ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9701310016
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: the back pew
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
Anyone who spent any time at all reading about or watching television programs on the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers must have noticed the widespread expressions of religious faith among team members.
All year there have been occasional stories about the team's Bible studies and the deep Christian commitment of many of its members.
A leader among them has been defensive end Reggie White, who, in addition to being a football player, is an ordained Baptist minister.
After Sunday's victory, player after player interviewed about the game began with words of praise to God and Jesus Christ.
I have to admit that I am one of those who is sometimes dismayed by the ostentatious display of faith that some professional athletes make. All too often, I believe, athletes unthinkingly assume that God has an intense personal interest in which team wins games and which players make the big plays. They give God credit for the victory, but rarely give the deity credit for a loss. They sometimes make religious displays on the field that seem designed to draw attention to themselves rather than to God.
But the comments I heard from the Packers last Sunday did not offend. I was struck by the lack of on-field displays and impressed by the language the players used in their expressions of praise.
The same may also have been true of the Patriots, some of whom likewise have been the subjects of stories about faith on the football field.
For once, I didn't hear a single player thank God specifically for the win - or credit God with the victory. Instead, I heard thanks for skills, talent and teammates, and a general attitude of praise that - while it may have been inspired by victory - wasn't specifically linked to it.
These players seemed to have a healthy understanding of the role of their faith in their day-to-day lives.
Based on what I had read and heard beforehand, and what I heard last Sunday, I'd guess those Christians on the Packers team would have held a prayer meeting afterward whether they won or lost. That truly was refreshing.
They reminded me of some other Christians' testimony I heard over Super Bowl weekend, when the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia held its annual meeting at the Hotel Roanoke.
It was in many ways a honeymoon weekend between the council representing the diocese and its new bishop, the Rt. Rev. F. Neff Powell. There was a distinctive lack of disagreement - either over the budget or in resolutions.
The group's debates are nearly always earnestly civil, but veteran council watchers know to expect at least a few every year. Not this time. Instead, council dispatched its business calmly, quietly and in plenty of time for participants to get home to watch the Super Bowl.
As usual, the council allowed many visitors time to address the group. One was the Rt. Rev. Daniel Deng Bul, bishop of the diocese of Renk in Southern Sudan.
For a number of years, the Southwestern Virginia diocese has had special ties to its beleaguered Sudanese brothers and sisters. Thirty years of civil war have ravaged that country and an officially Islamic government apparently intent on eliminating other religions from the nation have threatened the existence of all Christian churches there.
Deng, at 46 the youngest bishop in Sudan, is studying at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.
Despite war and official persecution, Christians in Sudan remain "spiritually strong," he told his Virginia audience. In the last 20 years, Episcopalians have grown from needing four dioceses to 24. Evangelistic efforts have resulted in unprecedented growth, even as Deng has seen four parishes in his diocese "abandoned" because of the continuing war.
"The war is more serious than ever before," he told his rapt audience. "We are afraid - afraid that Muslims will make what happened in Rwanda" happen in Sudan.
He issued a challenge to the Episcopalians around him.
"Prayers and deeds have to go together," he said. He proposed the creation of a "mission committee" to find ways "to cooperate and work together ... to open official links between the dioceses of Sudan and congregations" here.
"We want the diocese of Southwestern Virginia to be the champion to bring peace to the Sudan."
He continued with a challenge for the Episcopalians here at home.
"God has chosen you to lead this diocese to eternal life ... to the Holy Land. ... The Word is in your hands to preach the good news."
Deng's address had all the earmarks of an old-fashioned, evangelistic revival sermon - one that was received with an extended standing ovation from the crowd in the hotel ballroom.
Can the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia actually do something to advance peace in Sudan? Deng gave every evidence of believing it could.
Can a U.S. church that measures the success of its parishes according to the smallest decline in members learn something from a persecuted Sudanese church whose dioceses have grown 500 percent in the last 20 years? Deng hopes that it can.
Deng expressed a confidence in God's blessings that even the Super Bowl champion Packers couldn't match.
Inspiring as the Packers may be to other Christians, it was the halting, heavily accented voice of a relatively unknown African Christian who provided the real lesson in faith last week.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB