Was Kobe Bryant a Christian? – Elisha McFarland

The discussion of Kobe Bryant’s death has now reached epic proportions. Every single news channel, website, blog, or business is now discussing it or giving opinions. In discussions ranging from his daughter to the FBI’s investigations, Kobe is at the center of every dinner conversation. Ironically, even as the third-greatest basketball player of all time, it took him dying to reach this level of fame.

Interestingly, a large debate topic has been the idea of Kobe’s fate. I recently witnessed a large debate revolving around the idea of Kobe’s beliefs. Some said that, due to his sexual abuse allegations, he was not a Christian. Others disagreed, citing Kobe as a Christian.

At first, I entered the debate as a mediator, trying to ensure that no one side became too forceful. I reminded both sides that, although this was an interesting discussion, the fact that Kobe sinned hardly disqualifies him from Christianity. We are all sinners and all deserve Hell. However, I also reminded the other side that, in the same way, just although Kobe claimed Christianity, we’ll never truly know whether a person was saved or not, regardless of denomination. The only thing we can do is trust in God and hope that those who die suddenly were already believers.

Then, I realized something. Oftentimes, people will say that someone isn’t a Christian simply because of their profession or mannerisms, and yet they refuse to actually research the subject and find out what this person has to say. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened two days ago. The friends of mine taking the side of Kobe’s ignorance said this because of his actions, not his words. And although the saying, “actions speak louder than words” is true, we should never discount someone simply because of a first impression.

And so, having realized that there may be more to this situation then one may believe, I set out to answer my own question: was Kobe Bryant a Christian? The answer is far more surprising than I could have dreamed.

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