Meet Ron Brown
Ron Brown is the host of the Sharing the Victory Radio Program. He is an assistant football coach at the University of Nebraska.
Born in New York City and raised in Massachusetts, Ron Brown was a standout defensive back at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in the late 1970’s and is a member of the college’s Sports Hall of Fame and its All-Century Team. Ron began his college-coaching career at Brown University where he was an assistant coach of 4 seasons. He then joined the University of Nebraska football coaching staff where he remained for 11 years under the legendary Coach Tom Osborne and six under Frank Solich. After Frank Solich was fired following the 2003 season, Ron left football to pursue other endeavors. He returned to the Nebraska coaching staff in December of 2007.
Ron has previously hosted several radio programs, a statewide cable TV show and served as an analyst for ESPN 360 college football games. Brown has also authored several books on Christian character, and is the writer for the "Finish Strong" commentaries for Sharing the Victory magazine.
Ron and former Nebraska player Stan Parker are cofounders of the nonprofit organization, Mission Nebraska. Among the many endeavors Mission Nebraska has been involved in includes owning and operating Christian radio stations in Nebraska.
From March 2004 to December 2007, Ron was the Nebraska State Director for FCA. Brown is an outspoken advocate on many issues including adoption, abstinence, and drug and alcohol education. He and his wife Molvina live in Lincoln, Nebraska with their two daughters, Sojourner and Bronwyn.
Q&A With Ron
Recently, Ron sat down with Tom Rogeberg, FCA Senior Vice President, Communications and Marketing, to describe how he was led to do this program.
Tom: You were adopted as a young child. When we accept Christ’s sacrificial death upon the cross for our sins, we are adopted into the family of God. How did your own adoption experience help you understand your spiritual adoption?
Ron: I was a kid without a home, without parents, with a bunch of other children who were unclaimed in an inner city orphanage. When a married couple came to look for children to bring into their home I got chosen. I did not deserve it, I did not earn it, and there wasn’t any obligation from the couple. It was a choice of love. They brought me into their new home, gave me a new name, gave me new love and a brand new neighborhood of relatives and cousins and people who became my family. There is nothing that I can brag about. There was no achievement. I was chosen. The only wise thing I could do was to receive that love, not try to figure it out, just receive it. I did receive that love and it has forever changed my life, humanly speaking. It is amazing that an unwanted inner city child could be so wanted and loved by someone who is foreign to him. From that day until this day, I have lived from that experience. But something greater even happed that parallels that adoption process. I recognized in Ephesians 1:5 that I was adopted by Jesus to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, and that He made me accepted into His family. From 1979 until today, I have never been able to get over that. It has forever changed my life. I live from the victory of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial love for an undeserving orphaned sinner like me.
Tom: When did you first understand that you could merge your passion for Christ and your love for sports into a lifestyle and career?
Ron: After college, I went through a few years of being signed by several NFL teams, never sticking with one for very long. I had two Ivy League degrees and a number of friends tried to talk me into the business world. As I went to the Lord with each decision, it was clear that He made me for sports. Eventually God led me into coaching and it became essential that I needed to merge my passion for Christ with my love for sports as a career. The problem was I was in the wrong paradigm. My initial prayers to God as I first made the merge could be summed up like this, “God, would you promote me in football?” But about half way through my coaching career at Nebraska, I recognized that I was praying out of the wrong paradigm. God challenged me to pray instead like this: “Lord, would You use football in my life to promote You?” The focus then shifted from me to God, and it was like I had a brand new career. I then proceeded to “risk” everything, even my coaching career to be Christ-centered. It was my greatest discovery as a Christian. I began to feel God’s pleasure through my coaching ministry like never before.
Tom: You have written several books on character. Lately, the issue of character has been a concern of several professional leagues. How important to the success of a team is character?
Ron: I recognized that being a Christian means that my goal has got to be much higher than just having a winning team. Setting the goal to having a winning team is way too low of an aim. Coaching for Christ means that my goal in coaching, or in anything, is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Christ-like character becomes the goal, not the world’s definition of character. I believe that if you have a coach that will live and teach the character of Jesus Christ and provide an atmosphere for his players and administration to do the same, God will take the Christians and the non-Christians in that program and have His way. For years, I heard Tom Osborne and most recently Tony Dungy imply that an organization that will commit itself to Christ will bring about attributes that will be most conducive to maximizing that team’s performance. That team will have the best chance to win. It doesn’t guarantee wins, but it puts that team in the best atmosphere to release its God-given potential, and most importantly to see lives impacted for Jesus Christ. I am very disturbed by Christians who will buy into the worldly character building methodology that is so prevalent and leave the cross of Jesus Christ at the doorstep for fear of offense. Not only is that cowardly for a Christian, it is shamefully irresponsible. If we are going to talk about character, let’s go right to the source of character – Jesus Christ!
Tom: You spent 21 years as a college football coach, at Brown University and Nebraska. How free were you at these universities to share your faith in Christ?
