In this world there are many heroes. People idolize sports figures, actors, singers, and even pastors. However, everyone in this world falls. The higher the pedestal a person is put on, the further from grace that person falls when he or she fails. It’s human nature to place certain people with talents above others in our minds.
News broke recently that Michael Phelps was caught smoking marijuana. Pictures surfaced of Phelps using a bong in order to use the drug. Michael Phelps is a 23 year old person, who is flawed, and many other 23 year old people do the same thing, but when Phelps did it, it became news. It’s news because Michael Phelps was recently given the “crown” of “America’s Greatest Athlete”. His performance in the 2008 Olympics was a feat that no person had ever matched before. It gained international recognition for him, sent sponsors sprinting his way, and made millions of people admire him. Michael Phelps was on a pedestal, and he fell, he fell far.
However, we should not pass judgment on Michael. It is not for us to condemn him for his actions. See, we all fall. Phelps’ actions are saddening, but each of us struggle each day and we fall into sin. In Luke 6:42 Jesus said “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (NIV)
What’s dangerous for us is placing all of these people on a platform is that we place our faith in them instead of God. We place faith in something doomed to fail when there’s only one person who doesn’t fail, God. When we look at these people, it’s easy to see all of their faults. As a matter of fact, every fault is sought out by a hungry media, and exploited for money. However, what we do is ignore our own faults, focus on theirs, and then we feel better about ourselves. That’s not healthy, and it’s not how we are commanded to live in scripture. I pray that I’ll be able to find my own faults and deal with them more effectively rather than look for solace in the imperfections of others. How about you?
Filed under: Blog
i’ve gotta hand it to Phelps for being man enough to acknowledge his actions and apologize — he’s still a decent role model despite the hypocritical media storm
Totally respect that he didn’t try to deny it. I hope you did get from my piece that I’m not bashing Phelps. Although I am disappointed by his actions, my point is not to put him down, but to point out that any person we put our faith in on this earth will let us down in some way. Also, that it’s dangerous for us to put anyone on a pedestal. Thanks for reading!