What Aaron Rodgers Gets Wrong About God
“I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell. Like, what type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn most of his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?”
These are the words of Aaron Rodgers during an interview for his girlfriend, former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick’s podcast. The words seem angry, bitter, and jaded, especially to those who put their faith in their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and hold to an orthodox and biblical understanding of the Scriptures. Yet even more shocking, is that until recently, Rodgers was viewed as a Christian by others (ChurchLeaders even named him one of the 17 NFL Players Who LOVE Jesus (and Football)).
Some claim he turned his back on his faith; however, as the Word of God says,“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). Rodgers didn’t leave Christianity; it appears he was never a true Christian to begin with.
So, why is Rodgers so resentful of God? I’d argue that his bitterness stems from never having experienced the true God of the Bible. With a heart hardened toward God, it’s easy to misunderstand who God is and who we as humans truly are.
It appears as though Rodgers views humans as victims and God as a monster, ready to throw most of His creation into hell. Without the Holy Spirit to guide him, Rodgers is left to make assumptions with a reprobate and finite mind; a conclusion many atheists and self-identifying liberal Christians come to with a limited understanding of what the Scriptures say.
The Bible is clear—just look at the first three chapters of Romans. Humans are not victims at all; in fact, we are all guilty of high treason against our Holy God. We are rebels, guilty of our sin and sitting, deservedly so, on death row. If we called for justice or for God to treat us fairly, we all would be sent to hell.
Our merciful and patient God, instead of rightly condemning us all, sent His Son to die for His own children so that His sheep would be saved. The wrath of God fell on the innocent Lamb, our Savior, Jesus. The wrath of the Father fell on His Son, in whom the Father loved and was well pleased. This was the ultimate act of love. And this is what Aaron Rodgers has completely missed.
After winning Super Bowl XLV, Rodgers realized how empty he was inside, so he began a spiritual journey. Unfortunately, he ran into some dangerous wolves. Rodgers started mingling with false teachers who had a seriously negative impact on him. His concerning behavior was covered in an article by Athletes in Action, which said, “Then he met Rob Bell—'best known for his progressive views on Christianity’—after a 2008 chapel service and…he ‘grew increasingly convinced that the beliefs he had internalized growing up were wrong, that spirituality could be far more inclusive and less literal than he had been taught.’ ”
This new age/universalist teaching (including the belief that hell doesn’t exist) is infiltrating many modern churches and is harmful, as we have seen it corrupt the theology of someone like Rodgers. His recent comments are, at the very least, helpful so that we, as followers of Christ, know how to reach him. We need to realize Rodgers never knew the Lord, but if he still has breath in his lungs and Christ hasn’t come back, it is not too late for him to hear and accept the gospel message. We, as the true church and ambassadors of Christ, need to pray for him and his equally theologically mislead girlfriend, so that they may have their hard hearts softened and be introduced to Jesus for the very first time.