Ron: I keep hearing from Christians that we are not free to share our faith in Jesus Christ at public institutions. Now that is a lie from the deepest pit in Hell. When we got free in Christ we got free indeed! That was my attitude as I coached at these universities. I decided to take a millennium mindset. In other words, I knew my Father runs this earth and eventually in the future is going to turn over a portion of that earth to me and all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to run His new earth for a thousand years. I figure if Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, then we as Christians should walk around this planet as if we have the same authority today as we will in the future millennium. The dominate authority of Jesus Christ yesterday, today and forever gave me the authority to passionately and strategically bring Jesus Christ front and center at both of those institutions. What followed that expression of Christ was the very thing I was told in 2nd Timothy 3:12 -trouble and persecution. Whenever I spoke the truth of the gospel I was committing potential professional suicide. But the overwhelming pleasure of speaking truth on today’s college campus, which is the bastion of opposition to Jesus Christ, became my greatest pleasure. You know why? Because Jesus said the truth will set you free. Today when Christians tell me they are not free to express Jesus Christ on campuses like these I say, “Yes you are free! You just gotta be willing to take the hit that comes with it! ” Pick up your cross daily…in the public school or out of the public school…in season or out of season!
Tom: You have been known to address societal and cultural issues that many Christians shy away from. Why is it important for you to speak out on these matters?
Ron: I was always fascinated with road trips while I was coaching. When we went to the opponent’s town the day before the game we were always met with people who wanted us to lose. When we arrived at the stadium on game day we were confronted with a home crowd that would boo us by the thousands. To me that was always a compliment. They were booing us because they knew we were a formidable opponent. Can you imagine if our football team upon hearing the boos went back into the locker-room, forfeiting the game because of rejection. No, the great teams actually smile at the boos and bring their A-game front and center on enemy turf. The greatest fun I had coaching was when we would kick their tail right in their back yard and then walk off that field with a swagger. That is exactly what God has called Christians to do while we are on this earth. As a Christian our home is in heaven. One day we are going there and there will be a standing “O” celebrating the victory of Jesus Christ forever! There will be no boos, nothing but cheers, praise and exaltation for the King of Kings. However, planet earth is a road-trip for Christians, this is not our home. Therefore, when we bring our A-game, the truth and grace of Jesus Christ front and center, understand we will be booed. But we are not to retreat back into our spiritual locker-room hiding from the home team. We have been given the power by the Lord to kick this world’s tail right in its own backyard and walk around this planet with a holy swagger. When you ask me why it is important for me to speak out on these difficult matters of biblical truth and grace, I say, “I’m playing to win.” According to Romans 10:14 how will the home team hear the news that they must be saved from their sin without a preacher. Everybody on God’s team is that preacher in lifestyle, words and thoughts! Even in the midst of enemy territory.
Tom: In recent years you have hosted several different radio programs. What is it about radio that intrigues you? What can radio accomplish for the kingdom of God?
Ron: In John 14:12 Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and ‘GREATER WORKS’ than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”. When He said, “greater works” He wasn’t referring to works in power, but in extent. Modern communications technology has given us greater capacity to bring the timeless truth of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Like no other time in history, we can multiply a speaker’s audience. Today with the tool of radio we have the capacity to reach the whole world with the gospel.
Tom: On several occasions you have talked about being a “steward for sports.” What do you mean by that term?
Ron: There are two ways of doing sports, man’s way and God’s way. Based on Psalm 24:1, the world and all the people in it belong to God. Based on Colossians chapter 1 all things are for Christ. Therefore, the Christian has not only the right, but the responsibility to steward sports for the Kingdom of God. That means every aspect of a Christian’s involvement in sports should glorify Jesus Christ. It also means that the Christian is to advance Jesus Christ within the world’s sports system. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 teaches us that Christians are not to be about a maintenance program. Biblical stewardship emphasizes advancing that which we’ve been given. I’ve often thought that James Dobson stewards the biblical family. He plays defense. For example, if someone attacks the biblical family, his ministry puts his arms over the biblical family to protect it like a mother hen does a chick. But he also plays offense. He inspires his followers, primarily through his daily radio show to be on the attack against anyone who discredits the biblical family. A number of congressmen in this nation have been phoned for their non-biblical stance on the family due to Dobson’s Focus on the Family ministry.
So who stewards sports? God told Jeremiah that if he was going to be a spokesman for Him, he must extract the precious from the worthless. I believe the FCA ministry should be stewarding sports by extracting or pointing out the difference between doing sports God’s way and doing sports man’s way. Man’s way of doing sports is unacceptable. Every free-throw, tackle, and swing of a baseball bat should consciously be done in the Name and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Every promotion, advertisement and reward in the sports world should consciously be done in the Name and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Everything in the sports world not done for the glory of Jesus Christ, whether by non-Christians or Christians should be reproved by those who follow Jesus Christ in the sports world. To be a steward for sports for Jesus Christ takes biblical insight, spiritual discipline and courage.
Tom: What do you hope will be accomplished by FCA’s new radio program, Sharing the Victory?
Ron: As I mentioned with Focus on the Family’s national radio program, there is a voice that echoes across the world that rallies the Body of Christ on a daily basis reminding us what the biblical family should look like. It not only informs, but it exhorts. My desire for the Sharing the Victory radio program is to be a voice that appeals to Christians all over the sports world to glorify Jesus Christ through sports. God takes His voice very seriously. He doesn’t need a radio program to bellow His voice all over the world. He could shout from Heaven and echo the message loud and clear for all to hear. But God has chosen to put His booming voice in us, so that we get to echo His voice for all to hear. God has inspired men and women through technology such as radio to boom His voice across the airwaves for millions and millions to hear. Through much prayer and searching of the Scriptures, we in FCA sense God choosing to boom His voice through the sports world via a weekly national radio program. We expect to inspire and exhort the Body of Christ in the sports world to pursue and glorify Jesus Christ boldly. We also desire that God would sovereignly guide unbelievers to this radio ministry to hear the life changing message of the gospel so that they have an authentic opportunity to hear and respond to it. We will preach Christ and Christ alone through the vehicle of sports.
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