This weekend NFL superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers takes the field with his Green Bay Packers to battle the San Francisco 49er’s for the 2020 NFC title. Rodgers is one of the most electrifying players in the game. He has been named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player twice, and his team won Super Bowl XLV in 2010.
After all of those achievements, in an interview with ESPN, realizing he was still looking for something more, Rodgers says: “It’s natural to question some of the things that society defines as success, when you achieve that and there’s not this rung — you know, another rung to climb up in this ladder — it’s natural to be like, ‘OK, now what?'”
Rodgers goes on to explain that he grew up in a devout Christian home. His family attended a non-denominational church, and he was taught all the Bible lessons as a kid. It wasn’t until later in life that he started to really question things he was religiously taught a lot more. He recalls specifically a concern that stuck with him: “I remember asking a question as a young person about somebody in a remote rainforest,” he tells me. “Because the words that I got were: ‘If you don’t confess your sins, then you’re going to hell.’ And I said, ‘What about the people who don’t have a Bible readily accessible?'” This particularly bothered Rodgers, because of his teammates and friends that would be going to hell if he were to believe that statement.
Ex-Mars Hill Pastor Rob Bell was invited by the Packers to speak to the team in 2008 and Rodgers began a strong friendship with him. Bell sent him books on religion to read, and Aaron even gave him feedback on his (Bell) writings. It was after reading those books and conversations he had with Rob Bell that Rodgers came to the conclusion that the beliefs he had been taught to have as a child were wrong. It was then he realized that spirituality was more inclusive and a lot less literal like he struggled with (‘If you don’t confess your sins, then you’re going to hell.’)
Rodgers credits Bell’s research for his now belief of there not being a literal hell that the Bible speaks of: “It wasn’t a fiery pit idea — that [concept] was handed down in the 1700s by the Puritans and influenced Western culture.” In the interview, he goes on to say that Genesis is a beautiful piece of work but was never meant to be interpreted as some churches do.
Aaron now believes that organized religion can have “a mind-debilitating effect, because there is an exclusivity that can shut you out from being open to the world, to people, and energy, and love and acceptance.” He didn’t used to think that way, he used to be more ‘black-and-white’, or as others may call ‘absolute’.