One common refrain I hear from people is that they’re tired of hearing athletes praise God when they win. I honestly don’t know why. How many times have you prayed for your team to win?  More often than you admit, right?  

When you pray, you find the outcome doesn’t always turn out the way you thought it would. There are reasons for that, but this isn’t one of them:

Spoiler alert: whatever God you worship doesn't care about sports.

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) January 10, 2016

Put aside the condensation and snark in this Tweet for a second. It’s just plain wrong. First off, to suggest knowing God’s thought process is blasphemy. More importantly, it ignores all teachings and dogma. 

To put my perspective in context, I was born and raised Catholic. I was an alterboy. I went to Catholic school from 4-12. I’m not a perfect Catholic, but I try.

With respect to God and sports, there are two things I know to be true: (1) God loves all of his creatures; and (2) God has bestowed upon man free will. Both are reasons why the notion God doesn’t care about sports is wrong. First, as sports are composed of His creation, He cares. I’m not going to suggest He prefers one sport over another or one person over another. Rather, I’m only suggestion that as God loves each of His creatures, He cares about sports. 

Second, as an extension of free will, God is not interceding into the games.  He is not interceding if there are more Mets fans praying than Royals fans. He’s not interceding if the batter is a nice guy and the pitcher is a jerk. God is not going to force the batter to lay off that 1-2 pitch in the dirt. He’s not doing that no matter what you saw in Angels in the Outfield. To do so would to counteract one’s freewill. Therefore, when the Mets lose to the Royals, it’s not because God prefers the Royals. When something amazing happens on the field, it’s because a player made an incredible play. 

When things don’t go your way, it’s not because God doesn’t care. He cares. He cares so much He will allow the players on the field to determine the outcome of the game without His intervention.