Would Jesus Protest With The Athletes?
*This is the second post in a series titled What Would Jesus Do (throwback to the sweet WWJD bracelets from the 90’s). A few disclaimers before jumping in. Sports as we know them today did not exist back in the first century. While we can speculate and guess, we can’t know for certainty what Jesus would do in some of these situations. More often than not, he did the exact opposite of what majority culture thought he should/would do. With that being said, the purpose of this series is an attempt to help us see sports and what’s happening in sport culture through the eyes of Jesus and try to align ourselves with Him—as best as we can with what the Bible teaches about Him.
On August 26th, something happened in the sports world that has never happened before. In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, games and matches in four major sports leagues (NBA Playoffs, WNBA, MLB, and MLS) were postponed or boycotted. Questions continue to mount about the next steps and the end goal.
But the question I want to try to answer, for myself, is this: Would Jesus join the athletes protesting?
I am confident that he would.
Foundational to this answer is my belief that racial injustice exists in the world today. The shooting of Jacob Blake, the death of George Floyd, the death of Breonna Taylor, and the death of Ahmaud Arbery are all sparks igniting a problem that’s been smoldering in gasoline for a while. Regarding these recent examples, I understand there are various viewpoints from the other side. The use of drugs. Not cooperating. Being the aggressor.
But here’s what I wish those sitting on the other side (the side that refuses to believe some people are treated differently because of the color of their skin) would realize: The protests are sparked by those specific injustices. But those injustices, those individuals, represent a large population of people who have story, after story, after story of racial injustice perpetrated against them or someone they know. And seeing these tragedies autoplay on social media stirs up trauma from past life experiences.
I have worked in sports ministry since 2008 and I cannot name one single black man or woman that I have worked with—and there are many—who doesn't have at least one of these stories where they or someone close to them have been treated unjustly because of the color of their skin. These stories have not been captured on camera and shared on social media. But they’re real and they’re heart breaking. Racial injustice exists.
Back to the question, would Jesus join the athletes in protesting? If we want to answer this biblically, we need to reframe the question in a way that allows us to answer it from a biblical perspective. Here is the reframe I would propose: has Jesus ever stopped doing something that was mildly important to engage in or talk about something that he believed was of greater importance? The answer is yes.
Let’s start before he even became a teenager. Luke 2:41-50, says:
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.
Jesus chose to not to follow his parents home and to stay in the temple and engage with the teachers. He stopped doing something that was pretty important (following your parents home!) to engage in or talk about something that he believed was of greater importance (staying at the temple with the other religious leaders).
We see another instance of this behavior from him in Matthew 19:13-14.
13Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
The disciples rebuke show us that they thought it was unacceptable for the children to be there. They thought Jesus had bigger things to worry about. But again, he chose to stop what he was doing and engage in something of greater importance.
His ministry was filled with examples like these. John 4 and the woman at the well. John 5, Jesus healing on the Sabbath. Matthew 8, cleansing the leper and the Centurion’s servant. Luke 10, the story of Mary and Martha. Over and over again, Jesus chose to stop what he was doing and give attention, time, energy, and teaching to something that was of greater importance.
Addressing the issues of racial injustice are bigger than sports. Will boycotting or postponing solve anything? I don’t know. I hope and pray that we see forward progress because of this. But I am confident Jesus would stop playing and use his platform to point us all to something of far greater significance than a game.
If Jesus would join the athletes in protesting, then it encourages me to do at least four things:
Confess that I would rather watch Lebron play basketball than talk about racism
Stop what I am doing and listen to what they are saying
Learn to show compassion as I listen and learn
Act. Talk to my kids and family about what I am seeing and learning. And write blog posts like this to hopefully help others too.
