Mud on your face

Bill Belichick, who is one of the best, if not the best, coaches in pro football today, made a stupid choice last week that brought dishonor to himself and his team. Despite having the best QB in the game today and a great squad - he thought he need to cheat! While I watched the Patriots play outstanding football last night, dominating the Chargers defensively and offensively, the commentators made reference, again and again, to the cheating. Even they wondered why the coach did it. There is no reason, no imperative that exists to justify what he did. Were the Patriot's so insecure that they thought they needed to film the opposing team's coaches to win? We can't answer that. Did the action really give them last week's win over the Jets? Most assuredly, no. Most everyone who understands the game knows that whatever information they gained was fairly marginal in terms of what it did for the way they actually played the game. It was a dumb decision, most likely resulting from putting the need to win over the love of the game! Belichick's brilliance and all the wins of his team were overshadowed by a decision to bend the league's rules. For the rest of his career and even someday in his obituary, Belichick's name will have a footnote attached, 'the coach who cheated.'

Time and again the sad drama is played out in front of us in business, in sports, in politics, even in the Church. When a person who has performed well for years, who has built a solid reputation for getting the job done with excellence, starts to think of himself as being above others, as having a special pass to live on his own terms; when he breaks the rules and is caught, 20 or 30 years of stellar work is eclipsed by the disclosure of his failure. It can be a coach who feels he must try to steal signals, or a player who takes performance enhancing drugs, or a politician who accepts a free trip from a lobbyist, or a plagiarizing preacher. They are not the kind of spectacular failures that remove the person from his position. They are just reminders of the fact that we are all quite human, even those who appear, at least for a moment, to walk on a different plane than ordinary mortals!

If we want to avoid wearing mud on our face, we must make a prior choice for integrity every day! Before the temptation presents itself, before the pressure to 'win again' makes itself known, before the opportunity to enrich ourselves with 'just a little thing that no one will ever know about' comes knocking at the door - it is important to make the commitment to integrity to ourselves and to God today! For the Believer who desires to honor Christ Jesus with a holy life, the decision is one that requires an infusion of Divine strength. We cannot simply resolve to overcome temptation with our own will. We need the Spirit of God to live in us, to keep our hearts true, and our minds clear.

The writer of the hymn puts it well -
"Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter,
bind my wand'ring heart to Thee.
Prone to wander; Lord, I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart; O take and seal it.
Seal it for Thine courts above."

Jeremiah takes quite a dim view of human nature, accurately reflecting the state of the person who lives without the Light of God, without the powerful Presence of the Spirit. He says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, NKJV) It is true! But there is hope. We are not victims of our depravity for One came to rescue us. So we join with David in praying, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10, NIV)

The same writer of the hymn says in the next verse -
"I know Thy hand will bring me,
safely home by Thy good grace.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God.
He to rescue me from danger,
interposed His precious blood."
- Come, Thou Fount

Got mud on your face? God washes us, makes us clean, and gives new hearts for old.
Don't walk in fear of your sinful nature! Instead, remember that 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' So, fear God, not man.
Walk in grace, not guilt. Live wholly and holy and when the game is over, you will wear the victor's reward.