It used to be fairly easy to openly profess Christ in America. That’s increasingly not the case today as a professional female golfer and a sports writer just learned. Their story should inspire us all to stand up for Christ.
Steve Eubanks was a sports writer at Global Golf Post. Writing for the publication, he interviewed professional golfer Amy Olson, who was competing while eight months pregnant in the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament in Pebble Beach, California.
Olson told Eubanks that her fellow golfers and others had been very supportive of her competing while pregnant. She mentioned that just a year before, some women golfers were outraged when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Then she noted the irony that “people are celebrating that I’m going to be playing a major championship with an unborn child they recognize as a life.”
Golfer Olson also told Eubanks about her faith in Christ, saying, “I believe in comprehensive Christianity. It dictates how you treat people, how you think about the world, and the decisions that you make.”
When the sports writer Eubanks sent the draft of the article to his editors they “went ballistic.” He was told,“The staff is going nuts. They’re saying we can’t run this.” Eubanks pushed back, pointing out that Amy Olson was merely sharing her opinions as athletes regularly do.
The editor did not budge. He told the sports writer, “The only way we will run this piece is if we take out the abortion and Christian stuff.”
That was the final straw for Eubanks. He said it became clear that the publication he worked for “was anti-Christian.”
Eubanks admits he has paid a price for resisting the censorship of his article, “It was a personal and financial hit.” But, in the end, he added, “We all have to answer to God.”
May the example of sports writer Steve Eubanks and professional golfer Amy Olson inspire us all to stand firm against the growing movement in America of intolerance toward followers of Jesus Christ.