Youth will look to athletes as role models, Sturm says_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Youth will look to athletes as role models, Sturm says

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ARLINGTON--Christians can raise up athletes as role models if they push through negative media stereotypes to spotlight people acting out their faith, said Bob Sturm, a Dallas sports-radio talk show host.

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Posted: 11/07/03

Youth will look to athletes as role models, Sturm says

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ARLINGTON–Christians can raise up athletes as role models if they push through negative media stereotypes to spotlight people acting out their faith, said Bob Sturm, a Dallas sports-radio talk show host.

The media encourages an image of athletes as rule-breaking thugs by focusing on negative stories such as the Kobe Bryant criminal case and Dennis Rodman's antics, Sturm said at the Youth Ministry Conclave, a Baptist General Convention of Texas-sponsored training event.

“One of the travesties is that the good story is so boring that it is never told,” said Sturm, who is a Christian.

Despite the prevalent image, youth are going to look up to athletes, he advised. Posters will adorn their rooms. They will purchase a soft drink or sneaker because of an endorsement from their favorite star.

“To a kid, they are not God-like, but they are idols,” Sturm said. “They can do nothing wrong. Whatever they tell you to buy, you buy.”

Looking up to people is a fact of life, he added. Youth are going to want to be like someone they see, athlete or not. It is a matter of whom that person will be.

“Your kids are going to idolize people,” he affirmed. “There are people they are going to pattern their lives after. We would like it if they got all their role models from the Bible, but it's not true.”

Christians must push through the negative images to find athletes who act out their faith by donating their time and money to causes, starting team chapel services and speaking openly about their beliefs, Sturm argued.

He urged youth workers to subscribe to magazines like Sports Spectrum, which highlights Christian athletes. Posters of these athletes can be displayed in Sunday School classes. Athletes such as David Robinson, Reggie White and Roger Staubach are prime examples of believers in the sports world, he added.

“There are a lot of great guys out there who believe the same thing you do,” Sturm said.

The difficult part of raising up athletes as models of faith is that youth leaders do not know whether the athlete's faith is genuine, Sturm noted. Society has a hard time accepting people have truly changed and turned to God.

Be assured the media is looking for self-professed Christians to fail, Sturm warned, so if they stumble, the media will cover it.

“We get very cynical because a lot of people who get in trouble, especially in the sports world, play the God card,” he explained.

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