Noted Sports Journalist Chris Broussard Speaks at King’s

​​The Center for the Study of Christianity and the Black Experience and the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College co-hosted noted sports analyst and commentator Chris Broussard on Saturday, October 1 as he spoke on “Faith, Justice, and the Challenges of Adulthood” in the City Room on campus. Mr. Broussard is an internationally known sports journalist now working at FOX Sports 1. He is also the Founder and President of a national Christian men’s organization called The K.I.N.G. Movement.

Dr. Jacqueline Rivers, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Christianity and the Black Experience, introduced Mr. Broussard, sharing how she had met him several years ago at an event named Courageous Conversations. “As impressive as his sports journalism career has been,” Dr. Rivers said, “What’s even more impressive is his commitment to Christ.” After a short video that introduced Mr. Broussard’s journalism career in journalism and shared how he became a Christian, Dr. Rivers welcomed Mr. Broussard to the microphone.

Mr. Broussard began his talk by recounting his first meeting with Dr. Rivers. When he heard Dr. Rivers speak on a panel at the Courageous Conversations event, he could immediately tell that she was a fellow family member in the body of Christ. He shared how the body of Christ is like a family, which means that we should view and treat each other as family, regardless of race, ethnicity, and nationality. “Can you imagine if the body of Christ viewed each other as family?” Mr. Broussard asked the audience. He continued, saying:

Can you imagine what this country might look like? When you’re family you feel your family’s pain and celebrate your family’s victories. You do what you can to help your family members have success. This may sound like a pipe dream but I really believe that this is what Jesus and the apostles wanted for the kingdom of God.

After giving his take on who’s the greatest player in the history of the National Basketball League (Mr. Broussard believes that it is Michael Jordan), he encouraged the young people in the audience to remember that the way to succeed in America is through education. He explained that in the same way that NBA players had to constantly work on the fundamentals growing up if they wanted to play in the NBA, young people needed to do the same if they wanted to be a lawyer or engineer; they would have to study and read and pay attention in school. He also cited his career as a journalist as a blueprint for finding meaningful work; you need to figure out what you both enjoy and are good at and then work hard at that to create a viable career.

Mr. Broussard then shared that despite meeting great basketball legends like Michael Jordan, Lebron James, and Magic Johnson through his work, “Meeting all of them combined has not given me a fraction of the joy, peace, and the value to my life that meeting Jesus Christ did.” He encouraged the younger members of the audience to give their lives to Christ and to avoid the inevitable pitfalls and baggage that come if you wait until you are older.

Mr. Broussard then explained how he had been able to be outspoken about issues about his Christian faith yet retain his job. He warned students that they will probably work in corporate America in a society that is growing more and more antagonistic towards the gospel and Christian principles in general. To help navigate this world, Mr. Broussard gave two principles to remember. First, you have to live your faith. If you are going to be known as a Christian in your workplace you have to live it out. You can’t be hypocritical about your faith. When you live out your faith, other people may not agree with you, but they’ll have to believe that you’re committed to what you believe. Secondly, you need to work hard. Mr. Broussard said that Christians should be among the hardest workers in the workplace, citing Paul’s command in Colossians 3:17 that whatever you do, it should be done in the name of Jesus Christ. Mr. Broussard made the comparison between working for Jesus Christ to how you would treat working for a star basketball player:

If Michael Jordan wanted you to represent him, you would put your best foot forward. That’s how we should be for Jesus. We might not be the most gifted person in the field, but if we work hard, we will be productive. And if you work hard, you will be irreplaceable. They won’t be able to get rid of you.

Mr. Broussard spent the last section of his talk looking at the state of America. He believes that if you’re a Christian, you have to be concerned about our country. And he added that if you were a person of color, you’ve always been concerned about the direction of the country. Mr. Broussard shared that when he looks at the state of America it’s easy for him to feel hopeless, but he has hope because of the gospel.

The gospel, though, must be lived out by the body of Christ. The body of Christ has to live out the gospel, walk in love, and walk as a family. Mr. Broussard feels like the church has not been doing its job, which has allowed our society to struggle. While Mr. Broussard acknowledged the Judeo-Christian principles in the founding of America and the historical respect for God’s word and general church attendance, he found the fruit of the behavior of the American church lacking, especially towards people of color.

Mr. Broussard went on to share that the American church must change from its past if it wants to influence the future. This is because the American church partnered with America to create a society based on racism and white supremacism. This partnership caused the American church to let all of its theology be overridden by racism and white supremacy. Mr. Broussard believes that because of this, while many Christians may mean well when they promote that America used to be a Christian nation and that we need to go back to how things used to be, it has a negative impact on our secular American society. By associating America’s past with Christianity, we are doing the gospel a disadvantage. Many Americans are trying to get rid of Christianity because they associate it with the racism and white supremacy of the past.

To solve this problem, the body of Christ needs to live out true, biblical Christianity. Mr. Broussard said that while America has seen individuals live out their faith, they haven’t seen the whole body of Christ live lives renewed by the gospel. Mr. Broussard encouraged the audience to realize that “Christians should not have a left-wing agenda or a right-wing agenda, but rather a kingdom agenda.”

Mr. Broussard then shared a few practical things that could lead to creating unity in the body of Christ. First, he encouraged his white American Christian brothers and sisters to listen to Black people and people of color when they talk about their culture and situation. Family members listen to each other and enter into each other’s pain. Second, he challenged Christian colleges to do a better job recruiting students of color, particularly Black students. This would help to increase diversity in our most overtly Christian schools, colleges, and universities that often are even on the radar of most Black high school students. These efforts need to extend to the faculty and the curriculum as well, to show the global nature of the historic Christian faith.

Mr. Broussard emphasized these two things not to tear down white people, but rather to help the church look more like what it’s supposed to like; like what the Bible says that it should be like. Mr. Broussard closed his talk by reading Revelation 7:9, which says, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Mr. Broussard said that this is what the Church is supposed to look like, ending by saying:

If the American church became the loudest voice for racial and social justice, if Christians of all races became more biblical and Christian than Democrat or Republican or American, and we really reflected on the kingdom agenda, I believe that, as the Scripture says, we will spark a spiritual awakening in this country, and just like the apostles we will turn the world upside down.

After his talk, Mr. Broussard and Dr. Rivers answered questions from the audience about racial justice and how to work towards a more equal society. When the Q and A time concluded, Mr. Broussard stayed around to speak with members of the audience individually. One audience member, Abel Tamiru (Business ’25), said, “It’s an honor to have him here. It’s great to hear from a different perspective, especially since he’s such a decorated sports journalist. Personally, as an African American student at this school, it’s really good to have such a high profile African American figure come and talk to us.”