Today (11/28/10) Steve Johnson, reciever for the Buffalo Bills football team, dropped a pass that, had he caught it, would have been a game winning touchdown. (Watch the video here) The Bills were playing the Steelers and the game went into overtime with the scored tied at 16. Pittsburg went on to win the game 19 to 16. After the game Johnson sent out a tweet that read "I PRAISE 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS IS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!!EVER!!! THX THO..."
I want to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt. Maybe in a less emotional state, a more rational frame of mind, and with deeper reflection he wouldn't have expressed his feelings quite this way. But and since he believes that all things should be learning experiences, maybe there are some things that he can teach us. Here are some of my take-aways:
1. My mother always told me, "think before you speak." I'm sure that if social media existed back in those dark ages mom would have said, "think before you tweet." Social media has its benefits. It allows us to stay connected with people we might otherwise lose track of. It gives people another avenue for communication and expression. But it also can be a way for us to say or tweet things we will later regret. I don't know if Johnson will regret what he tweeted and it doesn't seem by what he typed he was in a forgetting or regretting mood. Still, I have to wonder if he would have done that if he had waited a while.
2. Maybe we can learn a little about grace and works through Steve's experience. Just going by this one tweet I assume that Steve believes that if he praises "24/7" then God owes him a game-winning touchdown catch or two. In other words his praise puts God in debt to him and the payoff in his scheme is catching that ball. Of course, this is a denial of the essence of grace. We don't earn God's favor by our praise or anything else. God is not a debtor to us.
3. Possibly we can all think more clearly about talents, gifts and our stewardship of them. I like to write, how gifted or talented I am at that I will leave to others to judge. If I have any talent in that area, if God has given me any ability in that direction it is still up to me as to what I do with that gifting. I still have to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and write. And when I write I occasionally use improper English or I misspell a word. Sometimes I don't express myself as well as I would like to. But I don't blame God for typing "me" when I should have typed "I," or for having an article rejected by a publisher. God is not going to make me do proper self-editing and he is not going to force all the right words on to the paper any more than he is going to force a ball to stay in Steve Johnson's hands.
4. Perspective is another good take-away from this episode. Honestly, only the uber-geeks of football - you know, the guys with the fantasy teams, the ones who actually show up all painted in team colors on draft day to boo and cheer their teams draft choice and I'm not talking about getting all duded up for a game this if for a draft pick for heaven's sake - those guys are the only ones who will remember this game in a couple of weeks. Well, now that Steve tweeted about it, it might live in our minds a little longer; but, while Steve says he will never forget, the rest of the world already has. What seems so tragic to us is, in the bigger picture, often not all that important.
5. Often what we learn from adversity or trials is the depth or lack of depth of our spiritual life. Job, after he lost his business, his children and his health bowed and blessed the name of God. I don't know if I could do that. Personally, I learn more about myself and what needs to change when I am put under pressure and adversity than at any other time. So maybe if there is a lesson to be learned in the dropped pass it is "what is in you comes out when you get squeezed."
6. Speaking of lessons, another lesson we could take away is that everything is not about us. Twitter doesn't allow a lot of characters in which a person can express themselves. You are very limited in the number of words you can fit into a tweet and still get your message out. Steve used "I" twice and "me" twice within the confines of a limited tweet. Every sentence is filled with Steve. Let's assume for a minute that God did make him drop the ball (not an assumption I actually believe, but play along). Maybe God did it because there was a little boy with cancer whose dying wish was for his Steelers to win that game. Maybe one of the Steeler players or coaches, who also happened to be a believer, job was on the line and that win saved their job. Maybe God was looking at things from a long-term perspective and this loss is going to position the Bills in the next draft to get a player they really need.
I believe the Scripture that says, "All things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." I just don't believe we are able to always know immediately, if at all, what that good might happen to be. I suppose that is where faith comes in.
Just saying, there are some lessons here. I'm probably leaving a few out, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
Here's to hoping Steve wakes up tomorrow in a different frame of mind. Here's to praying that he does realize there are some great things to learn through this experience.
Gotta go - I'll tweet this out to you though.
Comments