This, from ESPN’s Jemele Hill: God’s quarterback turning everyone into believers
…
Some fancy Kitna as a religious zealot, but if having strong faith is the worst thing we can say about a professional athlete, maybe we’re the ones who need to reevaluate our priorities.
To Kitna, this is all God’s will, right on down to the part you think he’s crazy for proclaiming a miracle, crazy for saying God told him months before the conclusion of his final season in Cincinnati that he’d be a Lion, and forecasting the resurrection of a franchise that, well, only Jesus could muster.
“Don’t worry, some other things will be spoken of when the time comes,” Kitna says mysteriously.
Only there will be a lot fewer nonbelievers this time around.
The whole article is really good and worth a read. I just quoted the end because it cut to the heart of the matter.
I love Kitna’s zeal for the Lord. I see him as a prophetic evangelist. I listened to a message he spoke at Kensington Community Church a while back and was very impressed. He brought the Word. Hard. I think I’ll listen to another one today (go to Kensington’s message search page and select Jon Kitna from the drop-down. The original one I listed to is not on there, though.).
His last quote in the article just cracks me up because it’s exactly the type of thing you see Jesus saying in the Gospels (“I have much more to tell you, but you can’t bear it now…”). Kitna seems pretty real and straight-forward on one hand (like Jesus), but far-off and mysterious on another (like Jesus). He seems to know how to operate in the spiritual and natural without missing a beat (like Jesus). And we’re all called to be like that (like Jesus).
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Lord sent him to the Lions for a number of reasons, among them being that the team and the city needed a great spiritual leader. And guys on the Lions needed to hear the Gospel. I really appreciate what he’s invested in our team and state.
I think I just might send him a letter to tell him that.
