Unusual Suspect: One Man’s Calling to Help a Team Embroiled in Controversy

What is the Christian life supposed to look like?

This is perhaps the most asked question in Christianity with answers that vary as much as New England weather. Some feel the Christian life should look, well, Christian. Moral people who help others and go to Bible College and are employed in full-time ministry. Others would say it is less about degrees and church membership and more about an attitude of forgiveness and benevolence toward others. Treat others like you want to be treated, right?

What if a great example of the Christian life took place within the walls of Gillette stadium? Yes, Gillette stadium. The home field of the New England Patriots who are not only current Super Bowl champions but entangled in a ball deflation controversy stemming from their footballs being under the league required air pressure range during the American Football Conference Championship game played on January 18. A game in which they won incidentally 45-7.

With a blowout win in hand and a trip to the Super Bowl on the horizon, surely no one would care about football air pressure? That might have been true if these same New England Patriots had not been caught illegally videotaping opponents defensive signals in 2007. A rule violation in which the league handed out its harshest penalty ever, fining owner Robert Kraft $250,000 and head coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and docking the team a first round draft pick.

It would seem that if this football deflation controversy proved to be true than the New England Patriots would be as synonymous with winning championships as they are with being habitual cheaters. An image and a brand that would be tough to swallow for management and its players.

Enter Jack Easterby – a lanky and balding former college basketball player and golfer with a thick Southern accent. Easterby was hired by the Patriots in July 2013 as the team’s chaplain.

According to Seth Wickersham, a writer for ESPN The Magazine who profiled Easterby just prior to the Super Bowl, Easterby’s first words to the team were, “Tonight, my goal is that you will never be the same.” Wickersham goes on to say that Easterby says that often in his devotionals, with the swagger of a hitter calling his shot. It's an invitation, and dozens of athletes and coaches – from Tom Brady to Brady Quinn, from Bill Belichick to South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley – have accepted it. They don't always buy into Easterby's gospel, but they buy into Easterby himself. His job is to be trustworthy, and it doesn't help him earn trust if he's out there talking about it, which is why he politely declined to speak to Wickersham for his story. "He's just a great person and friend," Brady says. "You feel a special connection with him and with his genuine caring for all the people in his life."

The typical team chaplain, Wickersham explains, is a pastor at a local church who volunteers to host Saturday chapel for 10 or so players who attend and is compensated with cash in a collection plate. In New England, Easterby has an office – and it's near Belichick's. He is a classic Belichick hire: The more he can do, the more he does. He hosts Bible study, works coaches' hours in his office counseling players and their wives, throws passes in practice to Darrelle Revis and sometimes even jumps in on scout-team drills. When he's not listening, he's texting. When he's not texting, he's writing players and coaches individual notes, recapping their personal goals and reminding them of how thankful he is to know them.

Like Belichick and Brady, says Wickersham, Easterby is obsessed with process – only his process is self-actualization. He challenges those he counsels to be better people the way coaches challenge them to be better players. He's written a devotion called the Competitor's Creed – I am a Competitor now and forever. I am made to strive, to strain, to stretch and to succeed in the arena of competition. ... My attitude on and off the field is above reproach, my conduct beyond criticism. Whether I am preparing, practicing or playing, I submit to God's authority and those He has put over me. I respect my coaches, officials, teammates and competitors out of respect for the Lord.

Many Patriot coaches and players credit Easterby and his presence as one of the reasons the team won the championship this season. High praise for a man teaching his listeners about the higher power found in Christ and his gospel message.

Often we think of the Christian life being spent on the mission fields of Africa or India not on the football field. But here is Easterby, at Gillette stadium, the home of the NFL's most notorious cheaters or so the narrative goes but make no mistake, if the Patriots are exonerated from this latest football deflation controversy, he will have helped them weather the storm. If not, he will embrace the chance to help them learn from it, underscoring that life and its ups and downs are temporal but eternal life is offered to anyone who comes to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. In short, Easterby will be ready to serve.

Gridiron Gall = God's Glory?

Ray Lewis, the star linebacker of the Baltimore Ravens was interviewed by his former teammate Shannon Sharpe hours prior to Super Bowl 47. Football was not discussed but God's glory was.

Lewis was asked what he would say to the families of the two men killed in Atlanta after the Super Bowl in 2000. Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice after that incident. The families have spoken out in the last month including a story in USA Today about Lewis being celebrated for what he has accomplished in the NFL. "It’s simple," Lewis said, "God has never made a mistake. That’s just who He is, you see...To the family, if you knew, if you really knew the way God works, he don’t use people who commits anything like that for His glory. No way. It’s the total opposite."

