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Jaelene Hinkle Shows Us Obedience

Who nailed it for this week? In the aftermath of the U.S. W team’s World Cup victory and all the controversy that came with it, John Stonestreet of the Colson Center gives us a very interesting take on the theological ramifications of the culture war battle it represents. It’s a timely and troubling take, unless you can keep an eternal perspective.

I’m Joel Fieri, Executive Producer of Christian Podcast Central. And this is “The Best Thing You’ll Hear This Week”

Breakpoint is a mainstay here at Christian Podcast Central, mainly because we’re huge fans of John Stonestreet. If you don’t know John, he succeeded Chuck Colson as president of the Christian worldview organization that was started by Colson years ago, and Breakpoint is his daily commentary offering “… incisive content people can’t find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion.”

A couple weeks back John told the story of “The U. S. Women’s Soccer Team and Jaelene Hinkle – Ideology First, Winning Second”.

Jaelene Hinkle is a very good, national team-level defensive left back who was not selected for the team. This was due to Jaelene’s gentle refusal to participate in the U.S team’s frequent celebrations of LGBT culture. Of course this alienated her from some members of the team and their fans, and many think it led to her being cut from team tryouts even though she’s generally regarded as the top player at her position. Stonestreet then gives us the deeper worldview implications of this story and so many others like it in our society today. As he puts it “Hinkle’s saga is only the most recent evidence that American Christians need to develop a theology of getting fired, or if you happen to be in Hinkle’s profession, a theology of getting cut from the team. It’s simply more likely than not that we too will face a choice at some point between our career and our convictions. We aren’t the first Christians who have had to face this choice, and thank God the choice isn’t our life and our convictions, as it is for our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. Jaelene Hinkle chose well. Will we?”

This strikes such a chord with me, as it cuts to the deeper implications of being a Christian in today’s culture. Try as we might to be salt and light, or even to faithfully practice our faith in private obedience, the world will become increasingly intolerant of us. That’s a promise straight from Jesus himself, many times. Paul and other scripture writers promise and model for us the same promise. They hated Jesus, and they will hate us. And we have to choose; obedience to God’s Word or acceptance by the world. Tough choice if you want a quiet, peaceful life here on Earth. Not such a tough choice if you want to be rewarded in eternity as a good and faithful servant. In her own words, Jaelene Hinkle reflects this deeper perspective; “…Maybe this is why I was meant to play soccer, to show other believers to be obedient.” Now admittedly, the cost to her wasn’t very high. Getting cut from the U.S. team is not exactly persecution. She does get booed frequently when she plays for her regular team, which isn’t pleasant but couldn’t be called suffering. But something tells me Jaelene will stay strong and keep her eternal perspective even if things do get to the point of actual persecution and suffering. And John Stonestreet is right to ask the question; come that time, will we? Jaelene Hinkle’s brave example and the insightful words of John Stonestreet are not only a challenge to our eternal perspectives, they are also The Best Thing You’ll Hear This Week.