FCA's director for Greater Nashville/Middle Tennessee Steve Robinson
Steve Robinson didn’t want to go to Africa. He didn’t want to be a missionary. And, perhaps most of all, he didn’t want his pursuit of Christ to get in the way of his financial aspirations.
Forty years later, he can laugh about his post-college attitude.
“I always said that I wanted to do God's will, but I also wanted to make a lot of money,” Rob-inson said, chuckling. “Frankly, I never considered anything like full-time ministry, working in a church or even coaching, because I knew there just wasn't much money in that. I was always afraid that if I totally surrendered to what God wanted to do with my life, He'd send me to Africa to be a missionary or something.”
But back in 1973, God had a plan for Robinson, who’s become one of the most influential FCA staff members in the Tennessee area.
When he joined FCA, the former Tennessee Volunteer football player was promised a year’s salary, a company car and the opportunity to travel through a mission field ripe for spiritual growth within Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The young ministry had a foothold in just 15 area schools at the time.
Now, by God’s favor and grace, FCA's influence can be felt in 234 schools across the region and in a growing number of FCA events, summer camps and retreats. Robinson will quickly deflect any praise to those working around him, but he is directly responsible for much of the growth in the area.
“I was the only FCA staff in Middle Tennessee for 10 years,” said Robinson, now FCA's di-rector for Greater Nashville/Middle Tennessee. “We've been blessed to have a strong FCA Leadership board over the years, and today we have 13 staff members and five satellite offices scattered across the area.”
Robinson & Multi-Area Director Doug Scott at FCA Camp
Most importantly, Robinson and his staff now see anywhere from 800 to 1,100 students each year indicate a first-time commitment to Christ through FCA Huddles, camps and special events, which he says is one of the most encouraging parts of his job.
“God can hit straight licks with crooked sticks,” Robinson said. “He uses weak men and women like us. I was shy and not very outgoing when I started with FCA, and it really shows what God can do with a yielded life.”
It would be easy for someone who's done a job for 40 years to take on an air of arrogance in his relationships and experiences. But that's not Robinson. Not in the least.
Del Wright, FCA vice president of field ministry for the Southeast Central region, calls Robinson “a humble and coachable servant of Christ” and says he “leads from the posture of a learner.”
“I love that about him,” Wright said, “because I firmly believe that leaders are lifetime learn-ers. If we stop learning today, then we stop teaching and leading tomorrow.”
Recalling Jesus’ words to the villagers who offered to follow Him in Luke 9:62, Wright said Robinson is “the epitome of someone who has put his hand to the plow and not looked back.”
• • • •
Robinson grew up in a Christian home on a farm in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, where he played football and attended his first FCA meeting at storied Battle Ground Academy. After graduation, he walked on to the University of Tennessee football team, where he found himself on the Volunteers' offensive line alongside future UT head coach Phillip Fulmer.
More importantly, he forged a strong bond with fellow linemen John Keller and Alvah Bible, whom Robinson recalls as the team's two strongest Christians and two men who were instru-mental in strengthening his personal relationship with Christ.
“I often tell athletes when I speak that you may not be a dog but, if you hang with ‘em, you'll get fleas,” Robinson said. “When I first got on campus, I was blessed to have those guys—such strong believers—to hang around, as well as the weekly FCA meetings that were held in the athletic dorm.”
Robinson came to Christ at a young age, but he said it wasn’t until he went to Tennessee and got involved with FCA that he experienced more spiritual growth. That was where he learned the value of daily quiet time and reading the Word.
His interest in FCA grew as well, and over the next few years he was able to balance classes and athletics with his service as an FCA officer and Huddle leader at summer camps. A quiet, straight-arrow type in high school and college, God began to show Robinson that He'd given him the gift of evangelism through a number of speaking engagements at local churches and FCA events.
After exhausting his football eligibility and graduating in 1971, Robinson found himself at a crossroads. His playing days were behind him, and an uncertain future lay ahead.
Steve and Karen Robinson
He got married and took a job in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he spent the better part of 1972 grinding the hours away in the world of business without true direction or purpose in his life. But as the year wound to a close, Robinson's calling became clear, and he recommitted his life to Christ during a New Year's Eve service at a small Chattanooga church.
“I made a full surrender to God for what He wanted me to do,” Robinson said. “For a long time, I had been afraid to submit to God and do whatever He wanted, but I just said, ‘God, I'll go anywhere and do whatever You want me to do.’”