What Lewis is implying is that God would not have allowed him to reach such an unprecedented level of success in the NFL if he was culpable in any way for the murders. Incidentally, most football experts consider Lewis to be one of the best middle linebackers to ever play the game.

But Lewis takes this concept of God's favor one step further by suggesting that his football career has brought glory to God. This fact, in Lewis' mind, vindicates him from that ugly night in Atlanta because, after all, God would not use murderers for His glory even though one third of the Bible is written by murderers. Moses, author of the first five books of the Bible killed an Egyptian slave-master and buried his body in the sand (Exodus 2:12); King David, author of more than half of the Psalms had Uriah murdered, Bathsheba's husband with whom he had an adulterous affair (2 Samuel 11:15); and the Apostle Paul, author of 13 New Testement letters persecuted and killed Christians before his dramatic conversion on the Damascus road (Galatians 1:13).

What Lewis fails to grasp is that if people are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because they believe God will help them win football games. It's because Jesus Himself is appealing, and what He says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same.

What Christianity really needs is for its members to unflinchingly obey the commands of Jesus Christ and exhibit the abundant life that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 10. Shortly before his death, the Marxist leader Lenin said, “Give me ten men like Francis of Assisi and I will rule the world.” It is the power of the life transformed by Jesus Christ that makes the world sit up and take notice not pregame dances and multimillion dollar contracts.

And to be honest, if the gospel was truly proclaimed many of the folks that claim to be Christian would shrink fast. America has moved so far away from preaching the cross that it is not surprising that our professional athletes who claim the name of Christ do so because they want Him to help them win. English Christian evangelist and author Leonard Ravenhill once said, "Christianity is not measured in success but in sacrifice." Truly a lost concept in today's world.

We need to come to the place where our lives mirror what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him [Jesus] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” This is our charter as believers. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be ready to obey Christ as unconditionally as the first disciples. That is our calling, not Super Bowl rings.
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“God is able to take your life, with all of the heartache, all of the pain, all of the regret, all of the missed opportunities, and use you for His glory.” - Charles R. Swindoll, Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication

Destiny or Deity?

With the Super Bowl fast approaching, the issue of whether or not God is rooting for a particular team to win always seems to surface. It has been perpetuated to new levels the past few weeks by Ray Lewis, the star linebacker of the Baltimore Ravens who is a professed Christian. During the Ravens playoff run, Lewis has been telling his teammates and media that God has ordained for the Ravens to win the Super Bowl. He has also been quoting Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." I will not take the time to discuss the actual meaning of this verse but I can assure you that it is not about a football game.

But the question still lingers? Does God care who wins on Super Bowl Sunday? Is God a Baltimore Ravens fan - at least for this season? I really believe the fact that we even ask such a question is indicative of a society that has lost its way. Karl Marx once famously said, "religion is the opiate of the masses.” I would argue that sport is the new religion.

That being said, the answer to this question is not as simple as it would seem. Many theologians say that the notion of God meddling in a football game trivializes the power of an almighty force. That God might care about a touchdown or an interception offers a far too "mechanistic" view of God, they say.

"God is not a puppeteer who controls all of our motions and actions," said John Freeman, a professor with the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. "That idea of being controlled takes away free will...It's offensive."

Conversely, some NFL chaplains - all NFL teams have chaplains, with the exception of the Oakland Raiders - say God's hand is at work. How else to explain that the perennially awful Atlanta Falcons now have a shot at being champions, says their team chaplain, Rev. Charles Collins. "Yes, of course God cares. God cares about everybody and every little thing that happens (in the game)."

So does God care? Is He the one pulling the strings of mediocrity to ensure the Cleveland Browns - better known as the basement dwellers - never have another winning season? Is He so obsessed with Tom Brady, like the rest of us, that He continues to help him win at an unprecedented clip despite his head coach being Bill Belichick often referred to as Bill Beelzebub by the media for his cold and tight lipped press conferences?

I found the best answer to this question from R.C. Sproul Jr. who wrote a blog on this very topic during this time last year right after the Denver Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. He says and I quote:

"The truth is God does decide, and He does care. He not only decides who will win the Super Bowl, He decides who will win the game of hearts that I play with my children. He decides, or rather decided, everything. There are no places, let alone no playing fields, where God stays on the sidelines. We need to remember that everything that happens must have a sufficient cause. And we must remember that every sufficient cause eventually traces its way back to God before time. This happens because that happened. That happened because this other thing happened. Eventually this takes us to “God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.’"

