“What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.”
Part 2 - How do Christian competitors justify their use of performance enhancing drugs?
“I admit that I used this substance as a part of the recovery and rehab process.” “I felt that I owed it to my team to get back to the court as quickly as I could.” “I was desperate to get back onto the field so I could contribute to my team.” “I did not want to let my teammates down by not being ready to play.” These are common expressions by competitors who have been exposed as using substances like steroids, human growth hormone, diuretics and other substances which are banned by their sports leagues. Some are illegal substances as well. They try to justify their use by cloaking it in language which seems almost noble. The mind justifies.
Further justification is reasoned among Christian competitors, even if not expressed in public. “I needed to recover my platform as a high profile athlete so I could proclaim the Gospel. While I was hurt and off the pitch, no one wanted to hear what I had to say. To rehab more quickly restored my platform for sharing Christ with people.” What could be wrong with that?
To rehab and recover naturally is certainly slower and delays one’s return to the field of competition. To take the needle or pill will speed up the process, will restore the player’s place on the team and his or her profile in the community. It is also expressly forbidden by the rules of the sport and often by the laws of the land. Thus the dilemma. What then will one choose? The will chooses, wisely or foolishly.
Muddying the waters for the will’s choosing are a number of factors with immense power and these often reveal what the heart loves. For professional competitors, there are often millions of dollars, pounds or euros at stake. A new contract and resulting financial security could hang in the balance with the speed of recovery. One’s public profile, endorsement deals and such are also in jeapordy with a slow recovery. Sometimes one even sees his or her opportunities to proclaim the Gospel as being in jeapordy if they’re delayed in returning to competition.
A similar situation is found in I Samuel 15:9-14 when King Saul has his heart’s affections exposed by a greedy choice and we hear his lame justification.
9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
Saul loved him some Saul, he chose to greedily keep the best sheep and cattle, the spoils of war, for himself and tried to justify his actions by blaming his soldiers and concocting a story about making a sacrifice. The depth of Saul’s pride is revealed in verse 12 where it says he set up a monument in his own honor.
The central principle of this passage and the Christian competitor’s relationship with performance enhancing drugs is in verse 22 of the same chapter.
22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
To obey is better than sacrifice. To make a God-honoring choice by not using PEDs is better than sacrificing one’s reputation when caught by a random drug test. To honor Christ by obeying the rules of sport related to doping is better than any amount of conscience salving money given to a sports ministry. To do the right thing and to be delayed in the return to competition, or to not return at all, is better than the shame experienced in a tearful admission of guilt, thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness and pledges to do better, at a press conference and the resulting sympathy expressed by the fawning, foolish sports media.
Let’s commit our hearts to trusting Christ with our recovery from injury more than we trust the chemist. Let’s choose to honor God with our approach to strength, speed and endurance and forego the shortcuts offered by the pharmacist or the dealer at the gym. Let’s keep our hearts pure by loving God, choosing wisely and thus finding justification of our actions much easier.
“What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.” This statement was spoken by my friend and colleague in sports chaplaincy, John Ashley Null, in summary of the 16th century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer's writings. Dr. Null has been translating Cranmer’s work from Medieval Latin shorthand into contemporary English.
“I admit that I used this substance as a part of the recovery and rehab process.” “I felt that I owed it to my team to get back to the court as quickly as I could.” “I was desperate to get back onto the field so I could contribute to my team.” “I did not want to let my teammates down by not being ready to play.” These are common expressions by competitors who have been exposed as using substances like steroids, human growth hormone, diuretics and other substances which are banned by their sports leagues. Some are illegal substances as well. They try to justify their use by cloaking it in language which seems almost noble. The mind justifies.
Further justification is reasoned among Christian competitors, even if not expressed in public. “I needed to recover my platform as a high profile athlete so I could proclaim the Gospel. While I was hurt and off the pitch, no one wanted to hear what I had to say. To rehab more quickly restored my platform for sharing Christ with people.” What could be wrong with that?
To rehab and recover naturally is certainly slower and delays one’s return to the field of competition. To take the needle or pill will speed up the process, will restore the player’s place on the team and his or her profile in the community. It is also expressly forbidden by the rules of the sport and often by the laws of the land. Thus the dilemma. What then will one choose? The will chooses, wisely or foolishly.
Muddying the waters for the will’s choosing are a number of factors with immense power and these often reveal what the heart loves. For professional competitors, there are often millions of dollars, pounds or euros at stake. A new contract and resulting financial security could hang in the balance with the speed of recovery. One’s public profile, endorsement deals and such are also in jeapordy with a slow recovery. Sometimes one even sees his or her opportunities to proclaim the Gospel as being in jeapordy if they’re delayed in returning to competition.
A similar situation is found in I Samuel 15:9-14 when King Saul has his heart’s affections exposed by a greedy choice and we hear his lame justification.
9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
Saul loved him some Saul, he chose to greedily keep the best sheep and cattle, the spoils of war, for himself and tried to justify his actions by blaming his soldiers and concocting a story about making a sacrifice. The depth of Saul’s pride is revealed in verse 12 where it says he set up a monument in his own honor.
The central principle of this passage and the Christian competitor’s relationship with performance enhancing drugs is in verse 22 of the same chapter.
22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
To obey is better than sacrifice. To make a God-honoring choice by not using PEDs is better than sacrificing one’s reputation when caught by a random drug test. To honor Christ by obeying the rules of sport related to doping is better than any amount of conscience salving money given to a sports ministry. To do the right thing and to be delayed in the return to competition, or to not return at all, is better than the shame experienced in a tearful admission of guilt, thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness and pledges to do better, at a press conference and the resulting sympathy expressed by the fawning, foolish sports media.
Let’s commit our hearts to trusting Christ with our recovery from injury more than we trust the chemist. Let’s choose to honor God with our approach to strength, speed and endurance and forego the shortcuts offered by the pharmacist or the dealer at the gym. Let’s keep our hearts pure by loving God, choosing wisely and thus finding justification of our actions much easier.
“What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.” This statement was spoken by my friend and colleague in sports chaplaincy, John Ashley Null, in summary of the 16th century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer's writings. Dr. Null has been translating Cranmer’s work from Medieval Latin shorthand into contemporary English.
No comments:
Post a Comment