscene music and profanity. It also stated that the organization, while "open to other religious beliefs," embraces "a Christian based code of conduct."

[...]

Yet some Colorado players took issue with the story the same day it appeared, describing it as "over the top" in its portrayal of the team as "Christian."

"We're dirt bags, like 99 percent of the world," Todd Helton, a team member and a professing Christian, told the Rocky Mountain News. "Maybe worse, because we are baseball players."

Todd, let me tell you something, I used to be a "dirt bag" [Romans 3:21-25] but now the Blood of Jesus has washed me whiter than the driven snow [Psalm 51:7], and He then threw that old devil-dirt behind Him, and now He sees it no more [Jeremiah 31:34]!

Boggs continues in the same piece ...

In reference to the claim that Bibles are readily available in the clubhouse, team member Aaron Cook - another professing Christian, told the Denver Post, "I have never seen a Bible ... in our clubhouse." He added, "Most of the guys on this team are Christians, but not all of them."

I read the USA Today article and it made it clear that while the Rockies management is overwhelmingly made up of Christians, the element emphasized on the team is character, and not Christianity.

This is the story. The follow-up story is how authentic Christians could be so ashamed of their Savior, their faith, and the Gospel to say the things they said after the USA Today piece hit the asphalt.

Boggs poses some prescient observations ...

The report, as well as the Rockies' subsequent reaction, raises a couple of questions.

First, if you are a Christian, why would you be upset with a story that featured positive elements about your faith and lifestyle?

What is wrong with the fact that the clubhouse is free of porn magazines, filthy language and suggestive music? If nothing else, it seems like an environment that would be safe for a players' family to enter - no matter what the motivation is.

What is wrong with the public knowing there are Scripture quotations posted in the weight room, or that chapel services are packed on Sundays and prayer groups are well-attended?

The reactions of some of the Christian members on the team strike me as a bit odd. Are they afraid that players on other teams will tease them or call them names? Do they think they will be viewed as soft?

The second question I have is this: Why is the Rockies' emphasis on character and the faith of many of its members warranted a front page story in USA Today?

I've asked myself these same questions. There are hundreds of companies and organizations, schools and otherwise that emphasize the same attribute but they don't seem to warrant a front page story. I give as an example Hillsdale College. I give as other examples Habitat for Humanity, Feed the Children, Drs. Without Borders, etc.

Christianity Today incorrectly assigns this behavior to Rockies management ...

Apparently Colorado's favorite baseball team has a new strategy for winning - signing and developing high-character Christian players.

Then generative divergence picks up the quote and goes with the following ...

it'll be really interesting to see how the season shakes out for the rockies, but i think the most interesting thing will be how the rest of the league, the press, and the fans respond to this considering it's completely out in the open now.

What exactly is "out in the open"? Does this mean it should be hidden? Or that it was hidden? Like so many other presuppositionalists in this world, gd presupposes the approved locus of all Judeo-Christian beliefs is a hidden place.

Grace and Truth on the Edge caught the truth on the first bounce ...

The Rockies aren't having a better than normal season because God is now on their side, there doing better because they're making choices that will improve their individual and team performance.

Of course, at the end of the day it's overall talent that will win the series which is why Colorado baseball fans have a while before the championship celebration begins.

In "Onward Christian Shortstops," CT Magazine says,

Interviewed by USA Today, Hurdle made no effort to cover up his team's Christian zeal. "We're not going to hide it," he said. "We're not going to deny it. This is who we are."

CT must not have read the same background that BP did. Yet like BP, CT also asks a few probing questions ...

Baseball, like life in general or Christianity in particular, isn't so simple. What do we make of players who cheat, win titles, make gobs of money, and never get caught?

And what about Christian athletes who can't ward off injuries, never play for winning teams, and suffer teammate ridicule for their faith? Finally, if this character strategy doesn't result in continued winning, will the Rockies abandon the plan?

That is why it is my belief that God does not take sides in the area of man's competitions unless they involve His providential will; such as the strategic direction and affects of the authentic Church.

