I am a sports fan. I am a sports fan to my own detriment. I watch, listen to and keep up with more sports than I should. I'll wake up early on Saturday morning to watch an English soccer match, then stay up late that night to watch a west-coast baseball game - even if I'm not rooting for either team! And boy, do I admire athletes. Fred Lynn (not sure why). Will Clark. Jerry Rice. Barry Sanders. Greg Maddux. Reggie Miller. And as you root for athletes, you begin to ascribe to them a certain infallibility. Heroic exploits on the field translate to heroic status off the field as well.
But the problem is that none of this is true. The ability to hit a baseball or run really fast has no bearing on one's ability to live a good life. And sooner or later, these individuals all failed to live up to the standards I had set for them in my mind. By the time I reached high school, I had already developed a healthy skepticism about professional athletes. I was essentially ready for them to let me down.
I tell you all of that to tell you this: a lifetime spent being cured of hero worship was good practice for the Sunday I just experienced. It was then that I learned that a man whose teachings I respect, and who served as a spiritual leader to many, had fallen into one of these same pitfalls. And while the news was unexpected, sudden and disheartening, I felt my old sports hero defenses kicking in: don't put people on a pedestal, you'll just get burned. But having to deal with it on a personal level like this, I was struck by something else:
He is just another me.
A buddy put it so beautifully to me yesterday afternoon: "In a way, we are all falling." We are all sinners. Just like the athletes, the businessmen, the teachers and the ministers we see every day. But more pointedly, just like our families, our friends...and ourselves.We are all burdened with the human condition of sinfulness. And while it is proper and biblical that we should hold our spiritual leaders to a higher standard (1 Timothy 3:1-7), it is important also to use this time to reflect on our own shortcomings. While we may never have our failings visible on great stages to be seen by all, our stumbles can easily rob us of all we hold dear - our relationships, our finances, our health. Now more than ever, it is crucial for us to heed the Bible's instruction not to attempt to resist sin, but to flee from it (2 Timothy 2:22, 1 Corinthians 6:18).
The coming days I know will be difficult. Many dear friends of mine are hurting, angry and questioning. There is much work to be done. Yet we praise God even in these circumstances, trusting that:
"6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7)
My hope is that this space can be used as a place of encouragement in the coming days and months. May the topics I choose and the words I write bring honor to Him who is alone worthy of honor. I love you all.
In His hands,
David
