Amazing platform
It is really quite impressive as you walk through the Super Bowl preparation. There is sponsor after sponsor lining the closed roads in downtown Phoenix, Az around the Convention Center. There is media from around the world. There are families holding hands walking down the sidewalk. There are the players giving their wisdom about game prep. Behind the scenes, there is preparation for news conferences, security, moving people from one venue to another and so one. There is a bustle going on that is unprecedented except for once a year in this particular event. Either you love it or hate it. But I can say this without hesitation: it is an amazing ministry platform.
Yes, I have heard about the human trafficking that occurs during the Super Bowl. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" It is not football's fault that there is human trafficking. I know personally that the NFL works extensively with local law enforcement against it. And yes, there are players and people associated with them who say and do the wrong things, represent the wrong morals, set bad examples. But having worked with many of these young men over the years, I know that there are many, many more who are standout examples of the very types of role model that you would want for your children and grand children.
Over the years, I am sure most have heard that the majority of professional football players die younger, go bankrupt more, are divorced more often, are unemployed at a higher rate than the public, commit suicide more and are arrested more than the general population. These "facts" are simply not true. I know, I conducted an extensive investigation to find where these myths came from and what were the actual statistics. I found that these myths were made up in an off-the-cuff conversation overheard by a reporter and then were reported and embellished over and over again. Truth is arrest rates are lower, divorce rates are lower, employment is higher, suicide rates are lower, and former players actually live longer than men in the general population.
You don't normally hear about the good guy. He is boring to report about. You don't hear about my friend Eddie who snatches kids out of the jaws of drugs and crime and mentors them to be all they can be; or my friend Aeneas who brings folks of diverse backgrounds together and helps rebuild homes in the inner city of St Louis; or James who has a group of men he holds accountable through his phone calls and prayers; or Curtis who talks to high school athletes about college and unashamedly preaches Christ; or a hundred more men who learned how to live their lives, or change their lives so they can change others because of the sport of football. It's not all bad; it's an amazing platform. And there are many who are using that platform to make disciples of Christ. We are seeing it here during Super Bowl week in Phoenix.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
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