Waving the Rainbow Flag on the Field of Play: Christian Athletes Under Pressure
The pressure on Christians to wave the rainbow flag may be new, but the issue is as old as the church.
Imagine for the moment that you're a world-class soccer star. You've worked for this all your life. Day after day and year after year you get up early, run, work on drills to hone your God-given talent. You've sacrificed many other things to rank among the best in the world. And now you may have to choose between your career or your faith. Why? Because you refuse to sell out to the crowd.
This is not make-believe. This is the plight of Jaelene Hinkle, a Christian athlete with the U.S. national soccer team. Jaelene, you see, has suddenly been thrust into a harsh spotlight — not for anything she's done on the pitch, as they say, but for her decision not to play in games in which her team must wear rainbow jerseys in support of "LGBT Pride" month in June.
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Now, Jaelene is not trying to make waves but simply says she's bowing out for "personal reasons."
But her views on the matter are pretty clear. When the Supreme Court legalized what is called "same-sex marriage" in 2015, Jaelene stated on Instagram, "I believe with every fiber in my body that what was written 2,000 years ago in the Bible is undoubtedly true …. This world may change, but Christ and His Word NEVER will."
After calling on Christians to become more loving, she added, "The rainbow was a [covenant] made between God and all his creation that never again would the world be flooded as it was when He destroyed the world during Noah's time. It's a constant reminder that no matter how corrupt this world becomes, He will never leave us or forsake us."
Good, strong words! The rainbow, in case you haven't noticed, has been appropriated by the LGBT rights crowd.
The response to Jaelene's latest stand has been mostly vitriol. One of the few printable reactions in opposition was, "It's so nice when the trash takes itself out."
To this point however, Jaelene's decision hasn't cost her a spot on the national team. And one fair-minded gay sports blog said, "Hinkle has a right to her personal beliefs and if that means skipping a chance to play, that is also her right."
It's been clear for a while now that sport, like many other realms in our culture, is under siege from the forces of political correctness, sexual license, and marriage redefinition. A few years ago, the NFL threatened to take the Super Bowl away from the state of Arizona because of a religious freedom bill that the LGBT activists opposed — so Arizona's governor vetoed the bill. North Carolina was threatened by the NCAA with economic blackmail over its so-called "bathroom bill" — and changed the law. And now the Seattle WNBA team is donating a portion of ticket sales to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. I wonder what any Christians on the team think of this.
But it isn't just about sports. The pressure to conform is being ratcheted up everywhere — in business, politics, even religion. On a recent episode of "The Point," my colleague John Stonestreet bemoaned that the LGBT "rainbows" have even turned up everywhere — even on bags of French fries! And I can sympathize.
Yet all this isn't really a surprise, is it? Christians have always faced a choice between following God or the world, Christ or Caesar. In the early church, Christians such as Polycarp, who was bishop of the church in Smyrna, also had to choose. Polycarp, who was an old man, simply had to say "Caesar is lord" and offer a pinch of incense before Caesar's image — or face torture and death. He refused to give in, saying, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
The pressure to go along with the world on human sexuality is probably only going to intensify. For the sake of God's honor, the truth of His Word, and our neighbors' flourishing, we simply cannot wave the rainbow flag. Thank God, Jaelene Hinkle hasn't.
Originally posted at breakpoint.org
