Kaepernick and Nike: What’s wrong with this picture?

Nike used Labor Day to roll out a 30th-anniversary “Just Do It” ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. “Believe in something,” reads the Nike tagline. “Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

Nike needs to rethink its tagline. The truth is, since the first day, the NFL take-a-knee demonstration has lacked a simple but critical piece to any revolutionary, culture-bending, time-tested protest.

Personal sacrifice.

Effective protestors accept that sacrifice and perhaps great personal loss are real possibilities before they sign on. They march knowing they will be met with water cannons. They sit-in, knowing they might be jailed. They go to war knowing they might not come home.

But Colin Kaepernick took a knee, spontaneously, and without thought to the outcome. And when it seemed he may have sacrificed his career, he was surprised and appalled! He huffed and sued. He is being lauded for “sacrificing everything” when he never intended to. Whining about an accidental sacrifice only proves you were never all-in to begin with.

Instead, this protest needs real, predetermined, strategic sacrifice. Imagine the long-term impact the NFL players could actually have on racial injustice if they were more serious about the problem than arguing about the protest. Imagine if, rather than dressing out for games and then taking a knee, they refused to come out in uniform, refused to play, but still stood for the anthem of the nation that gives them the right to do so.

Then let them face sanctions. Let them pay penalties. Let them refuse their paychecks until the results are produced. Even better, donate their paychecks to the cause they declare is driving their protests. Might some get fired? Sure. Contracts dissolved? Endorsements cancelled? Yep.

But we would never forget their sacrifice.

Sacrifice like that is the difference between a school-yard scuffle and a revolution. It is one thing to antagonize people just because you can. It is another thing to change the world.

But to understand true sacrifice, you have to have the right role model.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Jackie Robinson. William Wilberforce. And so many more. How did they impact history? Real sacrifice. The kind we point to and say, “Yeah, I want to be like that.”

They imitated the One who made the greatest sacrifice in history and who effected the greatest impact in history. Christ came for this cause, and true sacrifice imitates the One who sacrificed Himself to effect real, eternal change. The One who lived and died for the single purpose of sacrifice, whose protest on the cross won the victory against sin for all who would follow Him (Col. 2:13-15).

Sacrifice defines the disciple’s life. Following Christ means accepting a life of sacrifice, so we should never be surprised when it happens. “Count the cost,” Jesus advised (Luke 14:28).

We might face ridicule. We might lose our jobs. We might go to jail. We might even die. Not for personal gain or to make a point. But simply because we follow Christ. And because we want to change the world.

Jesus trained twelve to follow his example, and the world has never been the same. So far hundreds of NFL players and other athletes have knelt at the national anthem. And all we’ve done is argue. Otherwise, nothing has changed. Why?

Because they’ve got the wrong role model.

If we want to effect real change, Christ is our role model.

Otherwise, it’s really all about us.