Whether you are a football fan or not, names like Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals, Kyle Turley of the Kansas City Chiefs, Brian Westbook of the Philadelphia Eagles, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins and Jamal Lewis of the Cleveland Browns will be familiar to you. These men all have something in common within the last three months. They have all suffered from concussions. There cumulative recent injuries have contributed to Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, implementing a new policy requiring independent medical evaluation and clearance before a player can return to the field.

Did you play contact sports? I did. I played baseball from age eight to 42. For me it was a contact sport. Base stealing was my specialty. While not being a speed demon, I had an uncanny ability to read pitchers. Between collisions with base protectors and blocking other players at my position as a catcher for eight years, I suffered many football-like encounters. Four seasons of college soccer and one year in a semi pro soccer league heading dozens soccer balls adds up to a great appreciation for the recent concerns of the NFL. My grandchildren all follow in my tradition. They play baseball and soccer as most likely do your children and grandchildren.

As I read Michel Silver’s Concussion fear taking tool on families (Yahoo! Sports Dec 4, 11:07 am EST) I was intrigued at the parallels with the Christian life. Playing football, baseball, soccer or other sport is not a moral issue. Gambling, pornography, dope dealing and other such activities certainly are. However there is a commonality; engaging in high risk activities places one in an increasing vulnerable position. Amoral high risk activities impact temporal life. Moral high risk activities impact temporal life and determine eternal life (Gal 5:21 “…those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”). There is another commonality. High risk activities tend to have an attraction—they are increasingly engaging.

So, what is the lesson in all this? There are two. First, with respect to moral issues, “Just say no!” Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. put it this way, “When in doubt, don’t!” His urging was to the Christian. The secular version, “Just say no!” is aimed at the populace. Dr. Jones was assuming that the Christian has a God-given ability in accordance with his new nature to actually do this even after he has engaged the immoral activity. The academic and medical communities have gathered an incredible amount of evidence that engaging in high risk immoral behavior leads to destruction. Just one example will suffice. Depending upon whose statistics you use, somewhere between 21 and 35% of the total traffic fatalities in 2001 were the result of drunk driving.

The second lesson is stewardship. As Christians we have a stewardship over the life that God has given to us. Therefore, we are responsible to manage our lives. If God gives a man the ability to engage a sport as a career, for example, he has a responsibility to weigh the execution of that ability over against his particular risks and his other responsibilities.
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Howard Eyrich
Eden Ridge
Birmingham, Ala.