The Influence We Carry
As professional athletes — well, I’m washed now, but you get the point — we carry a ton of influence in this world. People look up to us for a simple reason: we play at the highest level of our profession, and at our best, we’re dominant. Because of that, what we do and what we say gets followed. That can be a really good thing.
Our success also opens doors — it helps our brand, gets us marketing deals, and can genuinely bless us financially. None of that is the problem.
Where It Gets Tricky
Here’s where it gets tricky for the Christian athlete. As the traction grows — more followers, more engagement, more brand deals — will you let that success outgrow your boasting in Jesus? Will the platform get bigger while the gospel in your content gets smaller?
In fact, I’ve watched athletes and influencers quietly steer away from Christ-centered content because they know engagement might dip if they go there. Little by little, faith becomes the private thing and the brand becomes the public thing. “Check out this new selfie.” “Link in bio.” “Use this discount code.” That’s it. That’s the whole message.
To be clear, none of that is inherently bad. I said it at the top and I’ll say it again: growing your platform and cashing in on your success is a good thing. However, we have to be careful — careful that it doesn’t make us go silent about our faith, and careful that we don’t start positioning ourselves to be worshiped instead of Jesus.
A Personal Confession
And I’ll be honest — I’ve felt my own life start to drift that direction at times. It’s subtle. You don’t wake up one day and decide to leave Jesus out of the caption. Instead, it happens a video at a time, a post at a time, choosing the safer content over the bold one. That’s exactly why this message isn’t me pointing a finger from the outside. It’s me preaching to myself first. We have to capture our thoughts and stay watchful over our actions — myself included.
Where the Boasting Belongs
Scripture is clear about where the boasting should land:
“so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'” — 1 Corinthians 1:31 (ESV)
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” — John 3:30 (ESV)
That’s the tension, and that’s the calling. Our name, our brand, our bank account — all of it can grow. But none of it should grow louder than the name of Jesus in our lives.
Don’t Go Quiet
Ultimately, remember what the priority actually is: Jesus first. Right behind that, loving our neighbor — which means caring about their soul, not just their follow. Our conduct and our boldness to boast in Him is one of the most powerful ways we do that.
Don’t go quiet on the Jesus talk.