Of course God works in and through secondary means. He gives the gifts. He creates the weather. The one who numbers the hairs on our heads softens the ground where a defensive back slips, and a playoff game ends on an eighty yard touchdown pass. There is no thing, no cause, over which He is not sovereign.

Isn’t it, though, somehow beneath His dignity to be concerned with such things? Yes, of course it is. God has only one concern - the manifestation of His glory. And that is how He determines what will happen in a football game, and what will happen in an election, and what will happen in a cancer ward. His goal isn’t ultimately to make little boys in Pittsburgh happy, or little boys in Denver happy. His goal, which cannot be thwarted, is to show forth who He is. (emphasis mine)

Does that mean He plays favorites for the likes of outspoken Christians like Tim Tebow or Drew Brees? Of course. Because God loves those who are His, even as He loves His own Son, God is certain to favor them. That favor, however, isn’t a path to winning a football game, but is instead the path to true victory, becoming more like Jesus. God isn’t glorified in giving Tim Tebow unlikely victories that somehow redound to God’s glory. No, God is glorified in making His children, including Tim Tebow, more like His Son. Sometimes that means leading them to the thrill of victory. Sometimes it means leading them through the agony of defeat." [End quote]

As I mull over Sproul's assertions which I agree with, I realize the more difficult and pertinent question for me isn’t does God care, but should I? As I stated previously, our society is fixated on sports entertainment. Most see it as an escape from the doldrums of every day life, others view it as a chance to live their dreams through professional athletes. But as a Christian, my most important prayer is not asking for a Patriots victory. No, not even in the Super Bowl. My utmost petition to the throne of grace is for my children to have ears to hear the gospel, a heart to believe it, and grace to accept His providence in all things, even when the Patriots lose.
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“Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” - Charles Reade

Is God a Patriots Fan?

With the Super Bowl fast approaching, the issue of whether or not God is rooting for a particular team to win always seems to surface. I find this to be one of the more intriguing questions given that sports entertainment has become more of a religion today than the God of the Bible.

I want to begin addressing this question by mentioning a couple of quotes from Tom Brady, the three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the New England Patriots. After Brady won his third Super Bowl in 2005 he was asked if he would still have the competitive drive to come back next year and compete for another championship after already winning three at the tender age of 27 (an NFL record). Brady’s response was both intriguing and insightful. He stated that after the initial euphoria wore off from winning his third championship, he asked himself, “Is this it? Surely there has to be more.”

More? Surely Brady was joking. He was at age 27 the epitome of success – three time champion, Brad Pitt type good looks, Hollywood actress girlfriend on his arm, and yet he was unsatisfied. The world would say his answer depicted his competitive spirit of wanting to be the greatest QB ever but I say his response goes much deeper. His response speaks of a spiritual void. You see for every person there is a spiritual void that we try to fill with all sorts of things – work, relationships, kids, hobbies, but yet we find ourselves very unsatisfied. “Because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot.” (Romans 8:7)

In his book, 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, Max Lucado says that when a man knocks on the door of a brothel, he is looking for God. So too with Brady. His question speaks of a void that seems untouched by his unmatched success. Subsequently, when Brady was asked a couple of years ago if he ever considered what God thought of his success, he said that he didn’t believe that “God gave a [expletive] if he could throw a football or not.”

On this account, Brady could not be more wrong and I believe this gets to the crux of our discussion about God’s sports interest. God most certainty does care that Brady can throw a football. He gave him the talent and ability. He also gave Brady a stage unlike anybody else to not only showcase that ability but to glorify God. I know Brady has never claimed to be a Christian but the Bible says God has fearfully and wonderfully made each of us (Psalm 139:13-14) and that our purpose from our birth has always been to serve and glorify Him in all that we do. “All has been heard; the end of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun].” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Winning or losing is not really the point with God. I would suggest that God gets more glory from a Christian who loses a big game and displays graciousness and humbleness than from a multiple champion who only glorifies himself. Rudyard Kipling wrote a wonderful poem called “If” in which he states, “If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same.” I believe this is God’s view as it relates to his children whether they are athletically gifted or not. He is looking for the individual that seeks to glorify Him on the playing field, at the office building, within the home.

In the end God will hold us all accountable for the talents and abilities we have been given and how we have used them to prosper His gospel. He will not look at Tom Brady any different than me or you as the Bible says God is not a respector of persons (Acts 10:34-35). He will look at how we responded to His revelation of Himself in our lives and how we used the gifts and talents He bestowed upon us for good and Super Bowl rings will be of no consequence.