Gridiron Gall = God's Glory?

Ray Lewis, the star linebacker of the Baltimore Ravens was interviewed by his former teammate Shannon Sharpe hours prior to Super Bowl 47. Football was not discussed but God's glory was.

Lewis was asked what he would say to the families of the two men killed in Atlanta after the Super Bowl in 2000. Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice after that incident. The families have spoken out in the last month including a story in USA Today about Lewis being celebrated for what he has accomplished in the NFL. "It’s simple," Lewis said, "God has never made a mistake. That’s just who He is, you see...To the family, if you knew, if you really knew the way God works, he don’t use people who commits anything like that for His glory. No way. It’s the total opposite."

What Lewis is implying is that God would not have allowed him to reach such an unprecedented level of success in the NFL if he was culpable in any way for the murders. Incidentally, most football experts consider Lewis to be one of the best middle linebackers to ever play the game.

But Lewis takes this concept of God's favor one step further by suggesting that his football career has brought glory to God. This fact, in Lewis' mind, vindicates him from that ugly night in Atlanta because, after all, God would not use murderers for His glory even though one third of the Bible is written by murderers. Moses, author of the first five books of the Bible killed an Egyptian slave-master and buried his body in the sand (Exodus 2:12); King David, author of more than half of the Psalms had Uriah murdered, Bathsheba's husband with whom he had an adulterous affair (2 Samuel 11:15); and the Apostle Paul, author of 13 New Testement letters persecuted and killed Christians before his dramatic conversion on the Damascus road (Galatians 1:13).

What Lewis fails to grasp is that if people are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because they believe God will help them win football games. It's because Jesus Himself is appealing, and what He says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same.

What Christianity really needs is for its members to unflinchingly obey the commands of Jesus Christ and exhibit the abundant life that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 10. Shortly before his death, the Marxist leader Lenin said, “Give me ten men like Francis of Assisi and I will rule the world.” It is the power of the life transformed by Jesus Christ that makes the world sit up and take notice not pregame dances and multimillion dollar contracts.

And to be honest, if the gospel was truly proclaimed many of the folks that claim to be Christian would shrink fast. America has moved so far away from preaching the cross that it is not surprising that our professional athletes who claim the name of Christ do so because they want Him to help them win. English Christian evangelist and author Leonard Ravenhill once said, "Christianity is not measured in success but in sacrifice." Truly a lost concept in today's world.

We need to come to the place where our lives mirror what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him [Jesus] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” This is our charter as believers. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be ready to obey Christ as unconditionally as the first disciples. That is our calling, not Super Bowl rings.
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“God is able to take your life, with all of the heartache, all of the pain, all of the regret, all of the missed opportunities, and use you for His glory.” - Charles R. Swindoll, Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication

The War Against God’s Word Continues…

This past week, a friend of mine forwarded me a link to a CNN article entitled, “New Bible Translation Omits 'Christ,' 'Apostle'.”

The story is about a new Bible translation that has been compiled by Professor David Capes, a New Testament teacher at Houston Baptist University. The translation is called “The Voice” which according to Capes is marketed toward people who own a Bible but have never read it because they feel it is too difficult to understand. His goal was to emphasize the “meaning” behind the words. To this end, The Voice does not include the words “angel”, “apostle”, or “Christ.” Capes goes on to say that “We ... made that strategic decision, not to transliterate, but to translate everything, to give them the meaning of the text, and to give them the sense of where the story ... is going.”

As I read this article, I could not help but think some things never change. In Genesis 3:1, Satan disguised as a serpent tells Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”  Since man has been created, Satan has been attacking God’s Word to keep man in darkness.

Why Capes and his editing team felt people could not understand the words “angel”, “apostle,” or “Christ” is stunning. To then state that the impetus behind his translation was the fact that people who own a Bible do not read it because it is apparently too hard to understand is ludicrous. The Bible itself tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 that the gospel is veiled to the unbelieving world because Satan has blinded them, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

Christianity is not a numbers game. Our goal as followers of Christ, especially a teacher of the New Testament like Capes should never be to water down the Word of God in an effort to attract people to the gospel message. Shortly before his death, the Marxist leader Lenin said, “Give me ten men like Francis of Assisi and I will rule the world.” It is the power of the life transformed by Jesus Christ that makes the world sit up and take notice not massaging God’s Word to make it more palatable.

Jesus never compromised on doctrine. Never. He knew the result would mean more souls would perish. The Apostle Paul emphasized this exact point to his young protégé Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine…Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-13; 16).

The greatest need in the church today is not increased membership and certainly not at the expense of altering God’s Word. We need to come to the place where our lives mirror what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him [Jesus] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” This is our charter as believers. We are not called to be marketers of Jesus Christ, we are called to become like Jesus Christ. A tall order indeed but this is the narrow road that leads to eternal life.