The Example Of An Eagle: Kevin H

Earlier this week, Jason Kelce, the less famous of the two Kelce football brothers (although his growing fame is considerable enough), announced his retirement from the game of football.  

Spinning a captivating tale, Kelce gave a speech that embodied his trademark passion, emotion, and thoughtfulness (it started with several minutes of crying before he could even get out a full sentence), reflecting on many experiences, acknowledging many people who were influential and meaningful in his life, and exhibiting his love of people, football, and life.  Those of us who are Philadelphia Eagles fans expected nothing less of Kelce, yet still were grabbed by the arresting force of the man.  Jason Kelce will go down as one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes of all time.

Jason Kelce is both parts greatly inspirational and humane, and crude and profane.  One must only watch his speech at the parade after the Eagles Super Bowl LII victory to realize such.  Kelce has always had a temper that sometimes gets the best of him and causes him to do things he later regrets (although he still has always controlled it a bit better than his brother Travis – i.e. see Travis almost knocking over his coach in the latest Super Bowl).  And Jason Kelce has long loved to consume copious amounts of beer.

Jason Kelce is no saint, as far as I know he has never made any confession of faith.  Yet I suggest he is a model that in many ways a Christian can seek to imitate.  Yes, his crude and profane tongue and beer chugging ways would not fit so well into the Christian bubble (although in the age of Trump, crude and profane has become a virtue in some Christian circles), but his heart of care for others exemplifies how a Christian ought to care for and about others.

Countless stories have been told this week of how Kelce treated and cared about others and one in particular resulted just from his retirement press conference.  As Kelce was wearing his trademark flip flops during his appearance, it was noticed by some that his ankles were taped.  This was a curiosity as obviously Kelce was not participating in any game or practice and had no need to have taped ankles.  It turns out that Kelce had formed a long, meaningful relationship with one of the trainers who would be the one to tape his ankles before every game of his 13 year career.  Except that this trainer was diagnosed with cancer this last season and had missed Kelce’s last game and later expressed regret to him that he wasn’t there to tape his ankles for his last game.  When Kelce arrived for his retirement press conference at the Eagles’ practice facility, he spotted his long-time friend and asked him if he would do the honor of taping up his ankles one more time before he took the stage.  This was the essence of Jason Kelce.

Jason Kelce is of “the world” as he seemingly does not follow Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  He is profane and hot tempered and chugs lots of beer.  Some would even connect him to the ridiculous conspiracy theory of the NFL, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce (and assumedly Jason, too) supposedly deceitfully conspiring with Joe Biden and the Democrats to increase support for Biden’s reelection bid.  Yet, I submit that Jason Kelce exudes far more love, care, and compassion than many Christians, myself included.

The irony, of course, is how often Christians like to point out how bad “the world” and “sinners” and especially “liberals” are, yet there are many times where “the world” and “sinners” are more righteous and more loving than those of us in the church.  We love to focus on how bad “they” are and how “they” are out to get us, yet so often shamelessly look the other way or justify the bad that happens among us, sometimes even bad wherein “we” are out to get “them”.

Now there is certainly truth to the statements that there is much evil in the world and that that evil is sometimes out to get Christians.  There are plenty of warnings and condemnations in Scripture of the ways of “the world” and throughout the world we see great persecutions that Christians face at the hands of evil actors.  Yet there are still also many times where “the world” actually acts more Christ-like than those who claim to be following after Christ, and such a realization ought to bring us a serious measure of soberness and somberness.

Jason Kelce, even with his rough edges, is one great guy with many admirable traits.  I pray that one day he comes to know the One who in many ways endowed him with those traits.  But I also pray that our Christian culture which can so often become fixated on the evils of “the world” and “them” who are against us, would come to a greater appreciation of how God lovingly made each and every human being, many who still even reflect the good traits of God even as they may not know Him.  All the more, that they would become far more concerned with their own sin and habitual and unrepentant sin that resides among their “own”, along with much greater concern for reflecting God’s love to “the world”, rather than exhibiting condescension and fear.

The church in many ways could learn a lot from Jason Kelce, and those “sinners” like him.