"In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids." -Quote about former Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel from Sports Illustrated.
It has happened again. Another person whom people propped up, or rather a person who propped himself up, has fallen. The once flawless Jim Tressel is now a punchline and an example of what not to do.
Coach Tressel has fallen in front of a county. The question folks now ask is this, "Was this man who professed Jesus a fraud or did he just make one mistake?" I don't know the answer to that question, but the answer of fraud looks to be the most likely truth.
Now we must ask, "What can we learn from this?"
I think we can learn a couple of things.
1) Don't make people your idol.
As a kid I idolized athletes. Many folks in Ohio and around the nation idolized the once squeaky-clean Coach Tressel. While I would encourage you to have role models, I would discourage idolization. The reason is simple: people mess up. Idolize Jesus because He promises: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." He never fails!
2) Endure.
If you are a Christian and you try to leave a good life people will wait for you to fail. People are watching you to see if you will fail all the time. I'm not saying, necessarily, that Tressel was a great man who just happened to fail; but people love knocking down idols as much as they love putting them up. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus you must act like it.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1
If there is something that would embarrass you if it came out in public, get rid of it.
Don't judge others, but learn from their mistakes. Run the race with endurance today.
This is a great post Matt
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