Warner Uses Football Fame To Preach The Gospel

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

ABC kicked off its new season of Dancing with the Stars this week. When I saw former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner dancing, I remembered him rushing to the stands to give his wife a victory kiss after his St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000. He had just won a free trip to Disney World, not to mention $500,000 for being named the Most Valuable Player. There couldn’t have been a more perfect ending to his Cinderella season.

The reason I remember Warner is not that he led his team to a Super Bowl victory and won its Most Valuable Player award. It was what he said that night after winning: “First things first, I want to give the praise and glory to my Lord and Savior up above.” You can’t help but to admire someone who’s not afraid to admit that maybe God’s hand had more to do with his success than the remarkable talent he possessed.

His faith and journey were both amazing to me. Just five years earlier, Warner was working for $5.50 an hour in a Hy-Vee Grocery Store back in northern Iowa. His story quickly reminds all of us who find ourselves up against improbable odds that we have a God who cares even when it’s not so obvious. “I don’t look at the fact that I came from here, I came from there,” Warner once told Jack Wilkinson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “That’s the path the Lord has made for me. And I wouldn’t change a minute of it.”

It should be obvious by now that Warner didn’t see football as an end in and of itself. It just happened to be the stage that God gave him at the time to proclaim the hope that we all have in Christ. While he is on a different stage now, he acknowledged back in 2000 that God gave him football (and even perhaps now, Dancing With The Stars) so his faith could shine along with his talent.

“I know my role in this is to help share my faith, and to share my relationship with the Lord in this capacity,” he said. “The funny thing is my wife, when I tell her about some interviews that I’ve done, she’s always telling me, ‘Don’t talk about the Lord in every answer you give.’ I come back and tell her, ‘Hey, they try to cut out as much of those comments as they can. So if I don’t give it in every answer, then it’s never going to be there, because they’re not going to use those quotes.’”

Do you hear what Warner is trying to tell us? We are called to talk about the change that Jesus has made in our lives. That’s what Jesus meant when he once told a group of believers, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)

Just remember – you don’t have to be a big-league quarterback or a contestant on Dancing with the Stars to make a difference for Jesus. However, you do have to be willing to give credit where credit is due. Jesus said it this way: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Are you praising the Lord for the miracles he is bringing in your life?