Lance Armstrong and All the Rest of Us

Rosie Ruiz and Lance Armstrong and me…not sure about you but I’m certain about me.

Rosie Ruiz won the New York Marathon a few years ago, at least everyone but her thought she did, maybe even she convinced herself she did; but it didn’t last long. After all, how could someone win a marathon without breaking a sweat? What about the fact that other runners didn’t recall seeing her? She was soon stripped of her title and all but forgotten; unless used as an example of cheating to win a race that she didn’t win – unlike Armstrong (if the testimony and evidence in his case are true) her deception lasted only a couple of days, not years.

But Armstrong, after years of rumors, allegations, and denials – now there will be seven years in the annals of the Tour de France in which no winner is listed; did Mr. Armstrong create his own little world in which he actually believed he won? Is a win obtained by deceit still a win? Many would say so, most of us act like it in one way or another.

As I wrote my Mind on Fire reflections on Psalm 1 I thought of Lance Armstrong; there were two ways to race the Tour de France just as there are two ways of life in the Psalm, there is the way of honesty, a way which is maintained no matter where we are in the standings, and there is the way of deceit and cheating; Mr. Armstrong apparently chose to be someone he is not. But is he all that different from us? I know I have kept him company and I know I’ve worn yellow jerseys I have not fairly worn.

Anyone who puts a mask on pedals beside Lance Armstrong.

The pressure is intense to wear the mask, to act the part, to rationalize that the end justifies the means. But what is the end? The end is standing before God to account for the way we ran (or pedaled) the race. Psalm 1 speaks of this end. There are professing Christians who somehow think they have a free pass to live as they want without accountability, forgetting that passages such as 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 and 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 make it clear that while our relationship with Christ is sealed and certain, that we are all accountable for the things we do and the way we do them – all bogus wins will be exposed before the judgment seat of Christ – no fake wins make it into heaven.

This morning in my devotions in 1 John I read, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” When we rationalize deceit we choose to forget who God is.

At another level, how often do we engage in Christian ministry using the drugs of this world? That is, how often do we justify our use of strategies that are no different from those of Wal-Mart or Lexus or Apple in order to achieve success in ministry? Lance Armstrong chose not to rely on his natural body alone, he chose to put drugs into his body. How often do we choose to supplement the Holy Spirit? We profess to follow Jesus Christ, the One who says, “I do nothing of Myself.” He also says, “Without Me you can do nothing.” We nod and think, “That sounds nice, but we need to produce some numbers and excitement.”

I don’t know about you but I want to cross the finish line of life clean – no matter where others think I am in the standings.

Lance Armstrong isn’t like the rest of us? Who are we kidding?

Psalm 139:23-24.