Christianity has been under constant attack around the world and in America. President Obama tried to redefine the free exercise of religion into a freedom to worship. As many of his policies indicated, one did not have the right to a free exercise of religion in the public sphere. The ultimate objective was create the mindset that the freedom to worship came from the government. It was not an inalienable right.
During this time, it was certainly not a popular position to advocate for Christianity. This was especially true among the celebrities and pop icons. The tendency to denigrate and scorn those who believe in Jesus Christ was especially strong during the Obama years. Most people remember Obama’s “bitter clingers to guns and religion” remark.
To have well-known and popular people stand up for Christianity was rare. Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney has been one of those exceptions. Swinney has been standing up for Christ throughout the dark years of the Obama presidency. Swinney will not allow his belief in Jesus Christ to be relegated only to a church on Sundays.
For those who may not know little about Swinney, he was tapped to take over Clemson’s football program in 2009. Little known at the time, Swinney has turned Clemson into a perennial winner. As Swinney says, his job is to win football games. And win games they have with a 131-30 record during his tenure. Clemson has made the Final Four of college football each of the last five seasons.
Consistently winning on the football field isn’t the only constant in Dabo Swinney. Another constant is his unwavering belief in Jesus Christ. And he refuses to be apologetic about that. In an age when Christianity is mocked and denigrated by “celebrities,” Swinney is a shining beacon standing up for Christians and Christianity.
In 2014 the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) complained that the coach had created “a culture of coercion within the university’s football program.” FFRF wanted Swinney to be enjoined from having team prayers, sermons, bible studies, etc. In other words they wanted Swinney’s faith to be quarantined to church on Sunday. In their view there is no place for Christianity in the public square.
Swinney refused to back off. In a broadcast to all of his critics, Swinney said,
“They want me to just shut that off and not be a Christian. But God says in Colossians 3:23, whatever you do, you do it with all your heart as if you’re working for the Lord.”
“If I get a young man that comes to Clemson and he’s strong in his faith, and he leaves Clemson and I didn’t help him grow stronger, shame on me. If I get a young man that comes to Clemson, and he doesn’t know anything, or he’s searching, and I don’t cultivate that … Shame on me.”
“There’s no one that comes to Clemson and gets here and goes, ‘Dadgum, I didn’t know that coach Swinney was a Christian!’ Everybody knows.”
“I hope they see the light of Jesus through me as I do my job.”
Swinney went on,
“So many people today, they are afraid of criticism. They are afraid of not being politically correct, or whatever it may be. There’s a lot of hostility toward Christianity today.
“I always tell people, the hope of the world, it’s not in politics, it’s not in a new president, it’s not in a stimulus package. It’s not in anything.”
“The hope of the world is Jesus.”
It is clear that Swinney has given his players a way to win both on and off the field.
Thank you, Dabo Swinney, for being a stand-up Christian.