Immediately, Robinson said, it was like a 1,000-pound burden was lifted.
“I just felt a great peace about it,” he said, “and knew God would open the right door for me.”
Little did Robinson know, the door that opened would lead him home.
• • • •
The very next day—Jan. 1, 1973—Robinson received the phone call that led to the FCA job he still holds today.
“Nashville was the first adult chapter started in America and was blessed with a really strong group of believers on the local FCA board led by former Chicago Bears' quarterback Bill Wade,” Robinson said. “They would do yearly weekend retreats, rallies and banquets and send athletes to FCA camps during the summer, but they realized that it was all getting too big for them to handle as volunteers.”
Never mind that most of those local board members were former football players for Vander-bilt, Tennessee’s biggest rival.
“There was not a lot of love lost there,” Robinson said with a smile. “Them hiring a Tennessee guy? You just know God had to be in that.”
During the interview process, Robinson traveled to FCA’s national headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., to meet with then-FCA president John Erickson, who led the ministry from 1972-1988.
Erickson wasn’t expecting Robinson to stick around with FCA for long.
“He told me how excited they were to have me and that they were thankful that I'd be able to give them a good two or three years before moving on,” Robinson said. “I know he meant well. In those days, there was a lot of staff turnover, but I didn't plan to treat FCA as a stepping stone. I knew I’d be with FCA until God moved me.”
Robinson speaking at an FCA rally
If the American South is the “Bible Belt,” then Nashville is its buckle, thanks to the bounty of churches, church-affiliated colleges and universities, Christian music labels and publishing houses that call “Music City” home. Over his years of service, Robinson said, FCA has become equally entrenched in local culture, and God has been glorified through the ministry's positive reputation.
“FCA has been around here a long time, right up there with ‘God, motherhood and apple pie,’” he said. “We are thankful that school administrators around here have seen the benefit of FCA and know the positive influences we can bring to a school.”
After 40 years, Robinson is just as passionate about FCA as he was the day he started. He still enjoys working with coaches, athletes and especially the FCA staff across Middle Tennes-see, pouring into their lives while building long-lasting, meaningful relationships with everyone he meets. FCA’s vision—to influence the influencers and make a difference for eternity—has been the driving force behind his work.
“When you reach a coach or an athlete—someone with a tremendous influence—that influ-ence is multiplied many times over,” Robinson said. “Billy Graham once said that a coach can often reach more people in one year than an average person can reach in a lifetime.
“For people who love the Lord and love sports, FCA is a true ‘hand-and-glove’ fit. Because of the influence we've had over the last 40 years, I don't think there's anything I could have given my life to that would have blessed me more—and glorified God more—than FCA.”
That, Robinson said, fuels his desire to continue sharing Christ with coaches and students around him.
“Young people need Jesus,” Robinson said. “Everyone and everything else in the world comes on strong, so we need to come strong and bring it for the Lord.”
To that end, Robinson said he has no plans to walk away anytime soon, but he may look at a different role within the ministry that's become such a big part of his life, one that would allow him to spend more time with his wife, three daughters and nine grandchildren. Robinson has an interest in donor cultivation, development and re-involving FCA alums whose lives were impacted and changed through their past involvement with the ministry.
“The Lord has graciously seen fit to use me here,” Robinson said. “The older I get, the more I realize that FCA’s success in Middle Tennessee has been less about me and all about Him.”
In a world that changes by the day, the genuine, faithful leadership Robinson has given for so long has brought great credibility and stability to FCA, Wright said.
“If there's one thing we can count on in life besides Christ, it's change,” he said. “Having a leader like Steve Robinson, who has remained faithful and constant for 40 years, is a rare find. God has used him to lay a strong foundation throughout Middle Tennessee and beyond.”
What they’re saying about Steve Robinson:
“When you say the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Nashville, everyone says ‘Steve Robinson.’ He is synonymous with FCA because he has been committed, dedicated and loyal to this ministry. He stays close to the Lord and truly wants to please Him in what he does for this ministry. Steve has truly walked by faith—an example that so many of our staff can look up to and be encouraged by for their future as well.” – FCA President/CEO Les Steckel
“The history of FCA has been built on the strong calling that exists in the lives of our staff. Steve has committed over 40 years of his life to the mission and vision of FCA, and we have been blessed by his efforts. The Kingdom of God has grown because of Steve Robinson.” – FCA Executive Director/COO Donnie Dee
Originally Published: January 2013
Photos courtesy of Steve Robinson