As long as we’re on the subject of football and God having people everywhere, it’s time once again to talk about the “controversial” kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, Harrison Butker. Last year I applauded him for telling the graduates of his alma Mater, Georgia Tech, that getting married and having a family was among the best things they could do. Today that makes him “controversial” and reminds us that we are very much in exile. After Butker’s graduation speech this year to a private Catholic school, a change.org petition that the Chiefs should fire him garnered nearly 240,000 signatures!

Here’s some of what he said and the reaction to it as reported in A Swift Kick in the Pants by Ray Hacke, May 21, 2024.

[Butker] pulled no punches…in his commencement speech to graduating students at Kansas’ Benedictine College, a Catholic private school, in mid-May….“Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally.”

…Butker also voiced his opposition to the national pro-LGBT celebration known as Pride …Butker unabashedly condemned “the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it.”

Butker’s speech at Benedictine called on men in the audience to “be unapologetic in your masculinity” and to “reject this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in your homes and in your communities.” He encouraged them to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men” and connected America’s epidemic of violence to America’s epidemic of fatherlessness.

…Most controversial of all, though, is that Butker dared to suggest to women at Benedictine that perhaps they should reject the “girl boss” endeavors that society strongly urges them to pursue and that they may find greater fulfillment as wives and mothers, citing his wife as a chief example.

Of course, as so often happens in our modern world, Butker’s words went viral. And of course, it sparked outrage, including from the Kansas City’s leaders…While not condemning Butker’s speech, the National Football League distanced itself from it in a faux show of so-called “respect” for its female fans…But here’s what the NFL likely did not expect: Just as sales of former Philadelphia Flyers hockey player Ivan Provorov’s jersey skyrocketed after he took his stance against Pride in January 2023, so did sales of Butker’s jersey. And according to Kansas City TV station KCTV, women’s Butker jerseys are selling out on Chiefs.com. 

Hacke ends the essay this way:

More Christian athletes should follow his example, using their God-given platforms to proclaim God’s truths—no matter how unpleasant those truths may be, no matter what hostility comes their way.

Jesus was controversial, too.

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. (John 7.40 – 43, ESV)

The Jews then said, “That clinches it. We were right all along when we called you a Samaritan and said you were crazy—demon-possessed!” (John 8.48, MSG)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1.17, ESV)

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. (Ephesians 4.15, ESV)

PS Rather than firing Butker, the Chiefs have recently made him the highest paid kicker in the NFL.

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (Proverbs 22.29, ESV)