Hope On The Horizon
by Jacob Thomsen
I have been a professional sports fan since I was very young. I fell in love with them and spent many hours as a kid pretending to be various sports stars while playing across the street with my childhood best friends.
Professional sports are incredibly popular and among some of the most popular programs on national television, with growing viewership every year. As an example, Major League Baseball (MLB) has an average viewership of 1.74 to 1.84 million viewers per game this season. This represents a large-scale increase in viewership, especially amongst young people.* Professional sports provide an opportunity to reach a wide audience, and for the last 5-10 years, they’ve been used as a soapbox for so-called “social justice.”
Since June has been deemed “Pride Month,” every team in the MLB, except the Texas Rangers, has a “Pride Night.” Some of the activities include free rainbow pride hats and t-shirts to the first 10,000 fans, drag queens throwing the first pitch, special rainbow uniforms, etc.
Recently, on June 14th, the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers hosted their Pride Night against the Kansas City Royals. Their hats donned a rainbow version of their normal “LA” logo. Although he did not pitch, one of the best Dodgers pitchers of all time, Clayton Kershaw, wrote very visibly in marker next to the logo, GEN 9:12-16.
These few passages state, “12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Seeing this gave me hope. Clayton Kershaw is a leader on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he is not afraid of standing for Biblical truths. In the middle of Los Angeles, during Pride Month, on national television, he was not fearful. He had the courage to stand for something, which is a sign of promise from God, and not agree to the misappropriation of the rainbow by the LGBTQ+ community.
Though it doesn’t get nearly as much attention, the Dodgers have also hosted Christian Faith and Family nights, some of which Kershaw has led. His leadership is a great encouragement to me as well as other Christian sports fans. While we may be surrounded by worldly things and the worship of them, we should not accept them but stand for what is right and true at all times. Not all hope is lost in the world of professional sports.
The words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16: 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Let this be an encouragement to you this June. There are brothers and sisters in Christ out there boldly sharing the truth. Even in Los Angeles, in a professional sport on national television. The rainbow is meant as a symbol of hope for the world, a promise that God instituted thousands of years ago. Let’s not hide that hope, but put it on a stand for the whole world to see.