Why Does God Let Christians Lose? Part 3 of 3

As I was saying, there are two big reasons why God would let Christians lose in sport. The first was that God wants Christians to teach the world how to lose. The world needs to know that losing does not define them and it is not a cause for despair.

The second big reason: "God loves resurrections." It's a simple and obvious statement, yet it was revelatory to me. It was said by a math professor of my college roommate's and mine. We were both going through what seemed like insurmountable inner strife. Yet, even though we felt dead on the inside, that's just where God wanted us. He really does like resurrections. And, of course, in order to be resurrected, one must be dead.

In the sport world God loves resurrecting careers. I believe career-resurrections, more than long careers of consistent success, bring Him glory. For when a good player's ability wanes or the ability stays the same yet the results or accolades decline, and then unexpectedly and almost inexplicably, the player's ability or accolades return, it somehow seems more an indication of God working than the player's diligence and natural talent. Be it from injury, a sudden spell of mediocrity, being on a bad team or what have you, when a player comes back from the brink of career "death," that is when people stand back and say, "That was pretty remarkable."

The career-resurrections show that perhaps something larger is at work, something outside the athlete. Most everyone gives up hope on something that is near dead, usually even the player whose career it is. But that is when God shines. He shines when bringing a dead team back to life or a washed-up player back to prominence.

This brings me back to Kurt Warner. To me he is the prime example of someone whose career has been resurrected. He came out of nowhere to win a Super Bowl and record mind-blowing passing and scoring stats with the St. Louis Rams. He was the leader of the "Greatest Show on Turf" as the Rams' offense was called. Yet then his career started to fizzle. He suffered some injuries but they didn't seem like the career-ruining variety. It was as if he lost the touch. The Rams dumped him, he didn't fare well with the New York Giants, and by the time he landed with the Arizona Cardinals he was a has-been. But God wasn't finished. Warner regained his old self and found success again recording incredible numbers. He even led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. Now if you look at the top three passing yards performances in Super Bowl games, Warner's name is listed 1, 2 and 3. His career is definitely something of a resurrection.

Seriously, what brings God more glory than doing the impossible?