Kneeling and Football

Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against former Washington State high school assistant coach Joe Kennedy.

Kennedy began a tradition in 2008. At the end of the game, he would walk to the 50-yard line, drop to a knee, and silently offer a prayer. Over the years, players and other coaches joined in the ritual. That was until 2015, when another district employee noticed the prayer and reported it to the school board. Kennedy was asked to stop. He was given an alternative time to pray when no students or fans would be around. Kennedy refused, so he was suspended. Eventually, the board chose not to renew his contract.

Kennedy took legal action. However, in last week's decision, the court ruled that as a public school employee, he speaks for the school, and thus he has no first amendment rights to free speech or religion. By praying, they wrote, he made the school officially endorse a religion.

As I read that story I was struck by the opposite reaction to professional football quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick famously kneeled down at the play of the national anthem to protest racial inequality. As a free agent, no team has signed him, with many speculating that his anthem protests have led to owners not hiring the quarterback.

As I read both stories, I witnessed a strange juxtaposition. Both men kneeled around football games. Kaepernick knelt before the game. Kennedy knelt after the game. One made millions of dollars as a professional athlete. One probably made next to nothing as a high school assistant football coach. One has rallies in his honor, encourage league officials to hire him and calling him a victim. The other just lost a court case to no fanfare at all.

Are these two cases really all that different? Both men chose to kneel despite pressure not to do so. Yet, we see two very different perceptions and outcomes.

In Daniel 6, Daniel faces a similar situation. He kneels to pray, despite the new law passed by the king forbidding it. He ends up in the lion's den, where God justifies his faith and spares his life. God found him faithful.

Will God find you faithful? Will you be willing to kneel and pray when others tell you to stop and desist? There may be times when God will call upon you to stand (or kneel) in his name. You may become a target, like Daniel, simply because of your faith.

Can you stand the test? Daniel did.

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