Oprah Winfrey interviewed Lance Armstrong this evening about his illegal use of performance enhancing drugs during the Tour de France. Millions of people watched as Lance admitted to Oprah that he had cheated, lied, and attacked anyone who got in his way. Unfortunately, there is nothing he can say or do that undoes the damage his actions have caused.
Lance has been stripped of his seven yellow jerseys, an Olympic medal, and barred from all endurance sport competitions. Fellow teammates and the entire cycling community have ostracized him. He’s jeopardized the future of the LIVESTRONG Organization, and made fools out of his friends and family who have stood by him through all of this.
But the worse part of this whole mess, in my opinion, is that people now associate cycling with something negative. Lance Armstrong is/was cycling. Millions of people were drawn into cycling because of him. But now as a result of his stupid actions, there are millions of people who want nothing to do with cycling. What’s sad is they will never experience the enjoyment of cycling, which is one of the best activities there is, all because of Lance Armstrong.
In the same way, there are people who associate church, Christians and even God, with something negative because of the foolish things done by others. The wrongdoing of one, or a few, causes people to want nothing to do with Christianity. The dumb things done by others even causes people who once walked close to God and were active in fellowship and worship with others to disconnect, become hard and jaded towards spiritual things.
We learned that Lance’s deception became worse over time. The fact is, our hearts don’t usually grow cold overnight. Little things creep in and the sense of what’s wrong or right becomes less clear and less of an issue. Before long we’ve grown cold, defensive, and repulsive to onlookers.
Oprah asked Lance several times if there were any moments along the way that he realized the ramifications of what he was doing. He said things had accumulated and grown complicated over time, only being clear to him in hindsight. This got me thinking. What if there could have been some kind of warning system along the way that caught Lance’s attention and stirred him to do what was right.
Then I starting thinking about people I know who have derailed spiritually, and even my own backslidings. What if there was some kind of warning system along the way that could catch our spiritual attention and stir us to do what is right.
John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, actually created a checklist of sorts that reveals and warns of spiritual declination and hardening of the heart:
A forgetfulness of God and the forgetfulness of the fact that one day we will meet Him.
A gradual loss of private holiness, private prayer, a curbing of our lust, and a sorrow of our sins.
An avoidance of the company of lively Christians.
A disinterest in public worship.A picking of fault in others while ignoring our own.
An association with the godless, more than fellowship with God’s people.
An involvement in fleshly lusts in privacy.
A playing with sin more and more openly.
A revealing to all the sorry condition of our lives due to the hardening of our hearts
As you read this list, are any of these areas happening in your life? Instead of viewing it with fear, or worse denial, allow the Holy Spirit to stir you to do what’s right. The Book of Hebrews offers this help…
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice’…Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” (Heb. 3:7, 12-14)
This might not help Lance Armstrong avoid losing his credibility, or cycling its fans, but it will help those of us who’s hearts are distant and growing cold. It will help prevent our lives from being something that pushes people away, but rather draws them and inspires them to the joy of church, fellow-Christians, and a life lived with God.
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