Penalty or no, athletes talk faith. 16-year-old skateboarder Reisa Lille from Brazil is one example of this. Teenage Brazilian athlete praises Jesus through sign language at Olympics. She was allegedly warned not to publicly proclaim her Christian faith, but just before one of her heats while the camera was pointed right at her, in sign language she said, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. A reference to the Bible verse, John 14, 6. There’s power to destroy darkness when teaching about the truth of Jesus Christ, which is why since Jesus Christ first came to this earth, followers of his have been warned to not speak about the truth of Jesus.

But ever since he first came, people who follow him have refused to stay silent about Jesus’s saving grace. Did we not strictly command you not to teach this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man’s blood on us. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. Another instance of the Olympics trying to silence the truth about Jesus Christ is with pro surfer, Zhao Qianca. Olympic officials force gold medalists hopeful to remove faith symbols. Zhao Qianca, one of the gold medal favorites, has been told to remove his Christ the Redeemer graphic from his quiver of surfboards.

I just received the news that painting is not authorized at the Olympic Games because Christ is a religious figure and the games have strict rules and focus on total neutrality. But we saw that these pro surfers won’t be silent about Jesus Christ either. Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina, teammate of Zhao Qianca, who was forced to take Jesus off his surfboard because Christ is a religious figure or be barred from competing, dedicates his Olympic moment to God. Here’s Gabriel Medina praising God in one of the picture of him pointing up to God, I can do everything through him who strengthens me, Philippians 4 13.

Galatians 1 10 tells us that following and speaking about Jesus won’t always be what people want to hear, but we’re supposed to do it anyways. For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. The opening ceremony was not only disrespectful to Christians by the mocking of the Last Supper, but some of the symbology used really looked to be in reference to end times biblical prophecies about the Antichrist and the end of the world.

But no matter what kind of evil or darkness is ever put forth in the world, the truth and light of Jesus Christ will always shine brighter. The gold medalist has used his platform to point people toward the Lord. In fact, he said his Christian faith is the first thing I want people to see and know about me. I keep God as a priority US gold medal swimmer, no other choice but to follow Jesus. South Africa’s gold medalist in swimming at the Paris Olympics, Pajana Smith, a devout Christian, shows off her shirt displaying the names of those who helped her achieve this accomplishment.

The list starts with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This all brings to mind the Apostle Paul, who’s in prison writing uplifting books, praising God that would ultimately become parts of the New Testament of our Bibles. He spoke of how Christ was being preached by some to hurt him and some because they believed it. But either way, no matter what, Christ was being preached. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives are true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out from my deliverance. American wrestler Kennedy Blades is another Olympic athlete who wouldn’t stay silent about the Son of God, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Olympic wrestler has one message, give your heart to Jesus. You’re going to the Olympics. How much growth have you seen in yourself in these past three years? I’m going to be honest, like I’ve just gone super close to Jesus. And I just want to tell you guys that he’s king and he’s coming soon. So I really believe if you guys put your heart into Jesus Christ, you guys will like experience nothing but happiness and grace and he’ll help you through trials and tribulations. And he just it’s him. That’s the main reason why I was able to accomplish such a big thing.

American runner, gold medal winner and world record setter McLaughlin has been one of the most outspoken athletes proclaiming the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. And she also was apparently warned not to proclaim her faith. There is a lot of talk that I received just about, you know, you may not want to talk so much about that. You might lose endorsements, you might lose deals, this, that and the third. But I mean, I don’t live for the approval of people. So I don’t have to worry about any of those things. And even if an endorsement or something wants to leave, I know that God will provide for me in the way he sees fit.

So I’m not going to compromise the truth just to make people feel more comfortable. But as you can see, she also wasn’t about to stay silent about the savior of the world, Jesus Christ. I credit all that I do to God. He’s given me a gift. He’s given me a drive to just want to continue to improve upon myself. And I have a platform and I want to use it to glorify him. And so whatever I step on the track, it’s always the prayer of God let me be the vessel in which you’re glorified, whatever the result is, how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform.

And so that’s just freedom and knowing that regardless of what happens, he’s going to get the praise through me. And yeah, that’s why I do what I do. And she continued to share her faith online after beating her own world record for the sixth time, proclaiming that her faith is more important than all the gold medals, world records, or anything else in her life. If it’s to become more like Jesus, there is so much joy in that. There is so much joy in that because nothing else matters. The things of this world, social media, drama, it doesn’t matter anymore because I’m trying to emulate a life worthy of glorifying God.

That is the whole point of my life. Why I run, why I speak, why I act, scripture says no longer I, but Christ in me, the littlest sin is still a sin in God’s book. All sin is weighed the same, whether you lie or you murder somebody, it is exactly the same in God’s book. So for me to finally like understand and comprehend, like this is a gift to be known by him, to be chosen by him, like it just makes life worth so much more. While the darkness increases, our light and love for Jesus must increase all the more.

Since the light is way more powerful than the darkness and based on the truth, it will shine so much brighter, drawing people to Jesus. Jesus told us that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. People long to know the truth about Jesus Christ, whether they know it or not. And there’s a plentiful number of people who will come to him when they hear this truth if they hear it. We all need to go out there and share the truth about Jesus Christ until he comes back, just like these athletes have decided to do.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I’ve commanded you. And lo, I’m with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. Understanding like Jesus has already won. Like nothing can, it doesn’t matter. It does not matter because he already won. He came and he conquered this earth.

He died. He rose again. And one day he is coming back to claim his children. Simple as that. [tr:trw].