“Hats off, hats off to those guys. I think it starts with those guys. They’re our leaders of our league, and um, they set the tone last night. Now it’s time for guys like us to fall in line to figure out what we can do to help our communities. . . .”~Rajon Rondo, guard for the Chicago Bulls
In July of 206, four athletes, or in their own words, four African American men–from various teams within the NBA opened the ESPYs by making a plea. Their plea was to their fellow professional athletes from all the leagues–MLB, NHL, NFL, MLS, MLL, WNBA, USNWT, LPGA, PGA–and all races to eduate themselves and speak out against the social injustices stemming from violence in society.
These four men–LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwayne Wade–let their peers know that despite the ESPYs being a celebration of all of their feats that had happened in the past year there was a larger call on each and everyone of their lives.
As a Christian athlete, we are compelled to follow in the steps of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We are required to seek justice for those who cannot seek it for themselves. The field, the court, the ice, the diamond and the pitch are our stages of influence. We have to answer to God for not doing good . . . for our hesitation to stand for what’s right even if it costs us our reputation. Jesus lost his reputation so that we may live life more abundantly, and we are required to at least try to represent Him to the best of our abilities.
To turn a blind eye to domestic violence, sexual assault, police brutality, homelessness, bullying at all levels, inequality and human trafficking is unacceptable. Jesus would not do that, and we represent Him. Therefore, we are need to use our stage of influence to show the world who Jesus is. To paraphrase Cain, we are our brothers’ keepers.
On Tuesday, November 6th, the stage will be a voting booth. Each Christian athlete needs to use that stage to show the world we will no longer tolerate hate and violence. The night James, Paul, Wade and Anthony took the stage this country was in turmoil . . . our country is in even more turmoil now with a shooting being reported weekly and hate speech daily. Many of our political leaders are failing us, and like celebrities–Oprah, Will Ferrell, Alyssa Milano, Debra Messing, Cher, etc.–athletes need to take the lead to help at the polls, give people rides to the polls, pass out water if there is long lines, whatever is needed to make sure ALL of our country’s voices are heard.
We are our brothers’ keepers, and we need to step up and do our part.
Source: The Young Turks
