Tennis champion Novak Djokovic is considered to be the greatest hardcourt player ever. He has won the Australian Open ten times, Wimbledon seven times, the US Open four times, and the French Open on three occasions. He also took the coveted gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. His success in tennis is unequaled.
Unshakable faith
Tennis is an emotional game that has seen its fair share of on-court tantrums, but Djokovic stands out with his unwavering emotional calm, his kind nature and his Bible-based morality.
Shocked by the brutal assassination of Christian apologist and friend Charlie Kirk by a far-left extremist, Norvac decided to reserve a permanent empty seat at every US Open tennis tournament in honour of the well-loved evangelist. On the seat is a golden plaque engraved with the immortal words:
“Forever in the Heart of Tennis – Charlie Kirk.”
To Novac this is not just a token memorium, it is something sacred, a reminder that true dedication and unshakable faith are eternal.
Olympic controversy
Be it the Australian Open, Wimbledon or any other major tennis tournament, Djokovic has always performed with integrity. He has consistently highlighted the fact that the source of his unyielding determination is his Christian faith, a faith that has given him the strength to overcome the hardest challenges on and off the court.
The organisers of the opening ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games demonstrated to the world their contempt for western Christian culture by launching an opening ceremony ignominiously ridiculing the Last Supper which Jesus shared with his disciples. But despite the organisers appearing to be hell-bent on promoting cultic ideology above the real ‘spirit’ of the games, Djokovic, along with 30 other Christian athletes, chose to openly show their Christian faith.
Lights in the darkness
The promotion of a cultic ideology at the Olympic Games is not new of course. The best known being the infamous attempt by the Nazis at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Adolf Hitler planned to show the superiority of his mythical ‘Aryan race’ above all others, but Christian black American sprinter and long-jumper Jessie Owens scuppered the dictator’s plans by winning four gold medals, much to the consternation of the Nazi hosts. Paris 2024 was just a more recent attempt by cultic devotees to demean the Christian values that underpin most of the nations taking part. The organisers of the opening ceremony aimed to degrade the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion in their live action lampoon of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting ‘The Last Supper’. They replaced the disciples with drag-queens, mythological Greek gods and other figures in a deliberate sexualising of a sacred event (Holy Communion) which is celebrated by the world’s 2.4 billion Christians. But their scheme totally backfired and was almost universally condemned. Rather than a victory for ‘progressive’ ideology, the act drew a line in the sand for western Christian values. Following the opening ceremony, TV channels and news outlets began to focus more on the testimonies of the Christian athletes than on the progressive propaganda. Djokovic and his fellow Christian competitors stood out like lights in the darkness, just like their fellow Christian athlete Jessie Owens did 88 years earlier.
The gospel of John in the Bible describes Jesus as “the light [shining] in the darkness.” Jesus instructed his followers to “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). This verse certainly sums up the lasting impact of Christian witness at the Paris games.
Interestingly, the greatest legacy of the 1924 Paris Olympic games 100 years earlier bears another similarity. Out of the 126 gold medals on offer, the one that has become historically the most pertinent was the 400 metres track gold medal unexpectedly won by Christian athlete Eric Liddell who had only trained for the 100 metres event. His win was hailed as something of a miracle and was celebrated in the film Chariots of Fire.
Sign of the Cross
Many have noticed that after each win, Djokovic has made the sign of the cross over his heart. This practice can be traced to the dawn of Christianity itself. By the fourth century AD, it had already become a customary act for many Christians. Djokovic makes the sign ‘orthodox style’ by holding his hand with the index, middle finger and thumb together. These three fingers represent the Holy Trinity—Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The remaining two fingers symbolise the two natures of Jesus Christ—human and divine.
The Golden Slam
Alongside his gold medal, Djokovic had something extra to celebrate in Paris. He is one of the few tennis players to achieve a ‘Golden Slam’, which is to win four major annual tournaments along with an Olympic gold medal. But most importantly for the tennis star and his fellow believers, he was awarded enormous public respect for his unwavering proclamation of his Christian faith in the face of a deliberate and shameful anti-Christian aggression.
A quote from Dr Martin Luther King Jr encapsulates what can be learned from the Paris Games. Dr King said,
“We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.”
Story by Ralph Burden
Photo: Novak Djokovic in Belgrade with the Australian Open trophy. Permission granted under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation
Related Posts
« Russell Brand – ‘a brand plucked from the burning’ A Beautiful Dream! »
