Matthew 5:46 - 6:21 Should Christian Athletes Kneel And Pray When They Score?
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Transcript:
Imagine you are watching a game on TV, an athlete scores a touchdown, and he immediately kneels down in the end zone and prays. What is your reaction? What are your thoughts? Do you rejoice?
This is something that happens in real life and many Christians praise athletes for praying publicly. They think this is a great way to express the Christian faith. However, there are a couple verses in Matthew chapter 6 that appear to discourage and prohibit these kinds of actions.
Today’s passage leads us to question the wisdom and appropriateness of praying in the middle of a game. As we seek to have a Biblical outlook on this topic, it helps to ponder why many Christians are so enthusiastic about these public displays of piety in the first place.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew record some teachings of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus began by pronouncing some blessings on people who are not normally considered to be blessed. Then He corrected some erroneous understandings of the Mosaic Law. He also changed some provisions of the Law.
One of His changes had to do with love and hate. The Mosaic Law taught people to love God and love our neighbor, but it was somewhat silent on how to treat enemies. Jesus filled that void. He commanded His disciples to love their enemies.
Let’s resume reading at verse 46.
Matt. 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Matt. 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
In the Old Testament time period God told the Israelites to be different than the nations around them. Jesus taught a similar concept here. Everyone loves those who love them back. The tax collectors and gentiles love their friends. Jesus taught His disciples to love their enemies because loving your enemies is difficult and rare. It is different and Jesus wants His disciples to be different. Are you willing to be different? Do you desire to be different than the world?
Matt. 5:48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Disciples of Jesus should strive to be perfect. Do you work hard to be perfect?
Matt. 6:1 ¶ “Beware of doing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
This is a clear warning against practicing piety in public in order to be seen by men. Should this discourage athletes from praying in the end zone after scoring a touchdown?
Matt. 6:2 ¶ “Therefore, when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
Matt. 6:3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
Matt. 6:4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
As Christians, we need to be content to do good deeds without being recognized or rewarded for our good deeds, knowing that our heavenly Father knows about and will reward our good deeds.
Matt. 6:5 ¶ “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
This teaches that the only reward an athlete gets for praying in the end zone is the reward of being praised by men. Why are Christians so quick to praise public displays of piety when this chapter seems to clearly discourage it?
Matt. 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Matt. 6:7 ¶ “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
Notice the prohibition against using meaningless repetition. There is no reward for using the most words.
Matt. 6:8 Therefore, do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Matt. 6:9 ¶ “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Verses 9-13 are the Lord’s Prayer. Many people interpret this prayer as a template for how to pray. The thinking is that verse 9 teaches us to start our prayers with praise.
There is some truth to that concept. The Lord’s Prayer is a good template. However, I don’t think that was Jesus’ main aim. In verse 7 Jesus told His disciples to eschew meaningless repetition. Here in verse 9 He said, “Pray, then, in this way”. I think the main thing Jesus was doing here was demonstrating how to pray. He demonstrated how to use words that actually mean something which is a contrast to the use of meaningless repetition.
There is nothing wrong with using the Lord’s Prayer as a template. However, I don’t think our prayers always have to follow the template of the Lord’s Prayer, nor should we teach people to always use this template when we pray.
Matt. 6:10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Matt. 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Matt. 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matt. 6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]
Matt. 6:14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matt. 6:15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
This teaching on forgiveness ties in with Jesus’ statements in chapter 5 about turning the other cheek and loving our enemies.
Matt. 6:16 ¶ “Now whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
Matt. 6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face
Matt. 6:18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
This is a continuation of the teaching against practicing piety in public. Disciples of Jesus should work for heavenly rewards, not earthly rewards.
Matt. 6:19 ¶ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
Matt. 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
Matt. 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If we are working for the praise of men, our heart will be on earth. If we are doing good deeds in secret, trusting that God will reward us, then our heart will be in heaven.
It is somewhat common for athletes to make public displays of piety. At first glance that appears to be good, but Matthew 6 seems to discourage it. Athletes who are true believers in Jesus should think long and hard before they do this.
Even though Jesus discouraged praying in public, many Christians are quick to praise athletes who kneel down and pray in the middle of a game. Why is that? I think it has to do with a lack of confidence and conviction on the part of many Christians.
The conventional wisdom in the 21st century is that God is dead and religion is ancient foolishness. Unfortunately, many Christians are unable to articulate why those two beliefs are wrong. They are unable to defend their belief in God.
That means they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They do not want to stop believing in God, but they can’t defend their belief in God either. Deep down they have doubts about the existence of God. When they see an athlete pray in the middle of a game, they are happy because they think it validates their belief in God. It is proof they are not the only person who believes in God.
Christians should not rely on public displays of righteousness to boost our confidence in our belief system. Instead, every Christian should study until they have a conviction deep in their soul that God is real, Jesus is God, Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus is our master, and the Bible is truth. If every Christian had those convictions, we would not feel a need to have public figures make public displays of piety.
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. Tomorrow I will start reading at Matthew 6:22 and discuss the paradox of why Christians are experiencing high levels of anxiety at a time when life is safer than it has ever been. That post is for paid subscribers only, so if you are not a paid subscriber, please subscribe now. In order to subscribe, go to Bible Mountain dotcom and click on Subscribe. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”