Olympic faith on display

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/fiji-rugby-players-sing-after-winning-gold

The Olympics in Rio were held under the shadow of the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer standing on the mountain above the city.

Down on the turf, a lot of faith was expressed, much to the chagrin of news commentators, who tried hard to avoid the subject. Whether it was the women's gymnastics team, or Abby D' Agostino, who instinctively helped Nikki Hamblin, a fellow runner from New Zealand after a collision in the 5,000 meter run, or the American women hurdlers who swept the gold, silver and bronze medals, or silver medalists Steele Johnson and David Boudia, all competed to the glory of God, whether in victory or disappointment.

Jesus has been looming over the Rio games. And we don’t just mean the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue towering over the city. His presence has been felt in expressions of Christian faith by many of the athletes competing in the Olympics, though you’d be hard-pressed to find it breaking through the mainstream media coverage of the games….

But we close with an inspirational moment that NBC didn’t quite get. Go to NBCOlympics.com and you’ll find a video titled “Fiji rugby players sing after winning gold.” The full caption accompanying the video reads, “The Figi men’s rugby team sang in celebration after winning the gold medal.” Oh, NBC, it was much more. They sang alright. They sang like David sang.

This was the first Olympic gold medal Fiji has won in that nation’s entire history, and the Fiji rugby 7 were singing about the King. It’s a gospel hymn called “E Da SA Qaqa.” Translation: “We Are Winners Because Of This World.” [Because of His Word??]

The lyrics:

“We have overcome,
We have overcome.
By the blood of the lamb in the Word of the Lord
We have overcome.”