When I was a boy, I was excited to hear an NFL star was going speak at a rally at my school. I was standing there, eagerly looking around the room for some sort of giant football player, wondering who it would be.
The rally emcee then called for Al Del Greco, star kicker for the Arizona Cardinals, to come to the podium. The man I was standing near, who was more average in size, moved toward the microphone. Yes, it turns out I was standing right beside an NFL great and didn’t know it.
Just last month, I was honored to stand beside another great football player, Michael Turk, who most recently played for OU and who may likely play in the NFL.
Turk, who is known for his popular YouTube program “HangTime,” uses his platform as a star athlete to point people to Jesus and the Bible. His YouTube episodes are a bright spot for young people amid an otherwise dark social media environment.
To hear the Baptist Messenger interview with Michael, in which he shares about his faith, football and his fiancé (star OU softball player Grace Lyons), you can go to BaptistMessenger.com, or search for “Baptist Messenger” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you access podcasts.
Throughout the interview, I was particularly encouraged to hear this successful individual (who, by the way, is a member of a Southern Baptist church), living out the Christian life and trying to have a positive impact on young people.
Psalm 145:4 says, “One generation shall commend Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.” When you hear Michael talk, you can immediately tell he wants to make the name of Jesus known, not his own name.
The late, great NFL star Gayle Sayers once said, “I am third.” What he meant is “God is first. Others come second. I come last.” I see that same attitude in Turk.
But it’s not only star athletes or celebrities that have opportunities to make the name of Jesus known. It’s everyday people, too. Each day is a gift for the Lord. We can choose, in our own circles, to build up our own kingdoms—or better to build His Kingdom.
Today, let’s not make ourselves the star. Let’s lift up Jesus, who said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
