"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust."
Psalm 18 v 2
It has recently been reported in the national press that the Olympic gold medallist, Jonathan
Edwards, whose devout Christian beliefs prevented him competing on the Lord’s Day early in his
career, has decided to stop presenting the BBC’s Songs of Praise because of a crisis in his spiritual life.
The decision to end his involvement in religious programming follows notification to BBC’s head
of religious affairs that the loss of his previously strong Christian faith meant he could no longer feel
comfortable heading the programme.
Jonathan became well known as a young man who followed in the steps of Eric Liddell, when he
withdrew from the 1991 world championship because of the Sunday triple jump schedule.
Around that time I was invited to be interviewed on a television programme based in Birmingham.
Jonathan also was present. It was a debate before a studio audience on the importance of Sunday. The
following morning, Jonathan and I had an early breakfast together and talked about the
importance of the Lord’s Day. He told me that his relationship with Jesus was fundamental in everything
he did. He made a commitment to serve God in every area of his life and that included the Lord’s
Day which was so important to him.
So what went wrong? It was two years later that I received a letter from Christians in Sport informing me that
Jonathan’s situation had changed. In 1993, he competed on a Sunday in the qualifying round of an
event which would give him a bronze medal. We were informed that God had told him through a
dream to make full use of his ability, even if it meant competing on a Sunday.
It was with sadness that, last summer, Jonathan is understood to have reconsidered his Christian
beliefs. This family man would tell his friends that he was most unhappy when his work kept him
away from his wife and two sons on Tyneside. Now he spends much of his time in London, where he has a
flat. He is now committed as the athletes’ representative on the London 2012 organising committee and
an advisor to Vero, a sports communications company.
Jonathan needs our prayers, that he may rediscover the relationship with God that he experienced sixteen years
ago when he was an excellent ambassador for the Lord and his Day.
John Roberts