Was Paris 2024 the Most Faith-Filled Olympics Yet?
By Movieguide® Contributor
The Olympics have already been over for more than a week, but despite the Opening Ceremony’s mockery of Christianity, the 2024 Games saw Jesus’ name proclaimed throughout Paris.
Movieguide® reported:
Following the Paris Olympics’ debauched, drag queen-filled mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies, many Christians are calling for believers to boycott the games, but is that the right response?
The Daily Wire reported, “This year’s opening ceremony, which featured a number of acts, drew controversy for including a drag show parody of ‘The Last Supper’ with Jesus Christ, his apostles, and Greek god Dionysus.”
Immediately after airing, social media was flooded with believers decrying the display.
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting,” Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butler posted, quoting Galatians 6:7-8.
Despite the mockery, many athletes took a stand and were bold in their faith, like 110-meter hurdler, Daniel Roberts, who took home the silver medal for Team USA.
“At the end of the day, we’re all here to worship God in our own special way. And this is just a different way that I use my abilities and my gifts to bring glory to him,” he said.
Fiji’s Olympic team worshiped God in the Olympic Village, a young Brazilian skateboarder declared Jesus is the Way and Team USA’s youngest member found her strength in God.
As more and more athletes spoke about their faith, a movement going on behind the scenes on the streets of Paris saw lives transformed by the Gospel.
According to Frank Shelton, a four-time chaplain at the summer games, there were “hundred[s] upon hundreds” of people who came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“We had the honor to see souls saved on the street,” Shelton told CBN’s John Jessup in an email. “Some of the athletes I met shared worship was happening on their own time, and I saw video footage of them praising God near the Olympic Village. We all witnessed the USA dominate, but [what] was so beautiful was how so many gave glory to God.”
“I reminded all those disgruntled at home after the opening ceremony that if we have to wait for the ‘perfect conditions’ to share the Gospel, we will never get started,” he continued. “As Christians called to share the faith, we must resemble a dedicated fireman or a running back. Why? We just need an opening to run in and through when everyone else is running out or quitting.”
Shelton’s efforts, along with many others, will continue long after Paris.
Another chaplain told Shelton, “God just opened the door for me to start a Zoom Bible study with some of the Olympians long after we leave Paris.”
“Praise God and folks are hungry for the Lord. True winning isn’t just going after gold but God,” Shelton concluded in his email. However, when we seek Him first and His righteousness all these other things will be added unto you. Sometimes that includes gold, too!”
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