Does God play a role in Professional Athletics? Christianity plays a very important role in society today. Seeing all the different ways that Christianity affects the way we live our lives, I noticed that professional sports is greatly influenced by Christianity. There always tens to be some controversy over Christianity in professional sports. Weather in football, boxing, basketball, or baseball, there is controversy. But this controversy is not necessarily a bad thing. The reason that there is controversy is because more and more professional athletes are either professing that they are Christians, or there are athletes accepting the Christian beliefs from the witnessing of other athletes. This growth does not stop here. As the number of Christian professional athletes is on a rise, the public notices. The public is greatly influenced by super-stars. When one of those super-stars becomes Christian, many fans of that athlete will notice and see the difference in him/her. The !

fans will act how the athlete will act. If they see Michael Jordan doing something, they "wanna be like Mike". So, it is easy to see how Christian athletes have an affect on other athletes, and how all the

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athletes have an affect on society. Subsequently, by having this affect on society it is healthy to set a Christian example rather then that of the world. We need someone who is willing to put him/herself out there and proclaim the word of god through his or her own lives. Today there are a few great professional athletes that are not afraid to profess that they are born again Christians. Evander Holyfield is one of those athletes. Before the big fight with Mike Tyson, Holyfield assured reporters that he would win, that God would give him the victory as a way to convert unbelievers. On his trunks and the collar of his robe was stitched "Phil. 4:13," which reads: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." We now know that Evander Holyfield overcame 25-1 odds to !

ct with the deeper mysteries of life" (Jackson 32). He grew up in a Christian home, but still lacked a positive role model outside of the home (Jackson). Luckily, there are organizations like FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) that present young kids with professional athletes that are Christians. At FCA conventions a particular athlete will come up and share his/her testimony and show how God used them in their field. FCA provides students with information to start ministry groups for athletes at their schools called "Huddles". There are more than 7,400 "Huddles" with an estimated 500,000 students involved worldwide. This is a great start, but so much more can still be done. Just think of all the times that we see professional athletes on our evening news getting arrested for drug use, thrown in jail for violating probation, abusing their wife, or driving while under the influenc

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