Are You a Witness or a Wannabe?

Athletes are often given a platform to share about their faith in Christ. Postgame interviews, pregame hype-ups and plenty of time in practice all give the Christian athlete opportunities to share about Jesus’ work in their life. There are plenty of times athletes don’t dig in with heart questions or direct their team to the Lord.

In the book of Mark, on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices to the grave to anoint Jesus’s body. But when they arrived, they found the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and a man dressed in white was sitting inside waiting for them.

Despite the man telling them not to be alarmed, they were. The man told the women that Jesus had risen and was not there, and then directed them to go tell his disciples that Jesus was going ahead of them into Galilee. But in the next verse, we see that the women were too terrified and “said nothing to anyone.”

As athletes, we know we must push through our fears to become great competitors and the same is true in becoming a great witness for Christ. How often do we find ourselves in a situation to be a bold witness for Christ like these women, but instead fear holds us back? If we are honest with ourselves, we probably have the opportunity to share about Jesus with someone on a daily basis if we want to, but fear holds us back.

There are times in our lives when the Lord has done something so amazing or He has blessed us beyond belief that we want to shout it from the rooftops. I encourage you to do that and don’t let fear or anxiety stop you. Shout it out, let others know what the Lord has done in your life, be a bold witness for Him and His Kingdom!