A more thoughtful and accurate take was offered by Get Religion ...

I get the feeling that no one was happy with the piece - otherwise you'd think one of the newspapers would have found that person. ...

After reading through the ... article a couple of times, and before reading the local newspaper articles, I found myself coming to a similar conclusion, despite minimal knowledge of baseball culture and nearly no previous information on the Rockies. [I believe the author] overreaches in stating that the Christian aspect of the team is "from ownership on down." That's a rather grand statement. It's an apparent overstatement in this case.

I think the Rockies' story is a bit simpler and less controversial. The article strongly implies that one must be a Christian to be a member of the organization. Such is not the case. Such a policy would be idiotic for a major league sports organization.

From what I can tell, recruiting players of character has become a top priority at the organization, and those players tend to back up that reputation of good character with their words and actions. It's definitely a good story and it should be told, but the premise of the article falls through quickly ....

Not everyone is of the same opinion about the USA Today piece and those who have kneejerk reactions are legion.

In "Thou Shalt Not Make the Last Out at Third," The Pink Texas is an excellent example ...

That poor persecuted Christian minority has done it again. First the evangelicals went and took all the fun out of interpreting the Constitution. Now they're ruining sports.

Professional teams across the land, but mostly in the South, are planning "Faith Nights" at their stadia this summer. They'll offer church groups discounted tickets and book horrible Christian rock bands to play before and after games. Star players will offer their testimony over the loudspeakers and, one can only hope, fight lions in between innings.

It never, no NEVER, ceases to amaze me at the ignorance and the absence of common sense in America today. Aaaarrrrgggghhh!!!1

And then there's this horrible material from The Nation, The Rockies Pitch Religion.

In a remarkable article from Wednesday's USA Today, the Colorado Rockies went public with the news that the organization has been explicitly looking for players with "character." And according to the Tribe of Coors, "character" means accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior.

After posting the above quote from The Nation, Theocracy Watch had this to say in Faith Based Baseball.

I really couldn't care less about most sports, but I do see this as another indication of the slide toward religious control of every aspect of American life, which is of course the bottom line of the Dominionist agenda. This smells of discrimination in the workplace at the very least.

At the very least? At the very least I think this fellow either needs to see a proctologist or a probiscotimist ... I can't tell which. But some in the blogosphere are refreshing assessments ... for example Spiritual Kung Fu

It's great to see professional athletes - usually in the news for negative behavior - who are trying their best to give God glory.

And in "We're Christians ... well, sort of"

Upon learning that many of the Rockies are Christians, fan Tim Boettcher told USA Today, "I had no idea they were a Christian team ... I would love for them to talk about their Christianity publicly."

I don't think Boettcher is going to get his wish, though, given the fact that some of the Rockies are upset that USA Today "outed" them as Christians.

I agree, but not because the Christian Rockies have gone underground to avoid the public collesium but because the story was never about Christianity but character. And Hell will have a lot of character in it!

Then I think the Denver Post and the Rockie Mountain News both hit one into the upper seats in their opening comments ...

Team takes issue with portrayal

Character, not religion, is the critical factor in the Rockies' chemistry, according to the players. That explains why so many players reacted negatively to the portrayal of their clubhouse in a USA Today cover story in Wednesday's editions that stressed the importance of Christianity.

Rockies & MLB

Colorado Rockies players and management say the team enjoys a healthy, positive attitude in its clubhouse but is anything but a bunch of choirboys.

"We look for players with character and ability," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said Wednesday, the day a USA Today cover story portrayed the organization as being built around "a Christian-based code of conduct."

Both papers seem to grasp what the USA Today author missed so abysmally.

As for me and my house we give kudos to the Rockies management for reaching out to human dignity and strength, rather than down in to the gutter for man's weakness.

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TAGS: Baptist Press, Baseball, Character,
Christianity, Christianity Today, Colorado,
Colorado Rockies, MLB, Religion, Sports, USA Today