By Brenda Black
Lance Armstrong -- the very name
elicits images of strength and athletic heroics. It used to, that is.
Now the famous cyclist's name is mud and it's being dragged through
the media with a vengeance.
The final verdict from the powers that
be in the professional cycling world condemns Armstrong of
“masterminding a doping strategy that involved prohibited drugs,
blood transfusions and elaborate schemes to fool testing
authorities,” writes reporter Martin Rogers.
The iconic athlete was stripped of
each of his seven Tour de France titles. His reputation now morphs
from stellar to stupid, while million-dollar endorsements disappear
into the dust. The saddest indictments are how self-deceived this man
and how many suffer because of his sin.
With any fallen hero, a fan base
comprised of young and old, trusting and loyal people, is left in the
wake. The winners that should have been, instead had their moment of
glory and fame stolen selfishly and deceitfully from them, never to
be regained. In fact the history books will just declare no winner
at all for those seven prestigious titles. Shameful, costly, and so
disappointing.
Is it pride, greed, selfishness, or
arrogance that leads a man to believe he is above accountability?
Does he think he is more deserving or afraid that he is not? How can
he lie for so long that he believes the lies to be truth?
As long as sin is given rein to go
unbridled and as long as others will turn the other way or empower
such destructive choices, the sinner certainly loses more than he
ever gains. And every life he impacts loses as well.
Most of us will never compete for
world titles and our faces won't grace giant billboards or cereal
boxes. We may never dream of experimenting with drugs and wouldn't
dare consider cheating. Still, we are sinners just the same. I don't
say that to excuse Armstrong's gargantuan assault on athletic
integrity. It's just the truth.
“There is no one righteous, not even
one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have
turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who
does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
From blatant hypocrisy to subtle
deceit, we sin. We lie, we gossip, we offend without cause and live
far from holy lives, “for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God...” (Rom. 3:23)
Amazingly, that holy God will forgive
in an instant if we just repent. IF we repent.
“...this [Armstrong] story is close
to having run its course,” writes Rogers. “a defining step at the
end of a tale that has unraveled to expose extraordinary details of
wrongdoing behind what was once considered an extraordinary tale of
human achievement.
“All that is left is for Armstrong
now is to reveal all, to tell the world what, how and why he fooled
so many for so long. But for an athlete for whom denial and deceit
has seemingly become second nature, such a reversal must be
considered unlikely.”
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| courtesy of http://www.nydailynews.com/ |
The
death trap is set. Either he can come clean and confess and seek
forgiveness or he stands to lose more than just a few worldly titles.
He risks heaven itself.
The Apostle Paul once wrote to the
Church in Rome warning them of the deadly consequences of sin
compared to the life-giving results of righteousness. “...do not
let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have
been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to
him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your
master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (Romans
6:12-14)
The real battle for Armstrong, and for
each of us, is not a competition for our reputation in and of itself.
It is a race for grace. God waits with open arms. He wipes our record
clean, not of trophies undeserved, but of sin unchecked. He replaces
the exposed crimes with His mercy and sees us as winners again. “This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe.” (Rom. 3:22) In this perfect cycle, God takes our
ruination and makes us right again.
We can't undo history or unhurt people
injured by our own selfish sins. But we can live differently each day
ahead when we count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ
Jesus.
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