Neil DeGrasse Tyson can’t fathom why Christian athletes don’t blame God when they lose a final, even a Super Bowl. The famous astrophysicist from television told his 14 million followers, 

“Curious that talented athletes frequently credit God when they win, but we rarely see them blame God when they lose.”

I’m assuming he’s reacting to a tweet from Kanas City’s star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, following their loss to Philadelphia in Super Bowl LIX,

“Appreciate all the love and support from #ChiefsKingdom  

I let y’all down today. I’ll always continue to work and try and learn and be better for it. 

Want to give thanks to God for every opportunity he has given me.

We will be back.”

The astrophysicist can’t explain why the footballer would thank God even in a defeat as brutal as the one the Chiefs received yesterday. 

I can’t speak for Patrick Mahomes or for the numerous players from both the Chiefs and Eagles who are known for publicly identifying as Christians, but let me offer 3 reasons why Christians are able to give thanks to God whether they come home with a trophy or not. 

1. Christians have an identity more secure and satisfying than sporting glory. 

To be a professional athlete requires astonishing levels of not only natural ability but determination and sacrifice. Athletes don’t win Olympic gold or the Super Bowl without years of dedication, self-control and pain. It’s little wonder that players break down in tears when they fall short of their goals. How can you say, thank you God when you lose?

The not-so-secret answer was laid out in the days leading up to the Super Bowl when several Chief and Eagles players shared their testimonies, 

Carson Wentz said, “At the end of the day, He’s the only way. He’s the truth and the life,”

Rick Lovato, What He did for our sins, is something that I will always be in debt of.”

“I keep the focus on making my identity outside of sport – I do sport, but it’s not who I am. That’s been the breakthrough for me – realising that my performance does not determine my identity. Once you do that, you realise that it doesn’t matter whether you win the Olympics or come last, you’re still the same person.”

It’s about perspective. In other words, Jesus Christ provides a ballast and hope that outweighs even winning a Super Bowl. 

It’s a shallow religion that can only accept successes. Do we only want to worship a God who is in control when we win and not when life turns difficult? We all need to ground our hopes and selves in a reality that can outlast a sporting match and that can deliver in the darkest moments.

I’m reminded of Australian Olympian medallist, Nicola McDermott who explained in an interview last year, 

“I keep the focus on making my identity outside of sport – I do sport, but it’s not who I am. That’s been the breakthrough for me – realising that my performance does not determine my identity. Once you do that, you realise that it doesn’t matter whether you win the Olympics or come last, you’re still the same person.”

It’s almost as though Neil DeGrasse Tyson has adopted a ‘prosperity’ version of Christianity, which claims that faith in Jesus leads to material prosperity and worldly gain, like Midas’s touch. That’s not Christianity, that’s a serpentine fallacy.

This ‘Christ given identity’ not only fits professional athletes but translates into the norms of life for all Christians. Our identity runs deeper than the state of work, relationships and health. We are not defined by VCE marks or job promotion, marital status or the suburb where we live. There is a profound joy that cannot be shaken by success and failure. The Apostle Paul explains it in this remarkable way, 

”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2. The Eric Liddell approach. 

It’s not that Christian athletes are less committed and passionate about their sport. In following Jesus, there is an added dimension. I like to call it the Eric Liddell approach. Eric Liddell (of Chariots of Fire fame) won the 400m track gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. Liddell said of running, 

“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

It is one thing to compete for yourself, it is an ever great good to compete for your teammate, club and supporters. To enjoy God and glorify him in your athleticism is another step up. It’s not an either-or proposition, but both/and, and the addition of glorifying God elevates the privilege and joy in running, throwing, kicking and whatever sport it is. 

Noah Gray from the Chiefs said during the week, “Regardless of where you’re at in your life, the fact that God came down and took on flesh and died for our sins, that’s the biggest thing I take away and hold near and dear to my heart every day when I go and make decisions for my family and play football. If God can do that, I can go out there and try to be the best I possibly can in glorifying Him in everything.”

3. What matters most

Eric Liddell won his Olympic gold medal and then became a missionary to China where he died in a Japanese concentration camp during the Second World War. He joyfully laid aside Olympic glory for a crown of righteousness. 

Christian faith gives perspective for what is good and what is ultimate, what is temporary and what is eternal. And that gives us permission to fail without being crushed, to lose without life falling apart.

Geelong AFL player, Ollie Dempsey who won the Rising Star award last season, was interviewed by the AFL last week about his football and faith. Well done AFL for having some guts to give a footballer the opportunity to talk about Jesus

Dempsey was open and vulnerable as he shared his personal shortcomings. He left home at 18 to move city and become a professional footballer. He talked about his fears in sharing his faith with his teammates and of his friendship with the great Gary Ablett  Jnr who has encouraged him to keep walking with Jesus.

Dempsey shared,

“I put my favourite bible verses on my wrist tape. It’s something I’ve done every game since my second year. Even say I’m having a tough game, I’ll think to myself ‘Trust in God, I’m here for a reason and it’s all part of His plan’. It helps me through the ups and downs of the game.”  

“I truly believe that I’m here in the AFL for a purpose bigger than just playing footy and it’s to spread the goodness of Jesus. Especially with my story and only playing six games of school football and somehow getting drafted, which is still crazy to me, I try to give all glory to God for any of my achievements”.

“I still struggle with this and being public about it all because I don’t always live it. I’m never going to be one in someone’s face trying to convert them to Christianity, that’s just not me. But I feel especially this last year by just being myself, trying to be happy and loving, people can see God shining through me and that’s just how I try to approach life.”

For Dempsey, being a Christian doesn’t diminish his desire to excel and become a better athlete and help bring more success to Geelong, his trust in Jesus provides greater motivation and reason.

Do we not accept the Lord of times of winning and losing?  The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian in sports is not winning or losing games, and neither is it in feeling elation or sadness. But it is in the fact that knowing your identity is not determined by such things and that the joy and hope you have far out ways the greatest of human triumph. Hence Christian thankfulness is a great antidote to pride and despair, to elation in winning and disappointment in losing.

Why would a Christian athlete blame God for a loss?  Neil DeGrasse Tyson might have a grasp on the movement of stars, but he doesn’t seem to understand how a Christian can praise God in the midst of loss.

Christians to this day, sing and repeat Job’s refrain  Job is a dude from the Bible who suffered the loss of property, wealth and his children. His friends came along side himself, assuming that he must be guilty of some great sin. How else can you explain his suffering? Job declared, 

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

    and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

This isn’t nasty fatalism or foolishness, but a depth of knowledge that God remains sovereign and he can be trusted in all life situations.

Last Sunday as a Church, we looked at these words of Jesus from John’s Gospel, words Jesus spoke immediately following Judas’s leaving to betray him, and only hours before he was crucified, 

‘Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once’.

Jesus didn’t define betrayal as failure but understood God is strong enough to not only out manoeuvre but to use betrayal and Jesus’ crucifixion for real glory. Death wasn’t Jesus failing, it was the means by which he would bring forgiveness.

I wonder if Neil DeGrasse Tyson sees the cross of Jesus as foolish and weak and a failure? Or perhaps look at it from Jesus’ perspective and see how the cross served as glory? You see, all Christian faith comes back to understanding the cross and grasping that Jesus’ death (as evil and shocking as it was) served to bring about monumental good, even eternal life. No wonder those NFL players are happy to love their footy and also praise Jesus.