God among the Stadium gods
The worldwide success of Neo-Protestant tendencies is indivisible from the efforts of missionaries, as were the conversion to Catholicism on the Latin-American and African continents in colonial times..
In France, a pocket version of the bible is still available in shopping malls for the modest amount of 1,5 euros; a promotion of the Geneva Bible Society, a missionary association based in Switzerland. Every day, in every corner of the world, millions of bibles are supplied free to schools, hospitals, hostels and, last but not least, sport stadiums.
Evangelical missionaries are not only numerous and highly funded, they also have the instinct to find the best places to proceed successfully. For instance, sport stadiums have become a favourite playground of Evangelical missionaries'. Soccer and religion, if they do not share the same gods - except the Maradonian Church, created in Argentina, which gathered about 80 000 supporters - have many devotees in common. Stadium gods have always had great influence on their fans. Hence it is not surprising to find a "Born Again" Christian, Alex de Ribeiro, as the spiritual leader of the Brazilian national team. He cleverly turned soccer players into symbols of conversion to Evangelicalism. When the Brazilian team won the FIFA Confederations Cup, seven players of the Seleção showed up in public dressed with "Jesus loves you" printed T-shirts, revealing their devotion to Jesus Christ in front of millions of fans. Even the best advertising agency could not have done a better job to promote Evangelical faith. Alex de Ribeiro also created an organization dedicated to the conversion of professional soccer players. In 2006, more than 7000 had already been converted. Without exaggerating how soccer influences Brazilian society, we must admit that Evangelicals kicked a goal against the Catholic Church in dealing with the sacred sport. Neo-Protestantism is dealing a hard blow to Catholicism: In 2000, a census reported a decrease of 10% of devotees among Brazilian Catholics. All the Neo-Protestant denominations together represent about 15% of the population, that is, 26 millions people.
The British organisation "Ambassadors in Sport" (AIS), with branches in 12 countries, aims at spreading Jesus Christ´s truth worldwide through soccer. To achieve this mission, AIS invites churches to offer their members a training camp. AIS has also its own team competing in the Spanish mini soccer league: the team takes part in the championship and recruits among opposing teams, an ingenious conversion tool!
Soccer is doubtlessly the most popular sport in the world and hence one of the best advertisement channel ever. But evangelical missionaries seek to get into all sport disciplines. The organisation "Christians in Sports", also founded in the UK, plays in all sport fields. On the organisation website, there is an accurate comment that in the UK, 45% of adults and 87% of young people regularly participate in sport activities, although only 8% go to church. In short, "Christian in Sport" invites all Jesus Christ aficionados involved in a sports club to promote Jesus Christ in their club and eventually to create their own church on the ground of this small community. As indicated on the website: If the job of the Church is to "go and make disciples of all nations", sport is a pretty strategic place to start! Evangelicalism and sports: a modern version for "a healthy mind in a healthy body"!
Article translated from French into English. For a full version with references, please consult the original article (LINK to FRENCH article)