Faith in Public Spaces: Christians Should Check Their Motives

Faith in Public Spaces is a reflection series written by Jason Best, Founder of Paladin Sports Outreach. Drawing from experiences in professional sports, youth athletics, coaching, and ministry, these articles explore what it means to faithfully engage sports, culture, and public life through the lens of Christian discipleship.

Public witness or public performance?

In Part 1 of this series, I shared why I don’t believe sports are truly neutral.

Sports shape values. They influence identity. They help form our understanding of success, sacrifice, perseverance, and belonging.

The question isn’t whether discipleship is happening. The question is who, or what, is doing the discipling.

But if that’s true, another question naturally follows:

How should followers of Jesus faithfully occupy these public spaces?

Should we speak openly about our faith?
Should we wear Scripture on our shirts?
Should we pray publicly?
Should we share Bible verses on social media?

I think the answer to all of those questions is, potentially, yes.

But before we ask what we should do, perhaps we should ask something even more important: Why are we doing it?

Jesus said:

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

The call of Christ has never been one of secrecy.

Our faith should shape how we coach, compete, parent, work, and serve others. Following Jesus was never intended to be a private matter.

But only one chapter later, Jesus gives another instruction:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them…” Matthew 6:1

At first glance, those teachings seem contradictory.

Let your light shine BUT don’t practice your righteousness to be seen.

So which is it?

I think the answer comes down to one thing: Motivation.

Jesus isn’t condemning public faith. He’s condemning performative faith.

One seeks to glorify God. The other seeks to glorify ourselves.

One says: “Look at Him.” The other subtly says: “Look at me.”

The issue isn’t visibility, the issue is intention.

Why do I wear what I wear?
Why do I post what I post?
Why do I share what I share?
Why do I feel compelled to publicly identify with my beliefs?

Those aren’t easy questions because our motives are often mixed.

Sometimes we genuinely want people to know Jesus.
Sometimes we want to encourage other believers.
Sometimes we want to stand courageously for truth.

But if we’re honest, there are other motivations that can quietly creep in as well.

We want approval.
We want affirmation.
We want people to know we’re on the “right side.”
We want people to think well of us.

The human heart has always been capable of turning even good things into opportunities for self-promotion.

Which is why the Apostle Paul gives us such a challenging standard:

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

That’s a difficult verse to hide behind because it forces us to ask: Who receives the glory from this? Me? Or God?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with publicly identifying as a follower of Jesus. In fact, followers of Christ should never be ashamed of the Gospel.

But perhaps we should regularly ask ourselves this simple question:

Am I trying to point people toward Jesus? Or am I trying to signal something about myself?

This question isn’t meant to produce guilt, it’s meant to produce honesty.

Because faithful presence in public spaces begins with examining our own hearts.

Christianity has always been public but Christianity was never intended to be performative.

In the next part of this series, I want to explore a related question that has challenged me personally:

Is there a difference between displaying Jesus and bringing Jesus?

I think there is.